"Zhuangtai" is a novel written by writer Chen Yan. It was first published in October 2015 and published by Writers Publishing House in December 2020. The novel won the "China Good Book" award in 2015, was selected into the "70 Novels Collection in the 70 Years of New China", and ranked first in the annual Chinese novel rankings. In 2017, it won the first "Wu Cheng'en Novel Award". As one of the "Stage Trilogy" (the other two are "Protagonist" and "Comedy"), this work continues the author's observation of the ecology of the drama industry, and cuts into the creation of realistic themes from the professional perspective of a stage worker. The trilogy will officially end with the publication of "Comedy" in 2021. In 2020, the novel was adapted into a hit TV series of the same name, further expanding the social impact of the work.
The novel revolves around the life of Diao Shunzi, a stage installer in Xijing City. Through the daily professional life of undertaking performances and setting up stages, the fate of the theater troupe artists and the urban village groups is intertwined. The protagonist has experienced three marriage changes, maintaining professional dignity amidst family conflicts and survival pressure, reflecting the tenacity of the bottom workers in the face of suffering in the process of urbanization. The work combines Shaanxi dialect and life flow narrative, and uses the stage decoration industry as a metaphor for the division of social roles to show the living conditions and human tension of marginalized groups in the city in vivid details. The author Chen Yan said that his creation aims to "put on stage" for those lower-class workers who have made silent contributions in the process of urbanization, and to show their tenacity and brilliance of humanity by writing about their living conditions.
