Looking for Suman

Author: Li Hong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: Does historical progress necessarily come with the decline of humanistic morality? Su Man, a beautiful and kind female student from a small town in northern Sichuan, arrives in vibrant Beijing. The allure of the city clashes with her pure nature. In the end, she cannot escape the trap woven by money and desire, becoming intoxicated amidst flowers, praise, and cheers. After losing her innocence, she gradually descends into depravity, becoming a tool for wealthy people in business deals, and eventually contracts AIDS, abandoned by her so-called "lovers." Through the story of Dr. Shen Ruojing, a female military doctor returning from abroad, who cares for Su Man and searches for her, the novel touches upon the decline of patriarchal rural society and the destruction of the corresponding patriarchal pastoral values during modernization, as well as the critique of urban life.