A Moment in Peking (Traditional Chinese: 京華煙雲, Simplified Chinese: 京华烟云) is a historical novel originally written in English by the Chinese American author Lin Yutang. The novel covers the turbulent events in China from 1900 to 1938, including the Boxer Rebellion, the Republican Revolution of 1911, the Warlord Era, the rise of nationalism and communism, and the origins of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945.
The author tries not to be overly judgemental of the characters because he recognizes that too many issues were involved in the chaotic years of the early twentieth century China. There was no absolutely right or wrong character. Each character held a piece of truth and reality and a piece of irrationalism. In the preface, Lin writes that "[This novel] is merely a story of . . . how certain habits of living and ways of thinking are formed and how, above all, [men and women] adjust themselves to the circumstances in this earthly life where men strive but gods rule."
While the author does not display hatred toward the Japanese, he does let events and situations affecting the novel characters to let the reader clearly see the reason the Chinese are still bitter about Japan's military past. The novel ends with a cliffhanger, letting the readers hope that the major characters who fled from the coastal regions to the inland of China would survive the horrible war.
Lin Yutang was nominated the Nobel Prize for Literature with this book in 1975.
Lin Yutang had originally wanted romantic poet Yu Dafu to do the translation to Chinese, but he had only completed the first section when he was killed in the Japanese invasion. His son Yu Fei finished the translation in 1991, but his version, while capturing the flavor of old Beijing, is not too widely read.
The novel has been adapted twice into television dramas, including the most recent version in 2004, starring Vicki Zhao Wei.

