A German writer's perspective on China's soul-touching stories

A memorial wall at the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum lists the names of 13,732 Jews who found a haven in Shanghai during World War II. Vision Shanghai / sh.qq.com

Born in 1962, Schomann, a student of German literature, has been a frequent visitor to China for almost 20 years. He has been writing articles based in China for leading German media outlets, and has published four books on China in German and Chinese.

Schomann began to write in both languages inspired by Lin Yutang, the Chinese author who lived between 1895 and 1976 and wrote in a polished style in both Chinese and English. The German author said it was Lin who introduced China to him to a degree.

"It was absolutely fascinating to encounter such a bright mind from China, who was writing with such (ease)," he said.

Schomann called Lin a fascinating writer, philosopher, thinker and cultural activist, saying, "His books have a lot to (contribute) for a better understanding of Chinese culture and history, and Chinese mentality."

Yet, understanding China is not an easy task for a Westerner. "I think it's impossible to perceive (China) as a whole, or to judge (it) as a whole, or to make statements about (it) as a whole. It will just lead to strong simplifications and generalizations," he said.

He compared forming an image of China to piecing together mosaics: "The big image is composed of many little images - pieces of the mosaic. And you are always working on one piece."

This perspective is best illustrated in his new book released in June, China - Strolls Through an Empire, which features 10 individual travel stories covering trips to a diversity of Chinese landscapes, from wild deserts in the northwest to modern cities in the coastal east, as well as landlocked cities with ancient history and precious cultural heritages.

Schomann cited an article in the book to illustrate the concept of mosaic. He wrote about the two-day annual traditional storytelling festival in north China's Henan provinceince, where "the whole universe of Chinese culture, mentality and entertainment" was present and he tried to present "the essence of this culture" in a 2,500-word narrative.

"As a journalist you take something quite limited, but then you open up a whole world within this topic," he said.