Time period: From the late 1980s to the mid-to-late 1990s, a time of profound change in Chinese society.
· Main setting: Datong City and the surrounding mining districts in Shanxi Province.
· Main character: Zhao Tiezhu, nicknamed “Ergoudan.”
· Theme: Through the rise and fall of an ordinary man from the bottom of society, the novel depicts the struggle of human nature, the descent into desire, and the inevitable triumph of the rule of law amid the tides of the times. It explores the intertwining of power, money, violence, human nature, and fate, and warns that any order built through illegal means is ultimately doomed to collapse.
