Midnight

Author: Mao Dun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-05-01
Features: In the 1930s, Shanghai was a turbulent city marked by frequent warfare. In high society, politicians, military officials, merchants, and speculators continued to engage in fierce competition and indulged in luxuries amidst the sounds of music and dance. Meanwhile, the vast working class and common people bore the heavy burden of an ailing economy and a sluggish market, facing the brink of survival. Against this social backdrop, Mr. Mao Dun, with his profound understanding of the era and a broad literary perspective, created the novel The Midnight. It follows the conflict and struggle between national industrial capitalist Wu Sunfu and comprador financial capitalist Zhao Botao as its main thread, deeply revealing class contradictions and national conflicts, and vividly portraying the social reality of the time. Titled The Midnight, the name not only symbolizes the darkness of old China but also represents the imminent dawn after midnight.
The author of The Midnight introduces the story as follows: Wu Sunfu, the owner of a silk factory in his mid-forties, has a face the color of soy sauce with numerous smallpox scars and thick eyebrows and round eyes. He is tall and imposing, with an air of authority. He has just arrived in Shanghai from the countryside, which has been plagued by banditry. Unprepared for the bustling, glittering city, the elderly landlord, accustomed to tranquility, cannot withstand the allure of his golden-haired and jade-skinned couple. Under such intense stimulation, he unexpectedly dies!