Water-Borne Light

By Hong Zeng

This is the second collection in Hong Zeng's series of short stories: poetic, philosophical, and infused with magical realism. Nearly all of the stories derive their central ideas and defining images from the author's own creative poetry. The recurring motif of this collection is an exploration of the foundations of faith and belief."Water-borne Light" reverses the traditional theological premise that humanity is a reflection of divine light. Instead, it reveals that divinity itself is established upon humanity and becomes the reflection of the light generated by mortal beings' striving lives."Across Frozen River" follows the existential journey of Pastor Lin Mo as he confronts the transition from structured theological certainty toward a deeper, experiential understanding of faith. The story suggests that true spiritual insight is not found in escaping darkness and ambiguity, but in moving through them."Eucharist Rite" transforms the concept of immutable divinity into the idea of "divinity in process," revealing that the divinity of Christ takes shape through time and through the anguish of mortal suffering. In doing so, it dissolves the boundary between the divine and human existence."East and West" brings Eastern and Western traditions of belief together through American poet Wallace Stevens' assertion that "the final belief is the belief in a fiction which is known to be a fiction and nothing else." Both Zhuangzi's vision of "floating at ease," born from the fragmentation of wartime experience, and Nietzsche's recognition of the Apollonian and Dionysian forces emerging from primordial suffering in Greek tragedy point toward the redeeming power of an aestheticized religion."The Ear to the Tide," through its surrealistic narrative, intertwines the fire of Eros with the sickness and death of Thanatos, transforming a humble hospital nurse into a figure imbued with the aura of the Holy Mother."On the Way to La Crosse" carries a subtle existentialist black humor and sense of absurdity beneath its affectionate tone. It portrays an Alzheimer's patient's imagined hope of traveling to La Crosse, Wisconsin, to live with her brother's family-a hope that can never be realized. Yet this illusion itself provides her with the strength to continue living."Echo of the Unseen" depicts an adolescent love shaped by isolated imagination. Although the protagonist's idealized vision encounters disappointment when confronted with the reality of the beloved, it ultimately forms and enriches his inner cosmos across the passage of many years."Lake" approaches a state of spiritual tranquility reminiscent of Zen Buddhism, symbolized by the peaceful, all-encompassing, and undisturbed presence of a lake.

Hong Zeng holds two PhDs in literature and served as a professor of literature at Carleton College and Hamline University in the United States for thirteen years. She is the author of five books of literary criticism published in America, dozens of critical essays, and a bilingual poetry collection in English and Chinese.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HG3GWMW1
• ISBN13: 9798240836459
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Not Avail
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"