Song of Youth

Song of Youth (青春之歌), first published in 1958, is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Yang Mo (杨沫), a contemporary Chinese writer. The novel is based on Yang Mo's personal experiences and touches numerous social issues that occurred during the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s. Song of Youth has a vivid plot and truly touching characters. With the student movement as the background, through the growth story of the main character, Lin Daojing (林道静), a classic narrative of revolutionary history is constructed. Lin Daojing is a high school student in Beiping (北平, former name of Beijing). She was born in a rich family of property owners. Her father was the president of the university and her biological mother (daughter of a farmer) died early. Daojing grew up under the cold eyes of her adoptive mother Xu Fengying (徐凤英) and tasted the bitterness of lovelessness. Before Daojing could even graduate from the high school, her father fled away with a concubine. Subsequently, Daojing's adoptive mother tried forcing her to marry Beiping Public Security Director (北平公安局长) Hu Meng'an (胡梦安). Daojing refused to follow, and had no choice but to run away from home. So Daojing left overnight. When Daojing left home, her luggage had nothing but musical instruments. People looked at the girl with this strange student appearance. Later, Dao Jing was arrested and imprisoned. She was tortured in prison. Finally, what happened to Daojing? Had she ever enjoyed a peaceful life? Read on... This novel is an excellent achievement in the works of students and intellectuals, and provides great educational values.



The book has 10 chapters in the following order:

Chapter 1: Lin Daojing was forced to jump into the sea (第一章：林道静被逼跳海)

Chapter 2: Lin Daojing and Yu Yongze (第二章：林道静和余永泽的爱情生活)

Chapter 3: Lin Daojing and the revolution (第三章：林道静开始接触革命)

Chapter 4: Lin Daojing participates in the parade (第四章：林道静参加游行活动)

Chapter 5: Lu Jiachuan was killed in prison (第五章：卢嘉川狱中被害)

Chapter 6: Lin Daojing and Yu Yongze parting ways (第六章：林道静和余永泽分道扬镳)

Chapter 7: Lin Daojing was arrested (第七章：林道静被捕而后逃跑)

Chapter 8: Lin Daojing's Revolutionary Movement in Dingxian (第八章：林道静在定县的革命运动)

Chapter 9: Education in prison (第九章：监狱中的教育)

Chapter 10: Formally becoming a Communist (第十章：正式成为一名共产党员)



The current book volume, China's Great Contemporary Literature 3, is a Level 5 Chinese reading practice book. It would introduce you to the famous Chinese novel Song of Youth (青春之歌). The new volume in China's Great Contemporary Literature (中国当代文学, 精简版, simplified edition) includes both the Chinese text (simplified characters) and pinyin Romanization. With over 1000 unique Chinese characters, the volume would be suitable for the beginners, lower intermediate and advanced level Chinese language learners (HSK 1-6). Overall, the reading series offers you a variety of elementary level books (Level 1/2/3/4/5/6) to understand China as well as practice Chinese reading fast.