1 – struggling for correct ideas is good

2 – land reform and the new democratic revolution are good

3 – class struggle continues under communist governance

4 – Be collective, don’t be selfish

The core lesson of this novel can be identified as being that the road to socialism and ultimately communism, the complete emancipation of all working people, is a long and winding road. The book highlights the harsh realities of the struggle to improve agricultural production in rural northern China immediately after the land reforms of the year prior. Ultimately it teaches that after centuries of being oppressed under the boot of oppressing classes, it will take the oppressed a while to stand firmly upon their own feet and figure out how to manage their own affairs, and that the struggle for this complete emancipation does not finish now that governments have changed.