On this day, 242 years ago, January 23, 1783 (December 21, 1782, the lunar calendar), Stendhal, the author of "Red and Black", was born. French writer Stendhal Stendhal was an outstanding French critical realist in the 19th century. His famous novel "Red and Black" is famous all over the world for its progressive ideological tendencies, its profound description of social class relations at that time, and its excellent portrayal of typical personalities. On January 23, 1783, Stendhal was born into a bourgeois family in the city of Grenoble, France. His real name is Henry Bell. He lost his mother in his early years. His father was a rich lawyer who believed in religion and had conservative thoughts. Stendhal was bound and suppressed in his family and hated his father since childhood. In 1799, Stendhal graduated from the local central school with honors, came to Paris, and got a position in the military. From then on, he followed Napoleon's army and participated in the great struggle between two forces and two systems throughout Europe. It was not until 1814, when Napoleon fell and the Bourbon Dynasty was restored. Stendhal was "swept out" and had no choice but to leave Paris and live in Milan, Italy. During his stay in Milan, he read, traveled, studied Italian music and art, and interacted with charcoal burners who were engaged in the Italian War of National Liberation. In 1815, his first work, a biography of musicians, was published, and his writing career began. In 1821, the uprising of the charcoal burners in Italy was suppressed, and Stendhal was regarded as a dangerous person by the authorities and was forced to leave Milan and return to Paris. In Paris, while writing, he carefully observed social life during the Restoration period. He had a deep understanding of the contradictions of his own era, and finally wrote the novel "Red and Black", which profoundly reflected the reality of French society before the July Revolution. He became an outstanding critical realist writer of the 19th century. Stendhal's work "Amance" illustrates Stendhal's work "Bama Abbey" Two frames illustrations of Stendhal's work "Red and Black" on the cover of the Chinese translation of Stendhal's work "Red and Black" based on the novel of the same name. A shot