Yu Hua explores the concept of revolution and its various manifestations throughout China’s recent history, spanning from the Cultural Revolution to the country’s remarkable economic transformation. He argues that the lack of political transparency has been a key factor in facilitating China’s rapid economic growth, as the revolutionary spirit has persisted in different forms and guises over time.

Yu Hua begins by focusing on the development of China’s steel industry, drawing parallels between the frenzied production during the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and the rapid output growth witnessed in the 1990s. He notes that while the motivations behind these two periods of growth differed significantly–the former was driven by empty political agendas and the latter by the desire for personal financial gain–the fervor and intensity remained remarkably similar. Yu Hua then proceeds to recount the absurdities of the early Great Leap Forward, which initially resembled a romantic comedy with its exaggerated claims of agricultural and industrial productivity. However, this period quickly descended into a cruel tragedy as widespread famine gripped the nation, largely due to inflated production figures and excessive grain procurement by the state. Yu Hua describes the brutal campaigns conducted by local officials to root out those accused of concealing produce or engaging in private distribution, highlighting the human cost of this failed policy.