The Dirty History of Modern Society

"The History of Sordid Society in Modern Times" is another masterpiece written by Wu Jianren, a famous novelist in the late Qing Dynasty, after "The Strange Current Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years". It was completed in the second year of Xuantong (1910). This book continues the author's keen observation and profound criticism of social reality. It uses the "strange status quo of the past decade" as a clue and through a series of interlocking stories, reveals all kinds of ugliness and chaos in officialdom, business and market life during the social transformation period in the late Qing Dynasty. The novel takes the protagonist Yu Yousheng's (narrow escape) experience as the main line, and intersperses descriptions of various characters such as Yi Ziqi, Qiao Ziqian, Chen Yutang, and Lu Weiyuan. The book contains both bitter satire on official corruption and commercial fraud, as well as deep lamentations on the hypocrisy of human nature and the harshness of the world. In the midst of laughter and curses, the book embodies the author's good intentions of "defying stupidity and stubbornness". Wu Jianren reveals the dark side of late Qing society to readers one by one with his skillful chapter-like narrative, vivid character portrayal and language style with the characteristics of the times. This book is not only an important literary material for studying the social landscape of the late Qing Dynasty, but also an outstanding representative of modern Chinese satirical novels, with high literary value and historical significance.