Information about Xiao Fuxing and Ye Shengtao

Legibility is a prominent feature in Ye Shengtao’s works. It means readers can perceive and understand the content of the article more efficiently. As a journalist, Ye Shengtao emphasizes the use of words in his works. This is probably because he worked as a teacher for more than 10 years before becoming an editor. He believes that articles are written for readers, and he regards articles as a tool for communication between readers and authors. A huge problem faced by authors at the time was that they were not equipped with good writing skills. Their expressions are inaccurate and ambiguous. Only well-educated people can appreciate their articles. The author does not pay attention to the importance of practicality. Therefore, literary works are difficult to be accepted by the general public. Ye Shengtao believes that only when a person writes articles that are practical and easy to understand can he write some elegant works. An article is useless if the reader does not understand its content.

Edit this paragraph's literary contribution

Realism

Realism: a mirror of life

Realism is Ye Shengtao's most distinctive characteristic. Ye Shengtao is one of the pioneers of realistic writing. His works are like a mirror, reflecting the dark side of society and human nature.

Because he is an educator, in Ye Shengtao's works, he described many intellectuals, many of whom were exploited and were not

Ye Shengtao and Ba Jin

People at the bottom of society who are capable of resistance. Ye Shengtao always reflects the truth and reality in his works. He expressed his democratic and socialist ideas in his novels such as "The Fire", "Below the Line" and "Scarecrow". These articles focus on the painful lives of people at the bottom of society. His acclaimed novel "Ni Huanzhi" chronicles the tragic life of an intellectual.

Ye Shengtao found that many people in New China were selfish, cold, hypocritical and conservative. People give up the value of their lives for a stable life. Ye Shengtao satirized these people in his works. He expressed his dissatisfaction and hoped to awaken people's awareness and face these social ills. Ye Shengtao not only writes stories, but also reports on social fallacies. His works are not for entertainment, but to fill people's spare time with cognition and reflection on reality. "...The basis of writing is a pair of insightful and observant eyes, and my eyes are not very insightful... Of course, it is not necessary to train one's eyes for the purpose of writing. The training of the eyes is In order to gain insight into reality and enrich life." (Excerpted from Ye Shengtao, "Past Talk", page 46)

The fairy tale is simple, but it has profound connotations. He believed that children had personal perceptions of their surroundings and should develop their critical skills. Through Ye Shengtao's story, children can gradually gain a clear understanding of the relationship between this society and them.

Tong created a new world.

"Rose

Suzhou Gardens

"Suzhou Gardens" was selected as a Chinese textbook, selected from the 1979 issue 4 of "Encyclopedia Knowledge", originally titled "Clumsy Gardens" Zheng Zhuyuan expresses deep affection——Talking about Suzhou gardens." The Humble Administrator's Garden, one of the classical gardens in Suzhou, was built during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. (1508-1521) Painter Wen Zhengming participated in the design.

Mr. Ye Shengtao is a giant of modern Chinese literature. He was born in the ancient city of Suzhou in 1894. Since he grew up in Suzhou, he has deep feelings for every plant and tree in Suzhou, especially the Suzhou gardens, which are famous both at home and abroad.

Suzhou is a city of beautiful gardens. According to Mr. Ye Shengtao himself, he has visited more than ten gardens. We can also read the poems and essays about Suzhou gardens left by the saint.

Ye Shengtao was born in poverty. When he was young, he attended a private school set up by a wealthy family. Later, he studied at Suzhou Caoqiao Middle School. After graduating from middle school, because he could not afford to go to school, he taught at Yanzimiao Primary School in Ganjiangfang, Suzhou. Ye Shengtao loved literature and gardens.

He started literary activities in middle school, and organized the poetry society "Fangshe" with his classmates Gu Jiegang, Wang Boxiang and others.

