The novel mainly tells the family history of four generations of a family for nearly a century and a half. By describing the protagonist Zhang Mingcong's emotional process of sadness and joy in pursuit of beautiful love, it shows his fighting spirit of breaking out of the prison under the constraints of feudal ethics and family ideas. It also reflects the low social status of women in the old society and their lack of autonomy in marriage. While Zhang Mingcong struggled with the feudal ethical family ideology, he also repeated his father's mistakes, showing Zhang Mingcong's contradictory dual character image, which has certain representativeness and practical significance, thus revealing and criticizing the feudal ethical family ideology. Zhang Mingcong's hard-working, unwilling to lag behind and strong-willed fighting spirit is representative of the national spirit of the tens of millions of ordinary working people in our country who strive for self-improvement. He hoped that his children would become successful, and he would educate them strictly and train them to become useful talents for the country. Their contribution to the country would be reflected in their families. The article also portrays characters such as Zhang Hongwei, Huang Nianci, and Zhang Zhiwang. Their ups and downs of life are microcosms of ordinary people in different eras. Although the description of Wang Yunshan is not long, it already shows the lofty thoughts of a Communist Party member and leading cadre who serve the people wholeheartedly. Through the description of the continuous improvement of people's lives and the earth-shaking changes in urban and rural construction after the "Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee", it eulogizes the great achievements of reform and opening up. The article covers society, psychology, medicine, diet, architecture, religion, local daily life, weddings and funerals, national customs and habits, etc.
