Midnight - Classic Collection

Author: Zhang Henshu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The Deep Night is one of Zhang Henshu's most outstanding long novels and was written during his peak creative period. It is a 41-chapter traditional Chinese narrative novel. In the 1940s, Shanghai Baixin Bookstore, which sold "The Deep Night" under the title The Great Collection of Zhang Henshu's Masterpieces, introduced the book as follows: This book tells the story of an orphan girl who learns to act after becoming a disciple, enduring layer upon layer of hardship to become a famous actress. Due to her youth and naivety, she falls into temptation and is ensnared. It fiercely exposes the vices of society, such as gambling, prostitution, and indulgence. The book also delves into the romantic and amusing tales of love, jealousy, and pleasure between men and women, portraying them with exceptional finesse. The writing is vivid, the plot is highly tense and passionate, and the characters are diverse. The film company Guohua Film Production has adapted the novel into a movie, showcasing its brilliance. The novel depicts the emotional entanglement between Che Yi'er and the singing girl Wang Yuerong, with a plot that twists and turns, gripping the audience. It delves deep into human nature, revealing profound truths, and the psychological portrayals of the male and female protagonists are particularly delicate. It is especially noteworthy that "The Deep Night" was originally the name of a musical piece in the opera The Farewell of Lady Yu (from The Battle of Red Cliffs), where Lady Yu performs a sword dance. Zhang Henshu ingeniously weaves this erhu piece throughout the novel, serving as a bond between the protagonists' joys and sorrows and a thread guiding the plot's development. Not only are most scenes set in the depths of night, but the novel's overall tone is dark, cold, and melancholic. "The Deep Night" symbolizes the tragic fate of Che Yi'er and Wang Yuerong, revealing the cruelty and darkness of society. In terms of its clever conception, complete structure, and rich character development, The Deep Night surpasses A Love Story of Laughter and Tears. Zhang Henshu's novels blend the mundane with the elegant, the refined with the entertaining, making them thought-provoking and captivating. They have had a profound impact on society and readers. His works are worth rereading and appreciating, as well as studying, learning from, and inheriting. The book tells the story of an orphan girl who learns to act after becoming a disciple, enduring layer upon layer of hardship to become a famous actress. Due to her youth and naivety, she falls into temptation and is ensnared. It fiercely exposes the vices of society, such as gambling, prostitution, and indulgence. The book also delves into the romantic and amusing tales of love, jealousy, and pleasure between men and women, portraying them with exceptional finesse. The writing is vivid, the plot is highly tense and passionate, and the characters are diverse!