John spurling biography
John spurling biography book.
John spurling biography
The Ten Thousand Things (Spurling novel)
2014 novel by John Spurling
The Ten Thousand Things is a historical novel by author and playwright John Spurling, based on life of 14th-century Chinese artist Wang Meng during the Yuan dynasty.
It was published by Duckworth Overlook in 2014 and won the Walter Scott Prize in 2015.[1] Spurling worked on the book for over fifteen years and in the process his work was rejected by 44 publishers.[1]
Content and publishing
The book narrates the life of artist Wang Meng, and life in general of people during the Yuan dynasty.
As the Yuan dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire, was the first foreign empire to rule a large part of China, the themes of loyalty and a non-native ruler form major parts of the novel. Spurling describes the dilemmas in the minds of Wang and other artists, including Wang's maternal grandfather Zhao Mengfu, regarding loyalty towards the foreign ruler.[2]
The novel starts