本书是一部通过何姓家族五代人折射湖南长沙现当代一百年沧桑的长篇小说。家族的第二代四兄弟中，既有国民党的高级将领，也有共产党的高级干部。他们有截然不同的理想和主义，但又手足情深。This book is a novel that reflects the vicissitudes of the recent century in Changsha, Hunan Province, through the stories of five generations of He family. Among the four second-generation brothers are a senior officer of the nationalist party KMT and a senior cadre of the Communist Party, who have divergent ideals and faiths but also deep brotherhood.