By Night (Commentary Edition)

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Features: This is a work that is very close to reality, depicting the real life in Xijing in the 1990s. The characters in the book come from various social strata, including high-ranking administrative leaders in the city, other administrative officials who are either successful or frustrated; long-time urban residents who rise and fall in the business world based on real estate conditions; migrant workers and vegetable vendors who have come from the countryside to make their way in the city; archaeologists, police officers, actors, paper-cutting artists, fashion models; nouveau riche, old-timers, descendants of aristocrats, and so on. This is a work that is very close to reality, depicting the real life in Xijing in the 1990s. The characters in the book come from various social strata, including high-ranking administrative leaders in the city, other administrative officials who are either successful or frustrated; long-time urban residents who rise and fall in the business world based on real estate conditions; migrant workers and vegetable vendors who have come from the countryside to make their way in the city; archaeologists, police officers, actors, paper-cutting artists, fashion models; nouveau riche, old-timers, descendants of aristocrats, and so on. The novel uses simple yet vivid language to weave through the various scenes and corners of life in Xijing, recreating the survival states, desires, and pursuits of these people, as well as their hatred, love, deception, and mutual help. There is the tragic love between a roamer and a noble, the wandering activities of a ghost opera troupe, the manipulation in the official circles, the gambling and humor in the slums. White Night may primarily use realistic brushwork, but it is also heavily tinged with elements of the magical. Examples include the rebirth of a person who has died and come back to life, only to die again; the peculiar premonitions of an elderly paper-cutting artist; a ghostly key that causes someone to suffer from an incurable nocturnal wandering syndrome; and the feminization and silkworm transformation of an official who has fallen on hard times after a stroke. Especially the mysterious and enigmatic performance of the ghost opera, which blurs the lines between humans and spirits, casts a thick, pervasive sense of mystery over real life, and also evokes metaphysical thoughts about the yin and yang of the universe. The title of this book itself reveals the author's intention to bridge the yin and yang worlds. The staging of the ghost opera and the lively drama of human life make one feel the vivid worldly human nature of the ghost world, as well as the treacherous and ghostly characteristics of human society. The things and activities that take place in the dark night can be seen as clearly as during the day; yet some actions that occur in broad daylight can be as unrestrained as in the dark.