Zuo nu (Woman on the edge) portrays the life of a group of restless and self-centred zuonu (women) living in Beijing from the 1990s to the early 21st century, represented by the female protagonist Zhuo Er. The work reflects the awakening of self-consciousness among urban women in Chinese society, as well as their subversion and resistance against the patriarchal society’s rules and regulations, and their self-affirmation and self-salvation under new historical conditions. The zuonu have independent thinking, dare to pursue their dreams, and are both a reflection and challenge of this era, as well as one of the symbols of Chinese women’s liberation. This study combines textual content analysis to discuss the protagonist Zhuo Er’s yearning for freedom and pursuit of a new perspective on love and argues that Zhang Kangkang’s Zuo nu not only displays the colourful lives of the new era’s women and their pursuit of self-value and meaning, but also depicts another landscape of the female world, and shows deep concern for the human condition and spiritual predicament.
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