The first edition of University Town was published in 1987 and 1998 by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company, which is one of the trilogy of universities. I saw the 1998 version.
The author marked the summer vacation from 1984 to 1986 as Shanghai. The novel takes place in 1984 (the novel mentions that "it took only eight years to overthrow the Gang of Four"), and the location is Hujiang University in Shanghai, which is a bit like Fudan University where the author took office. The so-called university town is not a gathering area of several universities as we now understand it, but an urbanized university campus.
The difference between university teachers and primary and secondary school teachers is clearly written in the novel. It seems that this should be the content of college students' entrance education. "From primary school to middle school, teachers are always as caring and considerate as their parents.
After entering the university, the university teacher stood on the podium, gave a good lecture and left, rarely contacting his classmates. ..... The concern of university teachers for students is mainly manifested in the transmission of knowledge. Universities and primary and secondary schools have different characteristics and should have different requirements. Teachers' meticulous and rigorous teaching style and rich and profound knowledge bring students to the peak of science and culture, which is the supreme glory and the most precious for a student.
If it's not enough, I think the story is old-fashioned and the characters are stereotyped. In particular, thinking and personal morality are tied too tightly, which leads to academic misconduct and chaotic private life of villains. In addition, I personally feel that the descriptions of school leaders are mostly fictitious, and of course I have no basis.
The author (formerly Yuan, He Cong), 1935, a native of Zhejiang, died in 2004. Graduated from Fudan University in the mid-1950s. Then I taught and wrote literature in the university.