By tracing Fugui’s journey through decades of societal upheaval, Yu Hua vividly illustrates the fragility and strength of the human spirit.
The story’s depiction of ordinary people enduring extraordinary hardships has resonated with readers across cultural and historical boundaries.
[1] To Live is one of the most representative works by Yu Hua, which is also considered as the signal of his creative transformation in literature from avant-garde fiction to literary realism.
[2] The literature techniques Yu Hua applies in the story reveal both the struggles and hope of the ordinaries aroused sympathy and recognition from the public when it was published.
Since its publication, To Live has transcended cultural boundaries, becoming a cornerstone of modern Chinese literature recognized worldwide.
Its translations into over a dozen languages have introduced global audiences to the complexities of Chinese history and the universal struggles of humanity.
[3] To Live, often regarded as his magnum opus, reflects Yu Hua’s ability to intertwine personal tragedies with historical upheavals.
Inspired by the resilience of ordinary individuals, the novel remains a cornerstone of modern Chinese literature, establishing Yu Hua as a powerful voice in capturing the human condition.
These sentiments deeply resonated with Yu Hua, inspiring him to create a story that similarly portrays the quiet endurance of ordinary individuals amidst life’s adversities.
[1] Yu Hua’s inspiration for To Live also stems from his personal experiences growing up in a rapidly changing China.
It allows the readers to see the cruelty of war, witnesses the deified Chinese political figures, thoughts, and movements.
[5] Covered by Mao's government propaganda, the deployed innovative farming techniques encountered failure and led to mass starvation and death, along with various political campaigns and struggles.
This tragic outcome is a result of Xu Fugui's failure to establish a correct worldview and values, his laziness, and his inability to save his family after they fell into poverty.
She is a kind-hearted and tenacious woman who has never made a complaint despite all the struggles and hardships, but she dies of soft bone disease under the loss of both her son and daughter.
Jiazhen is a crucial character in the story, portrayed as a strong woman who not only supports her husband through difficult times but also embodies maternal love and responsibility amidst a life full of hardships.
Her character highlights the role of women in the family, with her resilience and sacrificial spirit holding profound significance in the novel.
This quiet and honest man is deeply in love with his wife Fengxia, and after her death, he decides to only live for their son.
While collecting popular folk songs in the countryside, the narrator "I" meets an old man named Xu Fugui, who talks to a plowing ox.
To support his family, Fugui rents five mu of land from Long Er, the new landlord, and becomes a hardworking farmer.
The Great Leap Forward also starts, villagers' ironwares, including pots, are crackdowns to smelt iron.
Though, to save the wife of the county magistrate from losing too much blood while giving birth, Youqin dies from the over-blood donation.
Despite Erxi's quiet and introverted demeanour, he is a trustworthy and considerate man, instructing his Red Guards to help repair the roof of the Xu house.
As the Cultural Revolution grows more intense, the Red Guards punish the team leader and Chunsheng, the magistrate, as "capitalist roaders" accuse them of oppressing and belittling the people and peasants.
Surviving from a catalog of misfortunes, Fugui's persistence, and self-relief after tragedies are valuable attitudes Yu Hua sees among ordinary lives.
Realism also enables him to describe realistic tragedies among lower classes during the special historical period in a more detailed and unembellished style.
While dark humor is still a highlighting feature of his work, his focus has switched from blood and death to the reflection on the reality of society and the life of the general public.
The use of an objective and neutral narrative position with a warm and deep emotional tone in the text makes To Live a symbol of Yu Hua's stylistic transformation.
'"[18] In short, Yu Hua's creative turn at this stage is characterized by a shift from "formal avant-grading" to "ordinaries' survival".
Directed by Zhu Zheng, the TV series features lesser-known actors and actresses such as Chen Chuang (陈创) as Fugui and Liu Mintao (刘敏涛) as Jiazhen.
[25] Two decades after the novel's release, it was adapted into a stage play titled To Live 活着 directed by influential contemporary drama director, Meng Jinghui (孟京辉) and starring actors Huang Bo (黄渤) as Fugui and Yuan Quan (袁泉) as Jiazhen.