Chiu Maguang

Chiu Maguang is the story’s protagonist. He is 34 years old, recently married, and works as a professor of Marxist materialism at Harbin University. Three months prior to the events of the story, he suffered from hepatitis, and he still fears a relapse. While on the final day of Chiu’s honeymoon with his wife, he is unjustly arrested by two police officers who insult him and falsely accuse him of being a saboteur and disruptor of the public order. Chiu holds firm beliefs in the perseverance of justice and morality, and so he has faith that the police bureaucracy will release him and issue an apology.

However, to Chiu’s shock and indignation, the police refuse to release him until he signs a statement saying that he was arrested for disturbing the peace and that he admits wrongdoing. He eventually signs the statement after the police...