After the founding of New China, Ye Shengtao served as deputy director of the National Publishing Administration and deputy minister of education. While waiting for an important position, he has lived in Beijing for a long time, but he still has a dream about Suzhou gardens. In 1956, Tongji University published the album "Suzhou Gardens" compiled by Professor Chen Congzhou. After Ye Shengtao learned about it, he purchased the album by mail. He said himself: "When I read it in my spare time at work, I always felt that "It's fresh and tasty, and it's a pleasure to watch it once." In 1974, Shengweng and Chen Congzhou met. Professor Chen gave Shengweng many Chinese paintings of pines, bamboos, orchids and chrysanthemums, and Shengweng filled in a series of paintings. I thanked him in the poem Song of the Immortal in the Cave, which still featured Suzhou gardens: "A collection of beautiful gardens that I have treasured for many years, and I am deeply attached to all the gardens of the Humble Administrator. I miss the children who often play with their window lovers, and they can be found all over the mountains, paths, corridors, corridors, and banks." . This autumn, I pass the bamboo slips to attract beautiful women, and the wonderful paintings often make me feel ashamed. In this poem, the saint's attachment to Suzhou gardens is beyond words. After liberation, gardens such as the Humble Administrator's Garden have become resorts for working people to relax and visit. The author also recalled the scenes when he was a child and teenager playing with his classmates and walking on the corridors and mountain trails. This coincides with and echoes the previously mentioned incident of visiting the garden and composing poems in 1913. The second half of the poem describes the saint's joy at getting to know Professor Chen Congzhou and appreciating the paintings presented by Chen Congzhou.

In early 1979, Chen Congzhou invited Shengweng to write a preface for his album "Suzhou Gardens" published by Scenery Pictorial Publishing House, and Shengweng readily agreed. In the preface, Sheng Weng briefly discussed the charm of Suzhou gardens. He appreciated that Suzhou gardens "pay attention to the layout of pavilions, terraces and pavilions, the coordination of rockeries and ponds, the contrast of flowers, plants and trees, and the hierarchy of close and distant views. In short, everything must exist to form a perfect picture", so that visitors can gain The feeling of "like being in a picture".

“The Humble Administrator’s gardens express deep love”, this is Ye Shengtao’s natural expression and vivid description of his deep love for Suzhou gardens.

Ye Shengtao Seminar

In 2003, in order to commemorate the 105th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Ye Shengtao, a famous writer and educator in my country, and to remember this model of outstanding intellectuals in modern times, the Ye Shengtao Research Association, China The Publishing Association, the China Editors Society and other organizations jointly hosted the "Symposium on Ye Shengtao's Thoughts and Practice on Editing and Publishing" and held the unveiling ceremony of the bronze statue of Mr. Ye Shengtao in Beijing. [6]

Ye Shengtao Cup Composition Competition

The "Ye Shengtao Cup" National New Composition Competition for Middle School Students is by far the highest-level, most authoritative and most influential middle school student composition competition in the country. One of the competitions, it has attracted the attention of middle school teachers and students across the country as well as the education, literature and publishing circles. Started in 2003, it is authorized by Mr. Ye Zhishan (son of Ye Shengtao), the famous publisher, writer, former editor-in-chief of "Middle School Students" magazine, and president of China Children's Publishing House. Ms. Ye Xiaomo, granddaughter of Ye Shengtao and senior editor, attended the 8th awards ceremony The conference spoke highly of the competition. It is currently sponsored by the China Children's Press and Publishing Corporation, the Campus Literature Committee of the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association, and hosted by the Middle School Student Magazine. With its fresh ideas, healthy orientation and standardized and fair selection principles and procedures, it has won the trust of teachers and students and a good social reputation.

The competition combines Ye Shengtao’s educational thoughts with the new concepts of the new curriculum standards, reflecting a unique style that both inherits tradition and has the courage to innovate. The competition aims to "carry forward Ye Shengtao's educational thoughts, actively cooperate with the new curriculum reform, advocate healthy writing among middle school students, and discover and cultivate new literary seedlings" and takes "life-oriented content, personalized expression, and diversified style" as its basic concept.

