Yu Hua wrote in the preface of "To be alive": I decided to write such a novel, that is, this "To be alive", which describes people's tolerance for suffering and optimism about the world. The process of writing made me understand that people live for themselves, not for anything other than living. It sounds as if "living" is a meaningless behavior, but in the novel, "living" is a contest with fate, and it can even be said to be an "agreement"-an agreement between opponents not to quit or give up.

As he said, Fu Gui, the hero of the novel, has different tolerance and optimism about suffering. His life has experienced ups and downs, and everyone around him has recovered and finally left him. When there are no relatives in the world, he has also become a dying old man, and his life will never have the pain of the death of his relatives. He bought a cow to accompany him and regarded it as his dead relative, which actually pinned his love on the old cow, so the old cow became the embodiment of his love. At this time, Fu Gui is no longer Fu Gui alone, but a symbol of "man"-if he loves death, he won't die.

It has been said that Yu Hua's "Living" is essentially just a lot of tragedies, which attracts people's attention by torturing the protagonist. But I think this statement is too superficial, because he only dabbles in the ups and downs of life outlined in black and white. He just let the tragedy hit his heart briefly, then put it behind him and attacked Yu Hua's literary thought from the superficial story.

The reason why To Be Alive has become a classic must have its characteristics as an excellent classic novel. On the surface, he is telling a tragic story, but in fact, he is telling an adult fable. He told a truth of life that we can all understand, and also conveyed to us the simplest and most useful attitude towards life. From our life arrival to this world, and then to leave this world, everything on the road of life will pass away, sooner or later. What is the meaning of living? There is no need to answer this question. It is enough to spend your life with your own will.