"Han Deng Lu" tells the tragic life of Su Yan, a scholar from Jiangnan who failed in twenty scientific examinations. He was impoverished during his lifetime, but the diary he left behind after his death was discovered and published by a bookseller, causing a sensation in both the government and the public - because the diary detailedly recorded the shady affairs of the imperial examinations and official corruption over the past forty years. The emperor was furious and investigated thoroughly, and awarded him a posthumous title. However, the fire of truth ignited by the scholar with his life has already started a prairie fire.
