Jan Wong starts out as a naïve, nineteen year old, Canadian student who is displeased with the capitalistic nature of her surroundings. It was the early seventies and to the author, she was experiencing a cultural revolution all her own. Opposition to the Vietnam War was strongly prevalent, the notion of feminism was beginning to arise, and there was a strong desire against conformity of any nature. The author grew up middle class to second generation Chinese citizens and was fueled by bourgeois guilt, and by a feeling of separation from her roots. “Curiosity about my ancestry made me feel ashamed that I couldn’t speak Chinese and knew so little about China” (14). After devouring every morsel of information that she could, she firmly believed Mao and his “comrades” were the only people who had a legit shot at establishing a utopic society. It was official. Jan Wong was going to Beijing.…
In the story Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang, Ji Li Jiang is a model student and she has always been a determined person. Ji Li is a kindhearted girl that is always helpful to her classmates and has a good leadership. When Ji Li was little, she “[donated their] cast-iron kettle to [support Chairman Mao,] and when natural disasters had caused food shortages, she “[grew] pots of seaweed on the balcony”(27). This shows that Ji Li strongly believes in Chairman Mao and she tries to participate in the Cultural Revolution as much as she can. Ji Li “[knows that] the movement [of the campaign of destroying the fourolds is] vital to [their] country's future”(27) ,so she tries to help out anyway possible. Ji Li [feels…
In his book Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Sijie Dai introduces us to the lives of two young boys who were transported to the village side in order to be “re-educated”. The boys immediately fall in love with the Little Chinese Seamstress, however they state that she is too “uncivilized”. We see through the following passage, “This fellow Balzac is a wizard. He touched the head of this mountain girl with an invisible finger, and she was transformed, carried away in a dream. It took a while for her to come down to earth. She ended up putting your wretched coat on (which looked very good on her, I must say). She said having Balzac’s words next to her skin made her feel good, and also more intelligent” (62), the creation of the social…
In both the stories “Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie and the “Colors of the Mountain” by Da Chen reveal, that the china’s cultural revolution had a great impact on a lot of people especially young students education. This happened in early 1971, it was Mao’s and his communist government who created this Cultural Revolution so that they could control over people. They stopped young student’s education, most of them were students who had educated family or owned lands were treated bad, humiliated and made them suffer because of their status and also Mao thought that they might be a threat to the communism. These students had inner conflicts as well as physical pain.…
Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong’s implemented the Cultural Revolution and spread perpetual fear of death during his rule in China. Educated citizens faced humiliation, exile, beatings, and millions of youths had no choice, but to relocate to the countryside for their “re-education.” He classified books as propaganda and the owners as traitors who should suffer severe consequences. In Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, the narrator and Luo risk getting caught with novels in their possession so that they can continue to escape the harsh reality of their life through them. Dai Sijie chooses to specify the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Count of Monte Cristo, and Ursule Mirouët to emphasize the main theme of love, supported…
I think the author use flashback technique in her story. She write some scene which takes the narrative in time from the current point in the story. The readers understand that the author write about Old China, because she describe some traditions. Women in that time have not the rights, the main character could not say her opinion for her husband, father, brothers. Women can only do what the men order them. But in the old China women and men have different rights. Men can command the women, men more dominate at that time. Also, they have choice to study or marry. In addition, them government or parents give a field.…
A coming of age story is one that resonates with us and we can empathize with it. In Balzac and the Little Seamstress the author Dai Sijie presents a bildungsroman through the maturity of the protagonist/narrator after reading books by Western authors that changed his perspective in life. The protagonist’s maturity can be seen through how he learns about the ideals of individualism, his emotional maturity when handling a pregnancy and discovering parts of himself like his sadistic part.…
The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan Spence is a historical novel pertaining to average people living in northeastern China. Spence’s book is unlike the “typical” social Confucian society China was thought to resemble during the seventeenth century. In this book, ideas of a Confucian family are challenged and can be seen as alternative but non-the-less, Confucian throughout human interaction and specifically in individual behavior. The Confucian ideas of filial piety, suicide, and being subservient are present, yet not as prominent as historians might think in a small town known as T’an-ch’eng.…
The book Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, is about these two young men by the name of Luo and The Narrator. Both families were known for doing some unethical things while practicing medicine so they became the enemies of the class. Due to it being during the time of the Cultural Revolution their punishment was for Luo and The Narrator to attend a village for re education which was a tactic used to change their beliefs and behaviors. Throughout the novel the culture clashes that The Seamstress encounters teaches her how to be independent and civilized.…
