To Live By Yu Hua
According to Chinese culture, the forces that determine order are yin and yang. The basis of this concept is that everything has its opposite which maintains balance. One of the most well known yin and yang pairings is life and death. Yu Hua in the novel To Live, recognized this relationship and integrated the concept into the plot. Life and death constantly check each other by taking and giving lives. Which is the price, one has to pay in order to keep stability. The character Fugui is significant in this process as he lives life and sees death around him.
Out of all the powers of balance, Life and death natures have a thin barrier which causes people to quickly cross the threshold of balance. As one person dies, another lives, and also, …show more content…
it works in reverse. Yu Hua integrates this concept and develops a deep understanding of life exchanges. Even Fugui comes to understand this as “[he] realized how close [he had] come [into] being in Long Er’s shoes” (84). In order for him to live, Long Er dies because of circumstance. Since he had been close to being in “Long Er’s shoes,” it signifies that the position of wealth previously afforded to Fugui was fated for death. That phrase reveals the idea of one life for another as the author illustrates that Fugui, by losing his status, did not have to give his life. Instead, they execute Long Er, who earlier yelled that “[he is] dying for [Fugui].” Therefore, because he is “dying” and it is in Fugui’s place, the process of exchanging lives begins. As the story unfolds, Youqing and the magistrate’s wife are in a life or death situation. The doctors “wanted to take some blood,” but “to save the magistrate’s wife” (150) they took Youqing’s life. She was going to die, but with his own “blood,” an integral part of life, she survives. However, because she lived, there was an imbalance, and in order to stabilize it Youqing dies.
As the balance continues to affect the plot, Yu Hua demonstrates the bitter side to living as the people around the main character are sacrificed. He makes the point that for these characters living is not easy and constantly reminds the reader of their mortality. Later, Fugui laments both of his children's deaths, he recognizes how Youqing died “during someone else’s delivery,” and “Fengxia during her own” (207). They both demonstrate the loss of life and the creation of one. Her circumstance is similar in this respect that while bringing new life into the world, she “[dies] during childbirth” (207). She exchanged her life for her son’s to prevent instability. Hua parallels these situations in order to illustrate the relationship of life and death with childbirth more specifically. These events all contain life and death and hold the suffering and pain of their victims and of the people around them. Because of this, Fugui constantly sees people around him experience hardships from the imbalance.
Many characters struggle to repay the lives given to them and “[strive] for this and that,” but they “pay with [their lives]” (231). Some find ways to repay and other do not, and they seek a way to amend this due to the uneven shift. Chunsheng exemplifies this effort to return balance because “[he] owes [Fugui] a life” (156). The significance of owing a life is monumental: the word “owes” suggests that reparation is necessary. The author creates this assumed obligation with death as the price of life. This is a terrifying debt to Chunsheng, and he attempts to amend things with Fugui’s family with “two hundred yuan,” (170) which Jiazhen rejects. Although the gesture was apologetic and thoughtful, he gave a numerical worth to Youqing which was wholly inaccurate. His soul was priceless in her eyes, and with him dead, the only acceptable repayment was death. In the end(fix), after struggling with the red guard, he takes his life and settles the score.
In another aspect of this situation Jiazhen shows a familiarity with the price of life which affects her treatment of Chunsheng. This is because she recognizes the debt she accumulated herself by living longer than expected. She tells Fugui that giving birth to their children was “[her] way of repaying [him]” (211) for a good life. Since she believed she got more than she deserved in life and expects to “repay,” the existence of balance is established. Again the author creates these expectations so that she is more aware as a character. By being aware, she appreciates her life more with death affecting her more personally. As a result her children do die prematurely and she dies shortly after Fengxia due to the personal connection. Fengxia’s death prompts Jiazhen to choose the name Kugen, “Bitter root,” because he is “without a mother” (211). The author chooses the name Kugen and compares it to life “without a mother.” The purpose of naming him this way was to illustrate that he is still expected to pay the price despite being a child. No one is exempt from the price, but whether or not they are the ones to pay is a different idea.
