"Bailuyuan" takes Bai Jiaxuan as the core of the narrative. The conflict and entanglement between the Bailu family organizes the plot. It reflects the patriarchal family system and Confucian ethics represented by Bai Jiaxuan, and the persistence and decline in the changes of the times and political movements as the narrative clues. It tells the story of Bailuyuan. The story of the two big families in the village, the Bai family and the Lu family.

The Bai family follows the patriarch of the village. The protagonist Bai Jiaxuan has married seven wives in his life. The last one stayed with him throughout his life and had three sons and one daughter (Bai Xiaowen, Bai Xiaowu, Bai Xiaoyi, and Bai Ling). Lu San is the long-term worker of the Bai family, and Hei Wa is his eldest son. The Lu family is represented by Lu Zilin, who has two sons (Lu Zhaopeng and Lu Zhaohai).

The novel mainly tells the lives of their next generation, Bai Xiaowen, Lu Zhaohai, and Heiwa: the descendants of the Bai family are quite well-behaved, but Heiwa has been restless since childhood. When he grew up, Bai Xiaowen succeeded the clan leader, while Heiwa worked as a long-term worker outside. He met Tian Xiao'e, the wife of his boss. After he brought her back to the village, he was ostracized by the villagers. After Hei Wa left the village, he defected to the revolutionary army and became a bandit. During this period, Lu Zilin, Bai Xiaowen, etc. all became addicted to opium, ruined their families, and went to foreign lands to make a living.

Lu San was ashamed of his daughter-in-law Tian Xiao'e and eventually killed her. He died of being tortured by the circumstances of Tian Xiao'e's death all day long. Bai Xiaowen regrouped outside and finally made some achievements. Bai Ling joined the Communist Party. Two generations of a family have been fighting for the dominance of Bailuyuan.

Extended information:

Era background

Due to the special political environment in the early 1980s, the creative trend of "reflective literature" emerged. This trend After that, it gradually became a common literary spirit in the 1980s. This spirit influenced the long-form creations in the 1990s. Many long-form creations in the 1990s were involuntarily moving closer to this spirit. This also made the long-form creations during this period reach a new level in terms of reflection on national history and culture. new heights.

It was in this literary trend that Chen Zhongshi came up with the desire to create "White Deer Plain" and completed this epic work that represents this new level of reflection.