Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001, Pa Chin (1904-2005) has long been one of the leading figures of twentieth-century Chinese Literature. He is best known for the influential trilogy Family, Spring, and Autumn. Cold Nights, twice adapted into films (Cantonese in 1955 and Mandarin in 1984), grapples with the emotional entanglement of Chinese intellectuals with the Japanese invasion of China as background. It has been widely hailed by critics as another masterpiece by Pa Chin.

2011年獲提名角逐諾貝爾文學獎的巴金(1904-2005)，本名李芾甘，二十世紀中國文學重鎮。長篇小說《家》、《春》、《秋》至今風行，影響深遠。1947年面世的力作《寒夜》集中處理新舊交替間知識份子的感情轇轕，並深入描繪抗戰時期大後方的生活，對時代與人物的互動，有罕見的透視。《寒夜》更曾先後兩次搬上銀幕(1955年粵語版；1984年普通話版)。

This bilingual edition contains a new critical introduction by Paul G. Pickowicz, Professor of History and Chinese Studies at the University of California, San Diego, Nathan K. Mao, the translator, is Professor of English at Shippensburg State University, Pennsylvania. Liu Ts’un-yan, the co-translator, is Professor Emeritus in Chinese at the Australian National University.

中文大學出版社刊行的中英對照本邀得美國加州大學聖地牙哥校區歷史系畢克偉教授特撰導讀，重新評估這部長篇的獨到之處。譯者茅國權為美國賓夕凡尼亞州Shippensburg州立大學英文系教授，柳存仁為已故澳洲國立大學榮休教授。