The main idea is to encourage students to experience and cultivate a strong awareness of resources and aesthetics in real life, and use natural scenery, cultural relics, customs, major domestic and foreign events, and our daily life as materials for composition; encourage students to Objectively reflect campus life, observe social life, see with your own eyes, think with your own thinking, restore the various forms of life, and restore unique dreams; we emphasize what to write, what to pay attention to, how to write new ideas, and emphasis on composition The significance to life, to life, to the cultivation of humanistic quality and sound personality. The seven criteria for reviewing manuscripts are: 1. Good selection of materials; 2. New characters; 3. True emotion; 4. Clever conception; 5. Skillful technique; 6. Beautiful language; 7. Solid writing style.

The competition strives to serve students and improve their Chinese literacy. A channel of interconnection is opened between daily composition, examination composition, and competition composition. It is open to all students so that every student has the opportunity to get exercise. The competition encourages students to use real life as writing resources, effectively mobilizes their interest and enthusiasm for writing, and improves their writing level and Chinese language scores in the college entrance examination and high school entrance examination. Many award-winning authors have become the top scorer in the college entrance examination, high school entrance examination, or Chinese single subject, or have passed the recommendation Enter higher-level schools through independent enrollment, special admissions and other channels. Soochow University has included the "Ye Shengtao Cup" competition in its independent enrollment brochure. Participating in the competition is conducive to improving students' Chinese literacy and overall quality. Many students have become talents who contribute to society through the experience of the competition. The competition strives to serve teachers and improve professional standards, and has become the assistant and friend of middle school Chinese teachers. By organizing students to participate in the competition, teachers not only improve teaching efficiency and achieve more teaching results, but also play an important role in teacher performance evaluation and professional title evaluation. They also have the opportunity to participate in national writing teaching seminars and showcase teaching and research results. Accelerate the pace of teacher professional development. The competition strives to serve the school and improve the level of school running. Many schools closely integrate school writing teaching and campus culture construction, include competition activities in their plans, and organize students to participate in consecutive years, which has effectively improved the current situation of writing teaching and formed a good integration of writing teaching, campus cultural life, and ideological and moral education. education methods, and gradually formed and developed the school's educational characteristics. As a result, many schools have entered the ranks of model schools, characteristic schools, and famous schools. The competition strives to build a platform for communication and success in cultivating new literary talents. So far, 60 "little writers" and a group of literary newcomers have emerged from here, including Zhang Mudi (the youngest member of the Tianjin Writers Association), Cao Jinghui (one of the top ten universities in Shandong) Outstanding students), Zhu Shien (Editor-in-Chief of Shanghai's "Little Master Newspaper") and Dai Riqiang (Editor-in-Chief of "Shengda Literary Novel Reading Network"), etc. The competition strives to open up a field of practice and research to promote curriculum reform, and to promote Campus literary activities and the reform of writing teaching have played a positive role.

The magazine "Middle School Students", the organizer of the competition, was founded by Xia Zunzun, Ye Shengtao and others in 1930. Zhu Ziqing, Zhu Guangqian, Zhou Zuoren, Yu Pingbo, Lin Yutang, Zheng Zhenduo, Feng Zikai, Cai Yuanpei, Yu Dafu and other famous writers were all authors or participants of this journal. The journal was a good friend of middle school students at that time who "cannot live without this person for a day". It was the center of Chinese language education at that time and played an important role in Chinese education and education. Its status in the history of literary development is unshakable. After the founding of New China, Chairman Mao Zedong personally inscribed the title of the magazine in the autumn of 1964, expressing the good wishes of the party and state leaders for the excellent education of the older generation of educators and writers. The idea perfectly matches the spirit of our new era and constitutes the healthy theme of the writing contest. "Middle School Students", a famous national magazine with a history of more than 80 years, hosts the "Ye Shengtao Cup" essay competition. Under the situation of quality education and new curriculum reform, Guide all kinds of composition competitions across the country to develop in a healthy, orderly and effective direction

Edit this section of work appreciation

"Scarecrow"

In the field. Some poets wrote beautiful poems about the scenery and scenes during the day, and some painters painted them into vivid paintings. At night, the poet drank and became a little drunk; while the painter was holding a delicate musical instrument and singing softly: No one has time to go to the fields.

