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After Fan Jin passed the imperial examination, he actually went crazy and was slapped awake by his father-in-law Hu Tutu. This was the shock of the imperial examination success to a scholar. Wang Yuhui watched his daughter starve to death in the house, just to sacrifice her husband and get a chastity memorial arch, but he turned around and shed tears of sadness. This is the cruelty of ethics and the subtlety of human nature. Shen Qiongzhi escaped from marriage and went to Nanjing. She was a single woman and wanted to make a living by selling her literature in Nanjing, a city where people gathered together. This is something that modern female writers find difficult, and she was eventually captured by the government. This is the desire and suppression of personal independence. Yan Jiansheng tried his best to straighten his concubine, but she died, and his only precious son also died. This is a trick of fate. Du Shenqing only wanted to take in a concubine and continue his heirs, but what he really loved was men. This was a limitation of the times and a shackle of ethics.

"The Scholars" is a chapter-length novel written by Wu Jingzi in the Qing Dynasty. It was written in the 14th year of Qianlong (1749) or a little before. It was first circulated in manuscripts and was first published in the 8th year of Jiaqing (1803). The book has fifty-six chapters. The author uses realism to describe the different expressions of "fame and wealth" by various people in society at that time, especially the criticism and ridicule of imperial examinations, officialdom, ethics, etc., Which is deeply rooted in the bones. The novel represents the peak of Chinese classical satirical novels and creates an example of using novels to criticize real life. Lu Xun commented that this book "upholds a public spirit and points out current ills." The novel has been translated into English, French, German, Russian, Japanese and other languages.

This is an outstanding realistic satirical novel in the history of Chinese literature, describing the life and mental state of scholar-bureaucrats in the late feudal society. The novel has a grand theme, rich content, natural and bright language, and vivid and smooth writing, reaching the peak of satirical art in Chinese classical novels.

"The Scholars" is a novel with intellectuals as the main description object, and it is also a typical satirical novel. It describes some images of Confucian scholars who were deeply poisoned by the eight-part imperial examination system. For example, it is written that Zhou Jin and Fan Jin spent their entire lives trying to pass the examination, and even when their beards turned gray, they still failed to pass the examination. Although life was extremely difficult, he still couldn't forget the imperial examination. Zhou Jin passed by an examination room and went in to watch. He was touched by a lifetime of bitterness and pain. He burst into tears and was so sad that he could not help but feel miserable. Later, with the help of some small businessmen, he took the exam and won the sympathy of the examiner, and things turned around. When he passed the exam, those who had ridiculed him in the past came to flatter him and praised him as the most knowledgeable person. Another example is Fan Jin. Before he passed the imperial examination, his family was so poor that he had no rice to cook with, so he went to the market to sell an old hen. When he learned that he had won the election, he was so happy that he became a madman. Fortunately, his father-in-law Hu Tuhu slapped him and he regained consciousness. At this time, the local squires and other prominent people all looked at him with admiration. Some gave him houses and some gave him property. Fan Jin's life immediately changed... And so on, which reflected the corruption of the secular customs at that time. On the one hand, it truly reveals the process and reasons for the corruption of human nature, thereby deeply criticizing and ridiculing the corruption of officialdom at that time, the shortcomings of imperial examinations, and the hypocrisy of ethics; on the other hand, it passionately praises the protection of human nature by a few characters by insisting on themselves, thus embodying the author's ideals.