Midnight (New Curriculum Standard Reading Series: Chinese)

Author: Mao Dun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: To comprehensively improve the Chinese literacy of primary and secondary school students, enhance the modern awareness of Chinese teaching courses, and vigorously promote new learning methods, the Ministry of Education issued the "Full-Time Compulsory Education Chinese Curriculum Standards" and the "General High School Chinese Curriculum Standards" as core content of the basic education curriculum reform in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The "Chinese Curriculum Standards" serve as the basis for teaching, assessment, and exam question-setting, as well as the foundation for national curriculum management and evaluation, reflecting the fundamental requirements of the state for students at different stages in terms of knowledge, skills, processes, and methods. Compared to the original "Chinese Teaching Syllabus" for primary and secondary schools, the "Chinese Curriculum Standards" have made significant revisions to the specific titles of extracurricular reading materials in the original syllabus and have stipulated the total amount of reading required for students at different stages, urging primary and secondary school students to read widely. For this reason, we have compiled and published this series of "New Curriculum Standards Chinese Must-Read Books," with all the titles in the series designated by the new standards. To assist students in reading, we have included a preface introducing each classic work, providing an in-depth yet accessible overview of the book. This book covers three aspects: comprador bourgeoisie, national bourgeoisie, and revolutionaries as well as workers. Among these, the first two are subjects the author had direct contact with and familiarity with, allowing for a more authentic observation of them and their affairs. The latter, however, is based only on "second-hand" materials, such as accounts from those directly involved or third-party testimonies. This source of material makes the depiction of the comprador bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie in the novel more vivid and realistic, while the portrayal of revolutionaries and workers is much weaker. As for the development of rural revolutionary forces, there is a severe lack of even "second-hand" materials, and I was unwilling to invent scenarios from thin air, so I decided not to write about it. That is why I call this book "hemiplegic."