A trek into history

By walking and writing, he tried to understand the trek's influence on the intellectuals in the brigade, while at the same time, with the long walk, he was trying to find a solution to his own anxiety, deal with his relationship with life and to become a real writer.

"The creation of this book allowed me to understand the concept of family and homeland," he says.

In the opening chapter of the book, Yang quotes Israel, saying" (During the early war years in particular) before cynicism and disillusionment set in, seeking the truth was the very reason for going to Kunming".

He further writes, "But this doesn't mean they (brigade members) were not struggling. I am curious that, apart from legends, what their daily life was like. What were their hobbies and prejudices? How did they understand and deal with the crisis of both the country and themselves? How did they shape their emotional structure? On their way to Kunming, they came into contact with people of different ethnic groups in Southwest China every day. So, how did this interact with their previous understandings of 'nation' and 'people'?"

But Yang does not provide straightforward answers in the book. Instead of offering analysis or a narrative that leads to any certain conclusions, he tends to present historical details and describe his observations.

"Talking about nonfiction writing, anthropologist Xiang Biao said that it should 'increase the weight of description, and let the reader decide'. I realized that this is a method that I have always used in writing," Yang said during a book event in late May.

Xinan Lianda evolved out of Changsha Temporary University, so "temporary" sets the underlying mood for the book.