Mao Dun Books

Shanghai in the 1930s is a world of sharp contrasts: neon signs and slums, banks and brothels, the clamor of trade against the cries of the unemployed. Within this restless city, businessmen and workers alike struggle to survive in the throes of an economic crisis sweeping the nation. Wu Sunfu, an a...

From Midnight

Wu Sunfu’s rise in industry is marked by vision and desperation. Determined to rescue China’s economy from foreign domination, he invests heavily in textile production, steeling himself against both imperialist powers and the unpredictable domestic market. Yet as financial collapse looms, his pursui...

From Midnight

The story unfolds in the Jiangnan countryside, where families depend on the fragile livelihood of sericulture. Mao Dun portrays this environment with meticulous realism—muddy paths, low houses, the smell of mulberry leaves, the sound of silkworms feeding. In this seemingly quiet world, each villager...

From Spring Silkworms

As spring progresses, silkworm raising consumes the household. Mao Dun describes the process with striking precision—the feeding, cleaning, and sleepless nights spent tending the worms—all imbued with a quiet desperation. The villagers’ efforts are both ritual and survival—they depend on the cocoons...

From Spring Silkworms

The Lin family’s grocery once stood as a pillar of small-town life, serving neighbors with warmth and stability. But times are shifting. Waves of capitalist expansion wash into rural China, bringing not progress but the slow erosion of security. Competition grows fierce, prices fluctuate, and debt m...

From The Lin Family Shop

The story’s backdrop is an era of contradictions: the feudal order no longer holds, yet capitalism brings no salvation. Traders exploit the vulnerable, credit becomes a weapon, and survival turns into an everyday negotiation. Mao Dun paints the town’s streets as microcosms of a larger crisis—where o...

From The Lin Family Shop