The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan D. Spence, paints a vivid picture of provincial China in the seventeenth century. Manly the life in the northeastern country of T’an-ch’eng. T’an-ch’eng has been through a lot including: an endless cycle of floods, plagues, crop failures, banditry, and heavy taxation. Chinese society in Confucian terms was a patriarchal society with strict rules of conduct. The role at this time of women, however, has historically been one of repression. The traditional ideal woman was a dependent being whose behavior was governed by the "three obedience’s and four virtues". The three obedience’s were obedience to father before marriage, the husband after marriage, and the son in case of widows. The four virtues were propriety in behavior, speech, demeanor and employment. The laws of the land and fear of shame in society dictated that men were allowed to rule over their household leaving women in a powerless state as almost a slave of the home. In P’u’s stories women are portrayed as complex characters who hold important roles in the family, but are treated with little to no respect by authority figures, and other men of higher class. In The Death of Woman Wang, Spence portrays…
Communism came to power in China in the year 1949 and was dictated by Mao Zedong, who later ordered for all educated men and women of China to be reeducated in the countryside. Lou and the narrator were just two of many thousands to be sent off to be reeducated. Lou and the narrator then meet the Little Chinese Seamstress, and Lou, as well as the narrator to an extend fall in love with her.…
Liang Heng and Judith Shapiro's "Son of the Revolution" is a comprehensive story of Liang Heng's life on growing up during the chaotic times of the Chinese revolution. The purpose of this novel was to depict the horrors and hardships of life during the revolution period in china during Mao Zedong's reign. In the beginning of the book, the author portrays that news and ideologies always stated that the government was working for the good of the people of the country. However, as the book unfolds the author reveals that the government is actually exploiting the people through misuse of people's trust. The book also provides insights into the Chinese life during the period of 1954-1978. This 24 year period saw major political movement and aspects of Mao Zedong's thoughts and its influence on people. The personal effects of these historical movements coincide directly with the Liang family providing stirring details through the eyes of a person that went through the actual horrific events. This essay will focus on some historical central issues of the book from the period when the first campaign against rightist occurred in 1957 to the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" in 1966. The role of family, influence of relationships in marriage and divorce, the power of Mao Thought, and the major political reforms that took place in the period depicted in the novel will be discussed.…
The first time the two boys told the story, their voices touched the audience. The effect had been so strong that even the village headman who, for all his harshness, couldn’t hold back the years pouring from his eyes. When Luo was sick with malaria, the little Seamstress brings four sorceresses to help Luo recover. To keep the sorceresses awake and watching over Luo the narrator recounts ‘The Little Flower Seller’. When the narrator told the story, the sorceresses weren’t too engaged and did not show any sign of influence. Luo wakes up in time to say the final line ‘The saying goes that a sincere heart can make a stone blossom. So tell me, was the flower girl’s heart lacking in sincerity?’ The sorceresses could no longer hold back the tears and started crying. Those people show that even the more emotionless person can have emotions, and stories can bring it out. Stories were invented a by people at the dawn of civilization for many reasons. Some stories were invented to tell history, some to show patterns. In the book "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" they discover what stories can do to them, and how powerful they are.…
In this story, Wang Lung’s life gives detailed examples of the hardships and struggles of living in a lower social class. Then, as the story progresses, the novel tells of the luxuries and customs of being wealthy. Many people can relate to this novel because it shows what life was a wealthy man and as a poor man. Nowadays, people in third world countries or are just common laborers…
A little while after her twelfth birthday Ji-li Jiang found that her life had changed from everything she would have wanted to something she would have dreamed in a nightmare. Her story started in May. A liberation army dancer walked into her classroom and no other sound could be heard. After this moment, her life changed. The visit from the liberation army dancer inspired Ji-li's teacher to destroy four olds (old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits). This caused the writing of the da-zing-baos (written forms of propaganda) and Ji-li was humiliated because of the writing on the posters. The downfalls of the Cultural Revolution started to begin. The Cultural Revolution was a time of much confusion in China. The Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang illustrates the chaos of that time. Ji-li’s experiences during this time period led to her point of view changing. Ji-li starts the Cultural Revolution full of progressive thoughts, but this quickly turns to confusion, and leads to an important choice, something that impacts the rest of her life.Remember to bring 100 pennies…