Modern Times (novel)

The novel is a satire of pseudo-reformers in the Qing Dynasty period who found difficulty adjusting to modernization, including its complexities and problems.

[3] Douglas Lancashire published an English translation, titled "Modern Times," in 1996.

[4] The background of the novel is that in the late Qing Dynasty, China's borders were opened by the West.

At that time, conservative Chinese people saw the strong ship and sharp cannon of modern Western civilization, leading to the rise of the reformist movement, and many people were sent to study abroad.

The article adopts a "Zhulian style" structure, without the protagonist and central character.

Cover of Wenming Xiaoshi ( Modern Times ), from the Fudan University
Introduction of the novel (volume one) in a 1915 edition