He thought about the future situation in the fields, his master's tears and shriveled face, and his master's fate, and his heart felt like a knife. But the little moth has rested. No matter how hard you try, it won't move.

When the stars returned in groups and all the night scenes disappeared, the little moth flew away. The scarecrow looked carefully at the rice leaf. Sure enough, the tip of the leaf was rolled up, with many small moth seeds on it. This made the Scarecrow feel infinitely frightened, thinking that disaster was really coming, and the more he became afraid, the more he could not escape. Poor master, all she has is two blurry eyes; you have to tell her so that she can see the little moth's child as soon as possible, so that she can be saved. As he thought this, the fan shook even more frequently. The fan often hits the body and makes a snapping sound. He won't scream, it's the only way to warn his master.

The old woman came to the field. She bent down to see that the water in the field was just right, and there was no need for traffic from the river to come in. Look at the rice planted by her hands, they are all very strong; touch the rice ears, they are heavy. Look at the scarecrow again, his hat is still on straightly; his fan is still in his hand, shaking and making a snapping sound; and he is still standing very well, upright, his position has not moved, and his appearance is exactly the same as before. Seeing that everything was fine, she walked onto the bank of the field, ready to go home and rub the straw rope.

When the scarecrow saw that his master was about to leave, he was so anxious that he quickly shook his fan, trying to keep his master with his urgent voice. The voice seemed to say: "My master, don't go! Don't think that everything in the field is fine. The big disaster has already left roots in the field. Once it breaks out, it will be out of control. At that time, your tears will be shed and your heart will be broken; hurry up and put it out before it's too late. Here, on this tree, look at the leaf tips of this rice tree!" He leaned on the fan! The voice warned repeatedly; but the old woman didn't understand and walked away step by step. He was so anxious that he kept shaking the fan vigorously. Only when the master's back was out of sight did he realize that the warning was ineffective.

No one is worried about the rice except the Scarecrow. He wished he could jump over and extinguish the root of the disaster; he also wished he could ask the wind to bring a message, asking his master to come and eradicate the disaster quickly. His body was originally very thin, but now he looked even more haggard with depression. He no longer even had the strength to stand up straight, but his shoulders were slanted and his waist was bent, as if he was ill.

Within a few days, in the rice fields, the caterpillars turned into flesh worms were everywhere. In the dead of night, the Scarecrow heard the sound of them chewing rice leaves, and saw their faces becoming more and more greedy as they ate. Gradually, a large area of ??dark green rice disappeared, leaving only bare stalks. He was heartbroken and couldn't bear to look at it anymore. Thinking that his master's hard work this year could only bring tears and sighs, he couldn't help but lower his head and cry.

The weather was very cold at this time, and it was in the fields at night. The cold wind made the scarecrow shiver; it was just because he was crying that he didn't feel it. Suddenly a woman's voice came: "Who did I think it was? It turns out to be you." He was startled and felt very cold. But what can be done? In order to fulfill his responsibility, and because he couldn't help but move, he had no choice but to stand there even though he was cold. He looked at the woman and saw that she was a fisherwoman. In front of the field is a river, and the fisherman's boat is parked by the river, with a faint light of fire in the cabin. At that time, she was lowering the propped up fish trap to the bottom of the river. When the fish trap sank, she sat on the bank and waited for a while to pull it up.