In this case we have Fugui who progresses from his youth to an old age that no one ‘would have guessed,” and is “still alive and kicking” (234) after the novel end. Despite living conditions and experiences he lives to an age that suggests shock and surprise from others since they could not “have guessed.” During this time period, few lived to these ages and still remain healthy. It is even more impressive considering that life expectancy at the beginning of the book could not have been lower for people. Although he does suffer from hardships like the other characters, he appears to never pay the price of death. This longevity, seemingly unexplained, is a part of the author’s purpose which is balancing the enormity of death in the story. It is explained eloquently that “if you escape a calamity with your life, there is bound to be good fortune to follow” (85). The character Fugui faces many calamities concerning family, wealth, and friends. Yet there are moments of pure happiness, or “fortune,” in between which seem to counter the bad effects. By doing this, the author continuously demonstrates balance and its cycle throughout the novel.
With balance in effect, the author established Fugui’s fate and experiences.
When Fugui was conscripted, he saw “so many people [die]” including Old Quan, “but somehow [he] survived” (148). Not only did he live, but he “survived” which implies that hardship has been overcome. Old Quan teaches him the value of living while death surrounds them and how to overcome it. This is a critical point that establishes Fugui’s resilience in future situations, but also the reader can see the forces of life and death working at once. The massive amount of soldiers’ deaths from the war propels Fugui’s longevity to counteract the shift in the scales. Later, after “[escaping] with [his] life from the battlefield,” Long Er saves Fugui’s life by being the “fall guy” (84). He has already been established as the one whose life was exchanged for Fugui’s by Hua. The word “escaped” illustrates that Fugui narrowly missed death or avoided it. Because of this, he extends his life which further contributes to his vitality. Because death occurs “three times” more, Fugui goes to the “small room where the dead lay” (220) for Youqing, Fengxia and Erxi. In addition, his wife Jiazhen, friend Chunsheng and grandson Kugen die before him. Many die before their time, which suggests that that extra time went to Fugui. Yu Hua creates the characters, so Fugui can live longer. The injustice of their deaths is balanced by the main character’s continued
existence.
Altogether, the law of yin and yang determines the deaths and lives of the characters. While others struggle with it, Fugui rises above everyone. He understands the world’s balance and is not weighed down by it. Lives are exchanged, but with a purpose. They are not random occurrences, but they are determined by Hua’s balance. This gives them higher purpose and give meaning to Fugui. In the end, Fugui becomes a representation of all their lives and life itself as he battles with death in a never ending struggle.
Out of all the powers of balance, Life and death natures have a thin barrier which causes people to quickly cross the threshold of balance. As one person dies, another lives, and also, …show more content…
it works in reverse. Yu Hua integrates this concept and develops a deep understanding of life exchanges. Even Fugui comes to understand this as “[he] realized how close [he had] come [into] being in Long Er’s shoes” (84). In order for him to live, Long Er dies because of circumstance. Since he had been close to being in “Long Er’s shoes,” it signifies that the position of wealth previously afforded to Fugui was fated for death. That phrase reveals the idea of one life for another as the author illustrates that Fugui, by losing his status, did not have to give his life. Instead, they execute Long Er, who earlier yelled that “[he is] dying for [Fugui].” Therefore, because he is “dying” and it is in Fugui’s place, the process of exchanging lives begins. As the story unfolds, Youqing and the magistrate’s wife are in a life or death situation. The doctors “wanted to take some blood,” but “to save the magistrate’s wife” (150) they took Youqing’s life. She was going to die, but with his own “blood,” an integral part of life, she survives. However, because she lived, there was an imbalance, and in order to stabilize it Youqing dies.
As the balance continues to affect the plot, Yu Hua demonstrates the bitter side to living as the people around the main character are sacrificed. He makes the point that for these characters living is not easy and constantly reminds the reader of their mortality. Later, Fugui laments both of his children's deaths, he recognizes how Youqing died “during someone else’s delivery,” and “Fengxia during her own” (207). They both demonstrate the loss of life and the creation of one. Her circumstance is similar in this respect that while bringing new life into the world, she “[dies] during childbirth” (207). She exchanged her life for her son’s to prevent instability. Hua parallels these situations in order to illustrate the relationship of life and death with childbirth more specifically. These events all contain life and death and hold the suffering and pain of their victims and of the people around them. Because of this, Fugui constantly sees people around him experience hardships from the imbalance.
