History Literature / ToLive

After losing all of his family's land and fortune to gambling debts, Fugui stops being a RichBitch JerkAss and begins life as an honest, hardworking family man. Too bad life doesn't let him.

The book's most prevalent theme is that people should keep on living for the sake of life, [[TheDeterminator despite their various mishaps and tragedies.]] ''To Live'' is also rather well-known for its description of Chinese life in RedChina, such as its illustrations of backyard steel furnaces and communes.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Jiazhen's shown to be a quiet, submissive person up to the point of an ExtremeDoormat, but goes into full MamaBear completely when she meets the man who [[spoiler: inadvertently helped kill her son]].
* BittersweetEnding: The novels ends with [[spoiler: Fugui's entire family tragically dead and Fugui as an old farmer with only an ox with as his companion. The only reason it isn't a flat-out DownerEnding might be because Fugui remains optimistic about life, despite the terrible losses he had to experience.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: It takes Fugui losing all his family's funds and plunging them into poverty to make him stop being such a gigantic selfish JerkAss.

* CharacterDevelopment: Fugui starts off as an arrogant JerkAss who blatantly disrespects his family, spends all his money on whorehouses and gambling, and [[DomesticAbuse hitting his pregnant wife]], but eventually grows into a hardworking man who is extremely devoted to his family.

* CuteMute: Fengxia
* DaddysGirl: Fengxia
* TheDeterminator: Fugui is one, of sorts. [[spoiler: Even though his entire family dies, he still keeps on living and refuses to give up.]]
** Jiazhen is also an excellent example, despite being an ExtremeDoormat. She kneels at Fugui's feet at the gamblehouse and refuses to leave, even when he [[DomesticAbuse beats her]]. She only leaves when Fugui gets two men to carry her away.

* DeusAngstMachina: Most of Fugui's family [[spoiler: die in most senseless ways, the most notable being Erxi being the first porter to be crushed by the slabs of cement, and his grandkid dying by choking on beans]].
* ExtremeDoormat: Jiazhen
* ForWantOfANail: If Fugui didn't lose his family estate and holdings through reckless gambling early on, he and his family would have been killed in the revolution as capitalists. He recalls being horrified that he narrowly avoided the fate of the man who ended up living in his house.

* JerkAss: Fugui when he was younger. He even [[LampShade lampshades]] it himself:
-->'''Fugui:''' :It hurts to think about it now. When I was young I was a real asshole.

* LoveMartyr: [[spoiler:Alas, Jiazhen]].

* ThePollyanna: Downplayed example. Despite everything that's happened to him and everyone that he's lost, Fugui still holds onto life by believing that things will get better.

* TwiceShy: Erxi and Fengxia. He's a quiet, hardworking Party official and she's, well, mute.

* WarIsHell: Fugui is forcibly recruited into the Nationalist Army during the Chinese Civil War, and, well...see the NightmareFuel entry above.

* YankTheDogsChain: When Fengxia finally gets married and there's a brief period where all is well, [[spoiler: she dies in childbirth.]] But hey, Fugui still has his wife, his son-in-law, and [[spoiler: his grandkid]] to mourn with and comfort him, right? [[spoiler: Then Jiazhen dies, Erxi dies, and his grandson (Kugen) dies ''[[DeusAngstMachina by choking on some beans]]''.]]

!!The the film based on the novel contains:
* BittersweetEnding: Compared to the novel, the film ends on a more optimistic note. [[spoiler:[[OutlivingOnesOffspring Fugui and Jiazhen lose their children Youqing and Fengxia]], [[SparedByTheAdaptation but their grandson Mantou and son-in-law Erxi are still alive and part of their lives]]. [[RayOfHopeEnding The film ends with their family happily having lunch together at home]].]]
* FilmOfTheBook

** Zhang's vision for the work is far less grim than Yu's; for one thing, [[spoiler:Jiazhen, Erxi, and the grandson (named Mantou in the adaptation) all survive.]]

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Jiazhen, Erxi and Fugui's grandson all survive to the end of the movie. In the novel, they all die under various circumstances, leaving Fugui the only main character to live]].

After he is conscripted by the Guomindang and must leave his family, Fugui fights and sees the horrors of [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors the Chinese Civil War]], returning to him home years later to suffer the tumultuous changes that the UsefulNotes/CulturalRevolution and the [[RedChina Great Leap Forward]] has wrought.

After losing all of his family's land and fortune to gambling debts, Fugui stops being a RichBitch JerkAss and begins life as a honest, hardworking family man. Too bad life doesn't let him.

* BittersweetEnding: The novels ends with [[spoiler: Fugui's entire family tragically dead and Fugui as a old farmer with only an ox with as his companion. The only reason it isn't a flat-out DownerEnding might be because Fugui remains optimistic about life despite the terrible losses he had to experience.]]

* {{Conscription}}: Fugui and his companions are pressed into serving first the Nationalist army then the Communists when they're captured.

