The interaction between the educated elite and the rural poor

A recurrent theme in modern Chinese literature is that of the interaction between the educated elite and the rural poor, a theme found in “Xiao Xiao” and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. How do you understand and interpret the relationship between different social classes portrayed in these works?

  1. Compare and contrast the portrayal of the Cultural Revolution in Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Wang Shuo’s In the Heat of the Sun.