Peach Image in Peach Tattoo: On Li Tianbao’s Nostalgic Culture Background and Identification

Li Tianbao is good at using images of Chinese style to expand the narrative structure of his novels. In Peach Tattoo, a peach is the major image supporting the novel’s texture. Li uses this somewhat gaudy name, which is full of Chinese traditional culture, to create a nostalgic atmosphere and desolate style in telling an old love story in Malaysia. The peach in his novel is much different from Nie Hualing’s sense of enthusiasm and self-worth; it is also not the same as Zhang Ailing’s style of satire and ridicule. Li’s writing conveys a sense of misery and homesick among the alienated Malaysian immigrants while showing his solicitude and care for them.