From 1636 to 1912, the Qing imperial dynasty ruled China. In 1912, the Qing dynasty was overthrown and a new government, the Republic of China, was instituted on the mainland (Feuerwerker, Albert, and Chusei Suzuki. “The early republican period.” Encyclopedia Britannica.) The Republic, while highly unstable, nevertheless brought in reforms that transformed Chinese society and economy. The Republic of China on the mainland came to an end in 1949 when the Communist Party came to power. The stories in Love in a Fallen City largely take place during the Republic of China. The volatility and changing customs of the Chinese Republican period, particularly in the cosmopolitan, multicultural trade cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong, are the backdrop of the stories’ exploration of Tradition and Modernity in a Changing Society.

The history of the Republic of China is characterized by internal instability, resulting in civil war, and threats from external pressures, particularly from the Japanese Empire, which sought access to Chinese trade routes, land, and natural resources. In 1931, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Chinese Manchuria, sparking the Second Sino-Japanese War. Protests against this invasion in Shanghai resulted in a bombing of that city in 1932 by Japan.