About this topic, there are many foreign studies while hardly is there any study about gerontal mentality in China. Most of studies are focusing on the pension models of the old or their social welfare. Few of them take the elderly spiritual need into account. And even if there’s some concern about it, no further reports or suggestions relevant to it, which provides little value for society. So comparing material life with spiritual life, which is more important to the old? I think it’s time for us to step into the elderly life and know more about them.

1.1 literature review of narrative gerontology

Talking about narrative, it is not easy for us to give a simple definition, or draw a clear bound about its meaning. To some degree, the reason is that narrative refers to different objects to different persons. Besides, it is used in various ways under different rules, usually synonymously with story (Randall, 2007, pp. 1–24).

That is to say, if we want to have a conceptual and analytic idea about narrative, it will be better to provide an understanding of what it can be, and what it is. In fact, narrative as a word itself is rooted in the Latin language, ‘knowing.’ Narrative could also be believed as a way of telling in addition with knowing in a special means. (Bamberg, 2006, pp. 139–147 and Phoenix and Sparkes, 2009, pp. 219–236) 

However, this kind of telling usually includes some characteristics, such as there is a point towards it. Also, there may be a story related things that hide in the unknown place for a long time so as to connect to others an explanation or inference.