Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze falls into a category of the novel known as the bildungsroman: a story of the growth and development of a young protagonist, or a tale of initiation. (Bildung, in German, means education, and roman, in French, means novel.) A novel of this type often involves an apprentice as the main character engaged in the learning process, and it often includes one or more figures who convey the important lessons to be learned. In this case, the master-apprentice relationship is literal and specific, since Young Fu is formally contracted for a three-year period of apprenticeship to Tang the coppersmith, a master craftsman. Their relationship, however, extends far beyond the formal working contract of master craftsman and trainee. In fact, since Young Fu's father died before the action of the story begins, it is clear from the beginning that Tang...