Midnight (I&II) by Mao Dun
This book depicts people from all walks of life, including merchants, soldiers, intellectuals and social butterflies, old fogies, workers, and so on, painting a broad picture of social life in old China in the 1930s against the backdrop of the semi-feudal and semi-colonial old Shanghai from May to June of that year. Although Wu Sunfu tries to revive the national industry, speeds up to oppress the working people, and vigorously speculates from government bonds in the harsh environment of warlord dogfights and worker strikes, in the end, he suffers a crushing defeat and completely goes bankrupt due to the powerful economic containment of his opponent Zhao Botao.
Midnight (I&II) by Mao Dun
Amazon.com
Mao Dun is one of many contemporary modern Chinese authors who were left-wing, believed in realism, and preferred to write in a conversational manner as opposed to a more formal, classical one. They desired to be more contemporary, and many of them were drawn to Shanghai. The writings of Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Lao She, and others had to be published in order to become part of the contemporary Chinese literary phenomena. Additionally, there wasn’t as much censorship in Shanghai as there was in the rest of China, where many of the works they were creating would have been.
Mao Dun explores the two sides of the Chinese experience in Shanghai: the appalling working conditions in the factories that prompted the formation of labour unions and socialist and communist organizations, and the obscenely wealthy Shanghaiese class on the other. The richest Chinese in China also resided in Shanghai, which at the time had a population of four million people. However, three million of those people were likely absolutely destitute or living on the edge. Mao Dun depicts all sides: those who work in factories for a pittance while hungry and losing fingers and eyes, and those who send their helpless children to Cambridge while living in opulent homes and lavish splendour. In addition, they frequently adopt a Western culture in their faith, reading habits, academic pursuits, and attire.