Many characters struggle to repay the lives given to them and “[strive] for this and that,” but they “pay with [their lives]” (231). Some find ways to repay and other do not, and they seek a way to amend this due to the uneven shift. Chunsheng exemplifies this effort to return balance because “[he] owes [Fugui] a life” (156). The significance of owing a life is monumental: the word “owes” suggests that reparation is necessary. The author creates this assumed obligation with death as the price of life. This is a terrifying debt to Chunsheng, and he attempts to amend things with Fugui’s family with “two hundred yuan,” (170) which Jiazhen rejects. Although the gesture was apologetic and thoughtful, he gave a numerical worth to Youqing which was wholly inaccurate. His soul was priceless in her eyes, and with him dead, the only acceptable repayment was death. In the end(fix), after struggling with the red guard, he takes his life and settles the score.
In another aspect of this situation Jiazhen shows a familiarity with the price of life which affects her treatment of Chunsheng. This is because she recognizes the debt she accumulated herself by living longer than expected. She tells Fugui that giving birth to their children was “[her] way of repaying [him]” (211) for a good life. Since she believed she got more than she deserved in life and expects to “repay,” the existence of balance is established. Again the author creates these expectations so that she is more aware as a character. By being aware, she appreciates her life more with death affecting her more personally. As a result her children do die prematurely and she dies shortly after Fengxia due to the personal connection. Fengxia’s death prompts Jiazhen to choose the name Kugen, “Bitter root,” because he is “without a mother” (211). The author chooses the name Kugen and compares it to life “without a mother.” The purpose of naming him this way was to illustrate that he is still expected to pay the price despite being a child. No one is exempt from the price, but whether or not they are the ones to pay is a different idea.
In this case we have Fugui who progresses from his youth to an old age that no one ‘would have guessed,” and is “still alive and kicking” (234) after the novel end. Despite living conditions and experiences he lives to an age that suggests shock and surprise from others since they could not “have guessed.” During this time period, few lived to these ages and still remain healthy. It is even more impressive considering that life expectancy at the beginning of the book could not have been lower for people. Although he does suffer from hardships like the other characters, he appears to never pay the price of death. This longevity, seemingly unexplained, is a part of the author’s purpose which is balancing the enormity of death in the story. It is explained eloquently that “if you escape a calamity with your life, there is bound to be good fortune to follow” (85). The character Fugui faces many calamities concerning family, wealth, and friends. Yet there are moments of pure happiness, or “fortune,” in between which seem to counter the bad effects. By doing this, the author continuously demonstrates balance and its cycle throughout the novel.
With balance in effect, the author established Fugui’s fate and experiences.
When Fugui was conscripted, he saw “so many people [die]” including Old Quan, “but somehow [he] survived” (148). Not only did he live, but he “survived” which implies that hardship has been overcome. Old Quan teaches him the value of living while death surrounds them and how to overcome it. This is a critical point that establishes Fugui’s resilience in future situations, but also the reader can see the forces of life and death working at once. The massive amount of soldiers’ deaths from the war propels Fugui’s longevity to counteract the shift in the scales. Later, after “[escaping] with [his] life from the battlefield,” Long Er saves Fugui’s life by being the “fall guy” (84). He has already been established as the one whose life was exchanged for Fugui’s by Hua. The word “escaped” illustrates that Fugui narrowly missed death or avoided it. Because of this, he extends his life which further contributes to his vitality. Because death occurs “three times” more, Fugui goes to the “small room where the dead lay” (220) for Youqing, Fengxia and Erxi. In addition, his wife Jiazhen, friend Chunsheng and grandson Kugen die before him. Many die before their time, which suggests that that extra time went to Fugui. Yu Hua creates the characters, so Fugui can live longer. The injustice of their deaths is balanced by the main character’s continued
existence.
Altogether, the law of yin and yang determines the deaths and lives of the characters. While others struggle with it, Fugui rises above everyone. He understands the world’s balance and is not weighed down by it. Lives are exchanged, but with a purpose. They are not random occurrences, but they are determined by Hua’s balance. This gives them higher purpose and give meaning to Fugui. In the end, Fugui becomes a representation of all their lives and life itself as he battles with death in a never ending struggle.