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A sweeping and profoundly human novel of Chinese intellectuals caught in the storm of twentieth-century history.

Set against the backdrop of mid-twentieth-century China, Whither to Go follows scholars, teachers, and students at the fictional Zhongxia University as they navigate war, displacement, and the churn of political upheaval. Spanning from the Sino-Japanese War to the Cultural Revolution, the novel captures the moral and emotional struggles of three generations of intellectuals-those who stand firm, those who compromise, and those swept away by the tide. At its center is Yu Zhengtang, whose idealism and quiet integrity are tested again and again by forces beyond his control.

Based on the real-life experiences of its author, She Qi (1922-2009), and completed over the course of a decade in her later years, this posthumously published work offers a rare, nuanced portrait of a chapter of Chinese history too often overlooked-especially the fate of inland universities and their faculty during the nation's most volatile decades. Written in clear, unsentimental prose, the novel neither idealizes nor condemns; instead, it invites readers to witness the impossible choices faced by those who strove to preserve knowledge, culture, and human dignity in the face of relentless adversity.