* BittersweetEnding: The novels ends with [[spoiler: Fugui's entire family tragically dead and Fugui as a old farmer with only an ox with as his companion. Surprisingly enough, the style of writing illustrates a more BitterSweetEnding than an DownerEnding. This might be because Fugui remains optimistic about life despite the terrible losses he had to experience.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Fugui starts off as an arrogant JerkAss who blatantly disrespects his family, spends all his money on whorehouses and gambling, and [[DomesticAbuser hitting his pregnant wife]], but eventually grows into a hardworking man who is extremely devoted to his family.

* DomesticAbuser: In addition to being a generally shitty husband, father and son prior to his CharacterDevelopment, Fugui also slapped and beat Jiazhen when she was pregnant with Youqing.

* VillainProtagonist: Fugui initially starts off as this, though luckily [[UnexplainedRecovery he gets better]].

* FilmOfTheBook: [[CaptainObvious Well, duh]].

* CharacterDevelopment: Fugui starts off as an arrogant JerkAss who blatantly disrespects his family, spends all his money on whorehouses and gambling, and [[MoralEventHorizon hitting his pregnant wife]], but eventually grows into a hardworking man who is extremely devoted to his family.

* FromBadToWorse: [[KillEmAll Oooh boy.]]

* LighterAndSofter: The movie version downplays Fugui's abuse of Jiazhen, and ends after [[spoiler:Fengxia]]'s death so as not to be ''quite'' so soul-crushing as the book.

* LoveMartyr: Alas, Jiazhen.

* {{Tearjerker}}: There's a ton in this book. There's [[spoiler: Fugui's ''entire family'' dying in tragic ways: Youqing, Fengxia, Jiazhen, Erxi...hell, even his grandkid.]] And the way he describes them and grieves is truly heartbreaking.

* LighterAndSofter: Zhang's vision for the work is far less grim than Yu's; for one thing, [[spoiler:Jiazhen, Erxi, and the grandson (named Mantou in the adaptation) all survive.]]

* NowLetMeCarryYou: When Jiazhen gets soft bone disease and becomes so weak she can't walk, Fugui carries her on his back, and, when she protests, hushes her [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming and says there is absolutely nothing wrong with showing his love for his wife]].

* BrickJoke: When Jiazhen tearfully leaves, she tells Fugui that their unborn child is going to be named "don't gamble." When she returns, he's relieved she didn't actually do it. ''Much'' later (roughly 90 minutes of film time) when the two wonder what Fengxia's child will be named, Fugui offers "don't gamble" and it's actually funny.

* DeusAngstMachina: Most of Fugui's family [[spoiler: die in most senseless ways, the most notable being Erxi being the first porter to be crushed by the slabs of cement, and his grankid dying by choking on beans]].

* TwiceShy: Erxi and Fengxia

After he is conscripted by the Guomindang and must leave his family, Fugui fights and sees the horrors of [[NoMoreEmperors the Chinese Civil War]], returning to him home years later to suffer the tumultuous changes that the UsefulNotes/CulturalRevolution and the [[RedChina Great Leap Forward]] has wrought.

* BittersweetEnding: THe novels ends with [[spoiler: Fugui's entire family tragically dead and Fugui as a old farmer with only an ox with as his companion. Surprisingly enough, the style of writing illustrates a more BitterSweetEnding than an DownerEnding. This might be because Fugui remains optimistic about life despite the terrible losses he had to experience.]]

A movie of ''To Live'' came out in 1994, directed by ZhangYimou and starring Ge You and Creator/GongLi.

* BannedInChina: This novel has been banned in China for its less than pleasant (but still extremely realistic) description of life as a villager in RedChina.

* BittersweetEnding: THe novels ends with [[spoiler: Fugui's entire family tragically dead and Fugui as a old farmer with only an ox with as his companion. Surprisingly enough, the style of writing illustrates a more BitterSweetEnding than an DownerEnding.]]

The novels ends with [[spoiler: Fugui's entire family tragically dead and Fugui as a old farmer with only an ox with as his companion, which, surprisingly enough, illustrates a more BitterSweetEnding than an DownerEnding,]] with the book's most prevalent theme being that people should keep on living for the sake of life, [[TheDeterminator despite their various mishaps and tragedies.]]

''To Live'' is also rather well-known for its description of Chinese life in RedChina, such as its illustrations of backyard steel furnaces and communes. A movie of ''To Live'' came out in 1994, directed by ZhangYimou and starring Ge You and Creator/GongLi.

* [[DaddysGirl Daddy's Girl]]: Fengxia

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/to_live_5719.jpg

After he is conscripted by the Guomindang and must leave his family, Fugui fights and sees the horrors of [[NoMoreEmperors the Chinese Civil War]], returning to him home years later to suffer the tumultuous changes that the CulturalRevolution and the [[RedChina Great Leap Forward]] has wrought.