Midnight (Chinese-English)

Author: Jiang Dewu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The Midnight is the masterpiece of the great master of modern Chinese literature, Mao Dun, and an outstanding long in the history of modern Chinese literature, written from October 1931 to December 1932. The Midnight, originally referring to the hour of the midnight, is the darkest time between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. This is the moment just before dawn. After this moment passes, dawn will arrive. The author chose this title to vividly summarize the main characteristics of Chinese society in the early 1930s, with profound implications. The story takes place in Shanghai in 1930, with the conflicts and struggles between the national industrial capitalist Wu Songfu and the comprador financial capitalist Zhao Botao as the main thread, vividly and deeply reflecting the social reality of the time. At the beginning, Zhao Botao lures Wu Songfu into participating in the stock market speculation, while Wu Songfu joins other capitalists to establish a trust company, aiming to vigorously develop national industry, thus creating conflicts with Zhao Botao. Relying on foreign financial capital as his backing, Zhao Botao opposes Wu Songfu at every turn. Adding to the warlord conflicts, rural bankruptcy, and worker strikes and slowdowns in factories, despite Wu Songfu and his associates doing their utmost and struggling desperately, they ultimately did not change their overall fate of failure. This tragedy illustrates that under the aggression, control, and oppression of imperialism, China's national industry could never develop. The original has a broad background, numerous characters, and a complex plot; the language is concise, delicate, and the characters' personalities are vividly depicted, with lively psychological portrayals. Although this is a condensed version, it still allows readers to roughly appreciate the artistic style of the original.