In 1985, writer Zheng Yi published his novella "Old Well".The story is set in Laojing ("old well") village, on the Qinglong River in the Shanxi Plateau. In the novella, the villagers are eager to dig a well, but must make a lot of sacrifices because of feudal backwardness. The old push their desires for a well onto the young people; the young people, though, yearn for the world outside the mountains and are not willing to stay in the countryside. The novel condenses the history of China's development in the rural areas, and deeply analyzes the ambivalence of different generations in the rural areas, in ways both realistic and symbolic. The work was adapted into a film in 1986; the film was directed by Wu Tianming, stars Zhang Yimou and Lü Liping, and won many international awards.

Zheng Yi was born in Chongqing in 1947. He is a representative of the Scar Literature and 'Xungen' ("root-searching") literary movements. The six-year experience of going into the countryside as a youth gave him a deep understanding of what China's rural areas are really like. In his works, the suffering and tenacity of farmers is visible on every page. After the June 4th crackdown in 1989, Zheng Yi was wanted for his active participation in the student movement. He and his wife Bei Ming fled to Hong Kong in 1992 and then to the United States the following year.

References: [美國之音("Voice of America")(Chinese)] (https://www.voachinese.com/a/VOAWeishi-ProandCon-20161125-Zheng-Yi-inteview-1/3610203.html); [獨立中文筆會("Independent Chinese PEN Center")(Chinese)] (https://blog.bnn.co/hero/zhengyi/59_1.shtml); [華夏文摘("China News Digest")(Chinese)] (http://www.cnd.org/HXWZ/ZK93/zk9302b1.gb.html); 百科知識("Easyatm.com")(Chinese)] (https://www.easyatm.com.tw/wiki/《老井》[小說]#作者簡介)