The film is based on Yu Hua's novel To Live.
The story begins some time in the 1940s. Xu Fugui (Ge You) is a local rich man's son and compulsive gambler, who loses his family property to a man named Long'er (S:龙二, T: 龍二, Lóng'èr). His behaviour also causes his long-suffering wife Jiazhen (Gong Li) to leave him, along with their daughter, Fengxia and their unborn son, Youqing.
After he loses his entire family fortune, Fugui eventually reunites with his wife and children, but is forced to start a shadow puppet troupe with a partner named Chunsheng (春生 Chūnshēng), using puppets donated by Long'er to support his family. The Chinese Civil War is occurring at the time, and both Fugui and Chunsheng are conscripted into the Kuomintang during a performance. Eventually Fugui is able to return home and explain his absence, only to find out that Fengxia has become mute and lost most of her hearing due to a fever. |