The sound of children coughing often came from the cabin, and the sleepy, subtle voice of calling mother often came from the cabin. This made her very anxious. She tried hard to pull the reel, but it always seemed to be awkward and almost always came up empty. The child in the cabin was still coughing and shouting, so she said to the cabin: "You have a good sleep! When I get the fish, I will cook porridge for you tomorrow. You keep calling me and it makes me feel upset." How can we get fish!"

The child couldn't help but shouted: "Oh my god, I'm so thirsty! Give me some tea!" Then there was another cough.

"Where did the tea come from here! Please be honest for a while, my ancestor!"

"I'm dying of thirst!" The child cried loudly. In the empty fields at night, this cry seemed particularly miserable.

The fisherwoman had no choice but to put down the rope, got on the boat, entered the cabin, picked up a bowl, scooped a bowl of water from the river, turned around and gave it to the child to drink. The child drank the water in one gulp. He was really thirsty. But as soon as he put the bowl down, he started coughing again; and it got worse, and then he was just gasping for air.

The fisherwoman couldn’t take too much care of her child, so she went ashore to pull her out of the boat again. After a long time, there was no sound in the cabin, and her fishing reel was empty several times before she caught a crucian carp, which was seven or eight inches long. This was her first harvest. She took the fish out of the fishing reel very carefully. Put it in a barrel, and then put it down again. The fish barrel is next to the scarecrow's feet.

At this time, the Scarecrow became even more sad. He pitied the sick child. He was so thirsty that he couldn't even take a sip of tea. He was so sick that he couldn't sleep with his mother. He also pitied the fisherwoman, who was planning tomorrow's porridge in the cold night, so he had to harden his heart and leave the sick child alone. He wished he could make firewood and make tea for his children; he could not wait to make bedding to give his children some warmth; he could not wait to seize the spoils from the little meatworms and cook porridge for the fisherwoman. If he could walk, he would immediately do as he wished; but unfortunately, his body was like a tree, fixed in the soil and unable to move even half a step. He had no choice. The more he thought about it, the sadder he became, and the more he cried. There was a sudden snap, and he was startled. He stopped crying and saw what happened. It turned out that the crucian carp was thrown into the barrel.

There is very little water in the wooden barrel. The crucian carp lies on the bottom of the barrel, and only the lower side can get some moisture. The crucian carp felt very uncomfortable and wanted to escape, so it jumped up hard. After jumping several times, I was blocked by the high barrel frame and still fell to the bottom of the barrel, which hurt my body very much. When the crucian carp saw the scarecrow with one of its upward eyes, it begged: "My friend, please put down the fan for now and save me! If I leave my home in the water, I will die. Kind friend, Help me!"

Hearing the crucian carp's sincere plea, the Scarecrow felt very sad; but he could only shake his head vigorously. What he meant was: "Please forgive me, I am a weak and incompetent person! My heart is not only willing to save you, but also the woman who caught you and her child. Apart from you, the fisherwoman and the child, There are all the sufferings. But I am stuck in the soil like a tree, unable to move even half a step freely. How can I do what I want! Please forgive me, I am a weak and incompetent person! ”

Crucia carp didn’t understand what the scarecrow meant. He only saw him shaking his head repeatedly, and his anger burned like fire. "What kind of difficulty is this! You don't have any human feelings at all, you just shake your head! It turns out that I was wrong. Why should I ask others for my own difficulties? I should do it myself. If I don't think of a way, it will just die. It doesn't matter. What!" The crucian carp shouted loudly and jumped up again, this time with twelve points of force, even the tips of its tail and pectoral fins stood up.

The Scarecrow saw that the crucian carp misunderstood his meaning and had no way to explain it to the crucian carp. He felt very sad and sighed and cried at the same time. After a while, he looked up and saw that the fisherwoman was asleep, still holding the rope in one hand; this was because she was too tired, and although she was thinking about tomorrow's porridge, she finally couldn't hold on any longer. What about the crucian carp in the bucket? The sound of jumping was no longer audible, and the tail seemed to be moving intermittently. The Scarecrow thought, this night is a lot of sad things come together, what a sad night! But look at the little robbers eating rice leaves. They are very happy. They are full and dancing on the bare stalks. The rice harvest is over, and the owner's aging strength has been wasted. Is there anything more pitiful than this in the world?

