Yue Daiyun is the man character of the book. She was born on January 31, 1931 in Guiyang, Guizhou in China. In 1941, her family moved to Huaxi, near Guiyang. She entered Beijing University, known as Beida, in 1948 and became involved in the underground Communist Party Democratic Youth League. She joined the Communist Party in July of the following year. Yue Daiyu took part in demonstrations and in summer 1950 served as a delegate to the 2nd World Student Congress in Prague.