Ripple on Stagnant Water
1936 novel
Ripple on Stagnant Water (traditional Chinese: 死水微瀾; simplified Chinese: 死水微澜), also translated as Ripples Across Stagnant Water, and Ripples on Dead Water, is a novel by Li Jieren. It was first published in 1935. An updated version appeared in 1955.
Plot
The work follows the married and romantic life of Deng Yaogu, a resident of the town of Tianhui along with her husband, Cai Xingshun. She wants to change the circumstances of her live relocate to Chengdu. She is involved in two affairs and divorces Cai between the first and second. The first is with her cousin, Cambuel Luo, who is in a secretive organization known as Elder Brothers Society. The second is with Gu Tiancheng, a Christian from Chengdu whom she marries.
By describing the lives of commoners, the novel reveals a complex balance of power among the local Christian communities, Elder Brothers Society and the bureaucracy, during the last decade of the 19th century.
According to Yuehtsen Juliette Chung of National Tsing-Hua University, Cambuel Luo and Gu Tiancheng represent both a city-country tension.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ripple on Stagnant Water” is 1936 novel. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ripple, Stagnant and Water, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1936 novel” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10369001. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1935 and 1955.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ripple on Stagnant Water”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ripple on Stagnant Water primary sources, Ripple on Stagnant Water archive and Ripple research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ripple on Stagnant Water” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.