From the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, tens of thousands of Chinese left their homes and traveled across the ocean to the unfamiliar and hot land of Southeast Asia.
The novel takes the fate of a Chinese family as the main line, spans a hundred years of time and space, and panoramically displays the Chinese people's arduous development and unyielding struggle in a foreign land. The story begins with young Lin Yingjian and tells the story of generations of people in Nanyang. From working like oxen and horses in the tin mines to overcoming obstacles in the rubber plantations; from low-level coolies squeezed by the colonizers to self-made business leaders - the rise of the Lin family has condensed the blood, tears and glory of countless Nanyang Chinese.
The novel describes how the Chinese held together to stay warm under alien rule, founded guilds, schools, and formed self-defense forces; how they stood up during the darkest moments of the Japanese invasion of the south and fought side by side with the local ethnic groups; and how they struggled to find their own identity and survival in the wave of post-war independence.
The book not only vividly reveals the business war game and soul-stirring love and hatred, but also deeply explores a proposition that spans the century: Where are the roots of the wanderers?
This is an epic about courage, dignity and inheritance, paying tribute to every Chinese ancestor who gritted his teeth and took root in a foreign land.
Purpose: History of Chinese struggle, development of Chinese women