Four generations under one roof

Author: Lao She
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: A national tragedy and a history of indignation, revealing the grand righteousness and fearless spirit of an ancient nation. A culture can only truly show its strengths and weaknesses at critical moments. A nation can only truly reveal its strength and weakness in times of crisis. One of the 100 great classics of China, a masterpiece that has influenced Chinese culture. Known as the "People's Artist," Lao She, with his delicate grasp of old Beijing, depicts the myriad flavors of the city. The person and the time are long gone, becoming a page in history; the old capital of those days has sunk into memory, while today's Beijing carries more weathered history. Open "Four Generations Under One Roof," and Lao She invites you to breathe the air of the past.
In early 1944, Lao She began writing the epic novel "Four Generations Under One Roof." The book is divided into three parts: "Confusion," "Survival," and "Famine," totaling over a million words. It follows the activities of the Qih family, a four-generation household in the Xiaoyangquan Hutong of Beiping, as the main thread, supplemented by the rise and fall, life and death of various people in the hutong. It truthfully records the distorted social landscape after Beiping fell under Japanese occupation, vividly portrays the tragic experiences, soul-shaking struggles, and resistance of the common people under the Japanese iron hooves, and creates a series of lifelike artistic figures. In an epic manner, it shows the great journey of the Chinese people and people around the world in fighting against fascism during World War II. The entire book is like a vast life scroll, grand in scale, stirring and moving, making it a touching masterpiece of realism. Lao She's "Four Generations Under One Roof" is not only one of the best novels published in China since World War II but also one of the best novels published in the United States during the same period.
"Four Generations Under One Roof" narrates the deep suffering of our nation, revealing the profound pain of a broken country and the artistic style of "blood and tears dripping from the pen." Here, the portrayal of social trends during hard times is realistic, and the theme of "choosing self-destruction through survival" is even more prominent due to the novel's somber tone and lyrical atmosphere. "Four Generations Under One Roof" is the work Lao She considered his best and most satisfying during his lifetime. The grand epic, composed of three parts, is rich in meaning, much like "Dream of the Red Chamber." The faces of all kinds of people during the war and the ancient capital of Beiping in exile are vividly recreated in this work.
"Four Generations Under One Roof" is undoubtedly a significant achievement in Lao She's long-fiction writing. Its ideological and artistic achievements mainly stem from the author's choice of cultural perspective. Against the backdrop of the Anti-Japanese War, the novel critically reflects on the negative aspects of family culture in traditional Chinese culture that have shaped the of the nation. This rational reflection is accompanied by the author's emotional attachment to family ethics. The different aesthetic choices between reason and emotion determine the author's different attitudes toward the positive and negative characters in the novel. To some extent, this increases the aesthetic effect of the work but also brings certain artistic limitations.
"Four Generations Under One Roof" uses the ordinary Xiaoyangquan Hutong of Beiping during the Anti-Japanese War as the specific setting for the story. It reflects the social psychology of Beiping citizens during the eight years of war—confusion, survival, and complacency—through the humiliating and tragic experiences of numerous ordinary people in several families. It recreates their slow, painful, and arduous journey to awakening in the face of national decline. The profound ideological significance of the work shows that the rise and fall of a nation depend not only on its economic development and advanced weaponry but also on the general social mentality of the people. Why did a great country with thousands of years of splendid civilization suffer from Japanese aggression? This must prompt deep reflection from intellectuals, including the author.
Lao She inherited the May Fourth tradition of remolding the national soul from Lu Xun. He pointed to the traditional culture of Beiping as the root cause of the Chinese people's weak, sloppy, and complacent nature, and the entire Beiping culture was based on family culture. Therefore, in his work, Lao She focuses on examining Chinese family culture, rationally reflecting on and critiquing its negative aspects. As is well known, "the family in China is a fortress of rituals." Yet this fortress accommodated many aspects of family culture, including hierarchical concepts, patriarchal ideas, ethical morals, and customs. "Four generations under one roof" was the ideal family model for traditional Chinese people, a family structure that had long been revered and was the only capital Qih the elder could boast about. He did everything possible to maintain the harmony of this family, enjoying the familial joy others did not have. Therefore, he was displeased when Rui Xuan secretly let his third son escape without his permission, indifferent to Rui Xuan's expulsion of Rui Feng during the Mid-Autumn Festival, furious at his son's suicide out of humiliation by the Japanese, and indignant at his granddaughter's death from hunger at a young age. When he could no longer endure, he finally stood up and shouted in anger at the Japanese. Yet once the war ended, he quickly forgot the suffering he had endured and said to his great-grandson, Xiao Shunzi, "As long as we can live, whether there is a war or not, what does it matter! Even if I die, you must live to this age. When you reach this age, you too will have a 'four generations under one roof' lineage." The spiritual burden of family culture is passed down from generation to generation in this way.
The work tells us that if the Chinese people do not change their cultural mindset of "more children, more blessings," break free from the ideal of "four generations under one roof," no matter how large the population or how strong the physique, they will ultimately only become meaningless spectacles and onlookers. This is a great modern Chinese novel, an immortal work by Lao She that depicts the Anti-Japanese War, exposes and condemns the brutal crimes of Japanese militarism, and praises and promotes the great patriotic spirit of the Chinese people. The work follows the life of the Qih family, a household of four generations, supplemented by the rise and fall, life and death of various people in the Xiaoyangquan Hutong. It truthfully records the distorted social landscape after Beiping fell under Japanese occupation, vividly portrays the tragic experiences, soul-shaking struggles, and resistance of the common people under the Japanese iron hooves, and creates a series of lifelike artistic figures. In an epic manner, it shows the great journey of the Chinese people and people around the world in fighting against fascism during World War II, as well as the life scroll, grand in scale, moving and stirring, making it a touching masterpiece of realism.