Sinking (simplified Chinese: 沉沦; traditional Chinese: 沉淪; pinyin: Chénlún) is a novella written by Yu Dafu. The story was completed in Tokyo in 1921 and later published in a collection named Sinking in Shanghai the same year. It is among the first generation of modern Chinese fictions telling psychological stories. The frank expression of sexuality and innovative emphasis on subjectivity of the protagonist is one of the reasons for Sinking's status as romantic, representative of May Fourth literature.According to Janet Ng, "Sinking" focuses on the sexual anguish of a Chinese student in Japan and his grief over the country's weakness. Due to several overlapping experiences of the author and the protagonist in Japan, it can be reasonably inferred that Yu Dafu's personal experiences provide materials for the autobiographical story. Source: Wikipedia (en)