Intended for learners of Chinese as a second language, this is an abridged version of the novel by Qian Zhongshu, a renowned writer, scholar, and classical Chinese expert. With the hero Fang Hongjian’s experience as the subject, the novel depicts the wretched and humdrum life of some intellectuals in a morbid society during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Lacking in motives and ideals, they seem to be locked in a besieged city unable to free themselves. Maintaining the major plots true to the original, the abridged version of 40,000 words, represents approximately one-sixth of the original 230,000 Chinese characters.