The Sun Shines Over The Sanggan River Analysis

6.1. 1946-1952 Land reform

The book that is considered by many critics to be the most important land reform novel is The Sun Shines over the Sanggan River by Ding Ling (McDougall, Louie 1997). The novel that won Ding Ling the Stalin Prize for Literature tells a story about the implementation of the land reform in Nuanshui Village in 1945. The story was inspired by the authors real experiences as a member of land reform teams. The novel was supposed to be only the first part in the trilogy that Ding Ling wanted to write, but she never managed to write the subsequent parts (McDougall, Louie 1997).

The story begins when a three-member land reform team begins its work in the Nuanshui Village with the goal of implementing the land reform. The

The peasants in The Sun Shines over the Sanggan River were mainly peasant activists who searched for liberation and emancipation, but were very often still influenced by the feudal relations. She was also applauded for presenting the real life struggles of the peasant class placed in historical context of the land reform movement (McDougall, Louie 1997). The fate of the characters is inseparably linked to the reform movement. She was also successful in portraying the land reform not just as the change of social order, but as a great mass movement of the peasants under the Party’s leadership (Tang

There is an evil landlord – Li Ruzhen; good party activist – Young Chang; and peasant activists – Tie Suo, Lengyuan, Beigou. It is Tie Suo that becomes the leader of the fight against the abusing landlord, as well as lowering the tenant fees and the loan interests. Tie Suo’s struggle reflects a very clear image of the political activity of the CCP. Zhao Shuli shows the peasants taking matters into their own hands, however, they only achieve this level of class consciousness and political awareness after being inspired by the Party