Hatred in the Sea of Love

冯玉奇Nov 2025

2.9

Word count: 70K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Zhang Ruhai is a rich young man, promiscuous by nature and reckless in his treatment of women; backed by money and power, he does as he pleases in love and has broken countless innocent girls' hearts. Sang Shijie, born poor, struggles under the weight of life and, however hard he tries, can hardly escape the mire of poverty; his life is full of helplessness and bitterness. And those seemingly enviable rich people lose themselves in luxury and debauchery, finally becoming mentally deranged and mad. In this turbulent era, everyone's fates intertwine; love is ruthlessly crushed by reality, ideals dissolve into nothing in the cruel social environment, and each person struggles in the vortex of love and hate, tasting life's bitterness to the full.

Editor's review

Feng Yuqi's Love and Hate in the Sea of Passion is set in the urban world of the Republic of China, interweaving the reckless extravagance of the rich young Zhang Ruhai, the hard struggle for survival of the poor youth Sang Shijie, and the mental collapse of the wealthy after lives of luxury and dissipation, forming a portrait of an era in which love is crushed by reality and ideals shatter in a cruel environment. Its readability lies in direct emotional conflict, marked ups and downs in the characters' fates, and a relatively clear narrative line of good and evil, cause and effect, allowing readers to feel, amid love and hate, how class differences in the old era pressed upon individual choices. Read it as a popular romance of the Republican period: on the one hand, note the contrast between the two life paths of Zhang Ruhai and Sang Shijie; on the other, observe how the author uses money, power, and emotional ties to drive the tragedy. The depiction of the wealth gap bears a distinct mark of the times, and the book is suited to being read in one sitting in one's spare time, to feel the bitterness of characters who cannot control their own course in the vortex of passion.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy romance novels set in the Republic of China
Readers interested in the wealth gap and class issues of the old era
Readers who want to understand urban emotional narratives of the Republican period through popular fiction
Readers who prefer pronounced plot conflict and dramatic ups and downs in characters' fates

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting rigorous social history or academic analysis
Readers who dislike emotional entanglement and a tragic atmosphere
Light readers unfamiliar with the idiom of Republican-era popular literature

Reading tips

First sort out the two character lines of Zhang Ruhai and Sang Shijie, comparing their circumstances and choices.
While reading, note how money and power change relationships and consider the role of the era's background.
If the plot feels heavy, read in sections and briefly note each turn in the characters' fates after each section.

版权信息
第一回防不到人心多险诈
第二回怎禁得香饵巧安排
第三回处心积虑笑里藏刀
第四回魔能弄人忧则致疾
第五回四面楚歌吞声忍辱
第六回受压迫一对可怜虫
第七回醒痴梦尚有不了情

FAQ

Is this book mainly a love story or a social tragedy?

Both. The novel's main thread is romantic entanglement, but Zhang Ruhai's toying with women, Sang Shijie's struggle with poverty, and the mental derangement of the rich all point to the pressure that money, power, and class differences exert on people's fates; love crushed by reality is an important underlying tone of the whole book.

Are Zhang Ruhai and Sang Shijie the same kind of person?

No. Zhang Ruhai is a rich young man, promiscuous by nature, who does as he pleases in love backed by money and power; Sang Shijie was born poor and struggles under life's heavy burden. Their circumstances and ways of acting form a clear contrast, and together they reflect the predicaments of people of different classes in the old era.

How should the episode of the rich going mad be understood?

According to the source material, some seemingly glamorous rich people lose themselves in luxury and dissipation and finally become mentally deranged and mad. This can be read as the author's portrayal of extravagant life eroding people; together with Zhang Ruhai's indulgence and Sang Shijie's misery, it forms a critique of urban life in the old era.

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About the author

冯玉奇 Author

Feng Yuqi was a writer of popular fiction in the Republican era. Public information about him is limited: neither his dates of birth and death nor his native place are clearly recorded. Yet the 172 works held in our collection attest to the sheer volume of his output. His writing is driven by plot, and his subjects range across wuxia, modern romance, social fiction, and time-travel and alternate-world fiction. Representative works include Chivalrous Five-Flower Chart, Wen Suchen, National Soul: Blood and Flowers, The Understanding Flower, Sea of Blood and Flowers of Love: Favors and Grudges, Soul Broken at the Slanting Sun: The Strange Man of the Desert Island, and Remnant Light on Green Waves. Most of these appeared in Republican-era popular-literature journals and as standalone volumes. His language is plain and accessible and his narrative pace brisk; he excels at interweaving love and hatred, gratitude and grievance, and chivalrous adventure, while also depicting the ways of the world. His work had a certain influence among urban readers of the time. Today his writings are collected in the Feng Yuqi volume of the Republican Popular Fiction Collection, offering a useful sample for studying the generic ecology of Republican-era popular literature.