To Live

Fugui’s story is one of hardship punctuated by devastating loss. The loss of his family’s fortune, though his own fault, sets the tone for what follows by establishing Fugui’s downward trajectory (at least in material terms). Fugui goes on to weather conscription, famine, illness, and the loss of his parents, son, daughter, wife, grandson, and multiple friends. Nevertheless, the final description of him depicts him singing as he walks away with his ox, implying that even the hardest and most grief-filled existence can still hold meaning and joy.

Part of that joy, the title suggests, is that of simple survival. The deaths that litter the work might seem to render the title ironic, but the novel suggests that the characters’ ultimate fates are not synonymous with their stories. Rather, it celebrates the characters’ small victories as they struggle to live amid China’s changing socioeconomic landscape. A motif of animals illustrates this point. When Fugui is young and wealthy, he eats meat freely every night. When Fugui loses that fortune, the animals that furnish that meat become much more precious, as raising lambs and selling them for money helps his family avoid starvation. Meanwhile,