The night became darker, and even the stars seemed dull. The scarecrow suddenly felt a dark figure walking from the bank to the side. When he got closer, he looked carefully and saw that it was a woman, wearing a fat short coat and her hair was messy. She stopped and looked at the fishing boats parked by the river. She turned around and walked towards the river bank. After a few steps, she stood there straight again. The Scarecrow felt strange and watched her carefully.

A very sad sound came from her mouth, weak and intermittent, and only a Scarecrow who was accustomed to hearing all the little sounds at night could hear it.

The voice said: "I am neither a cow nor a pig, how can I let you sell it to others casually! I want to run, I can't wait to be sold to others by you tomorrow. You have a little If you lose your money in two games or spend it on drinking water for a few days, it doesn’t matter! Why do you have to force me? ... There is no other way but death! If you die, go to the underground to find my child. Come on!" How could these words make sense? I was crying so hard that my voice was messed up.

The Scarecrow was very frightened, and another tragic thing happened to him.

She is seeking death! He was anxious and wanted to save her, but he didn't know why. He fanned again, trying to wake up the sleeping fisherwoman. But it couldn't be done. The fisherwoman slept as if dead, motionless. He hated himself for not being able to move even half a step like a tree stuck in the soil. Isn’t it a sin to ignore someone’s fate? I am committing this sin myself. This is really a pain worse than death! "Oh my god, let it light up! Farmers, let's get up! Birds can fly to report the news! The wind will blow away her thoughts of death!" He prayed silently; but it was still dark all around, and there was no trace of it. sound. He was heartbroken. He was afraid of looking but could not stop looking, so he timidly stared at the black figure standing by the river.

The woman stood silently for a while, then leaned forward a few times. The Scarecrow knew that the terrible time had come, and the fan in his hand flapped louder. But she didn't jump, and stood there straight again.

After a while, she suddenly raised her arms and rushed toward the river as if her body had fallen. When the Scarecrow saw this, he fainted before hearing the sound of her falling into the water.

The next morning, the farmer passed by the river bank and found a dead body in the river, and the news spread immediately. All the men and women nearby came to see him. The noisy people woke up the fisherwoman who was sleeping soundly. She saw that the crucian carp in the barrel was already stiff and dead.

She carried the bucket and walked back to the cabin; the sick child woke up, his face became thinner and his cough became more severe. The old peasant woman also followed everyone to the river to take a look; she walked through her rice field and took a look at it. Unexpectedly, after only a few days, it was over. The rice leaves and ears were gone, leaving only the stiff, bare stalks. She was so anxious that she stamped her feet, beat her chest, and cried loudly. Everyone came to ask her to persuade her, and saw the scarecrow lying in the middle of the field.

Written on June 7, 1922[7]

"Waterfall"

I haven’t seen the waterfall yet,

I heard the waterfall first The sound of the waterfall

is like waves surging onto the beach,

and like gusts of wind blowing through the pine forest.

The mountain road suddenly turned,

Ah! I saw the whole body of the waterfall!

Such a scene is indescribable.

Thousands of feet of green mountains are set against a streak of silver.

Standing at the foot of the waterfall and looking up,

How great, a screen of pearls!

