The narrator tells the story of his family's struggles, first as distillery owners making sorghum wine and then as resistance fighters during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The novel also details civil disputes between warring Chinese groups, including rival gangs and political powers.

The book also refers to the Cultural Revolution and the 1972 resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

Amidst decades of bloodshed and death, it grows steadfast to provide food, shelter, wine and life.

Mo Yan employs a terse style in the novel that is characterized by brevity and non-chronological storytelling written in the first-person.