Every now and then a gust of wind comes,

Blowing it like smoke, fog, and dust. [8]

"Heavy to Lu Zhi"

Not long after the "Cultural Revolution" ended, Mr. Ye proposed that he wanted to go back to southern Jiangsu. Accompanied by his daughter-in-law Xia Manzi and grandson-in-law Yao Wuzhen (Yao is Mr. Ye's full-time secretary), he took a boat on May 16, 1977 and arrived at Luzhi Ancient Town, a water town after 55 years. People waited on the shore early to welcome the arrival of Mr. Ye, who they admired in their hearts. When everyone saw the 84-year-old Mr. Ye stepping ashore in high spirits, the crowd almost cheered. Mr. Ye was also very excited and felt very cordial to see the villagers. Especially when several of Mr. Ye’s former students (now elderly) came up to greet them, Mr. Ye could recognize their faces and called out their names in turn: Xu Zhuo , Yin Zhipan, Song Zhicheng... these students were so excited that they burst into tears and said, "We haven't seen each other for more than fifty years, but the teacher still remembers our names." The people present also moved for this unbroken friendship between teachers and students. Impressed...

When Mr. Ye saw the words "Mien Niujing" on the enamel street sign on the wall, he said with a smile: "It was just a joke at first, but I didn't expect it to actually change."

Unfortunately, Mr. Ye’s wife, Ms. Hu Molin, died of illness in March 1957. When the past events were brought up again, everyone was afraid that Mr. Ye would be offended by the scene, so they changed the topic and helped him go elsewhere...

Mr. Ye During this trip back to Luzhi, I wrote a poem called "Heavy to Luzhi", which expressed my feelings about being away from Luzhi for a long time:

After fifty-five years of this journey, Songbo's thirty-sixth round was light. ,

In line with the ancient times, the eyes of the classics should be emphasized, and the classmates should still remember their names.

Looking at the remnants of the duck fighting pond, sleeping cows walking side by side in memory,

Come again and again, with endless attentiveness to say goodbye. [6]

"Ni Huanzhi"

"Ni Huanzhi" is an important work of Ye Shengtao. It is not only his only novel, but also one of the most mature novels in the early stage of new literature.

The publication of "Ni Huanzhi" in 1930, together with Mao Dun's "Midnight", became the real beginning of modern novels, and was hailed by Mao Dun as "a masterpiece" in the history of modern Chinese literature. Different from the mood of Ye Shengtao's short stories, "Ni Huanzhi" does not describe the gray life of ordinary citizens and intellectuals, but shows the bumpy struggle of intellectuals who pursue lofty ideals. In primary school teacher Ni Huanzhi, Ye Shengtao relatively completely wrote about the intellectual pursuits and experiences from the Revolution of 1911 to the failure of the Great Revolution one year before the novel came out (that is, in 1929).

The protagonist of the novel, Ni Huanzhi, is a young intellectual with ideals and ambitions. He is a typical example of the "May Fourth" idealists, and he also has the weakness of the petty bourgeoisie. His May Fourth idealism is reflected in two aspects: first, in terms of content, he built an ideal school and family in the May Fourth style; second, in spirit, his purity, innocence, and fantasy, regardless of social environment and Personalities that realize the realistic possibility of ideals all reflect the characteristics of May Fourth adolescence.

In his early years, Ni Huanzhi greeted the Revolution of 1911 with full hopes of reforming society, but he encountered obstacles everywhere. After the failure of the Revolution of 1911, he had no choice but to face a crisis: on the one hand, the school-running plan and teaching methods they formulated had romantic reformist overtones, so they encountered heavy resistance from all aspects of the countryside, and finally had to On the other hand, after marriage, Jin Peizhang began to indulge in trivial family matters, gradually losing his former passion and vigor, and the distance between him and Ni Huanzhi became deeper and deeper. Ni Huanzhi lamented that "he had a wife, but lost a lover and a comrade", thus he also suffered a failure in love. education sector. At this time, he was determined to realize two ideals; the first was to carry out practical reforms and save the country through education, and the second was to find an ideal marriage partner with modern consciousness. For a certain period of time, his life ideal seemed to be successfully realized: first he met Jiang Bingru, the principal of a primary school who was interested in reforming education, and then he met Jin Peizhang, a new-school girl. The two gradually fell in love and got married because of their like-mindedness. But soon, Ni Huanzhi's "ideal education" and the "ideal love" he pursued were challenged at the same time