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China in the late 1940s
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Gender Roles, Stereotyped Behaviors, and Romance in Eileen Chang’s Sealed Off Eileen Chang’s works are extraordinarily dense in imagery, meaning, and social description, even in translation. She was able to draw from her own vast experiences in order to enrich her writing with authentic detail from turning points in history. This is very true of Sealed Off, which is placed in 1940s Shanghai, during the occupation of the Japanese. However, instead of focusing on the Japanese occupation and its political realities, which she experience first hand, although in Hong Kong instead of Shanghai, the sealing off of downtown Shanghai instead serves as plot device and setting for the odd “romance” of Lu Zongzhen and Wu Cuiyuan. Just as the Japanese occupation …show more content…
Her physical appearance is described snidely, as though by someone who has a mild grudge against her. “Her hairstyle was utterly banal, so as not to attract attention. Actually, she hadn’t much reason to fear (176).” Her non-physical attributes, on the other hand, and the way they are described, are very telling. Her timidity and obedience seem to be her “greatest” traits; however, her hesitancy and fear of offence make her life very difficult. She feels very much like no one respects her, like she is a space-filler, a vague disappointment that will do until something better can be found. This seems to be a key piece of femininity in a single, career woman, which very much contrasts to the nagging woman in the middle-aged couple. A large part of her characterization is that she takes abuse -- she does not exist to please herself, but rather to attempt (and fail) to fulfill the wishes of those around her. Whether that is at home with her parents or at work, it very much changes how Cuiyuan sees the
Before her first words she is already considered a disappointment, “a girl child is Mo Yung- useless” (32). From the time she is born, her grandmother, “the old one” (choy), relentlessly tells her how the world will treat her as a girl. She explains to Jook-Liang, ‘“If you want a place in this world… ‘do not be born a girl child’”(31). She is cast aside before she is given a chance and is never given the same opportunities as her brothers. Instead she is forced to help take care of her little brother (insert quote). The excitement surrounding a baby is always extreme, and it doubles in Chinese culture when that baby is a boy. When her little brother is born, she is truly considered to be nothing in the family. “ I recalled how Sekky had received twice the number of jade and gold bracelets that I had got as a baby, and how everyone at the baby banquet toasted his arrival and how only the woman noticed me in my new dress, and then only for a few minutes to compare Poh Poh and step mother’s embroidery”(32). She is a ghost in her own family, and treated as nothing from the moment she is born. It is because of her gender that she is looked upon as a burden and never given the same opportunities as her brothers so that she may excel in life. Through the shadowed life of Jook Liang one can see how gender roles are enforced by cultural
Yan Zhitui states that, "women take charge of family affairs, entering into lawsuits, straightening out disagreements, and paying calls to seek favor...the government offices are filled with their fancy silks." (Differences between north and south, 111). Yet, even in the Qing dynasty women were still restricted by and expected to uphold more traditional ideals, especially in the public eye. So, in the end, through her virtue, Hsi-Liu’s two children we able to become upright. Here, there is a split between what a woman is supposed to be according to old Chinese tradition, and the realities facing women in Tancheng. The loss of her husband, and economic hardship had forced His-Liu to behave in a different way, as if she were usurping the power from the eldest son so she could teach the two boys a lesson about being good family members. While she still maintains the ideals of bearing children, and being loyal to her husband, even after he dies, out of necessity she is forced to break from Confucian ideals of being only concerned with the domestic issues. This too put her at odds with the more traditional society around her, as the villagers pitied her sons, but vilified the Hsi-Liu for being so strict with them (Woman Wang, 65). Had she remarried, she would have been looked down upon even more because she would had broken her duty to remain faithful to her deceased
Jonathan D. Spence weaves together fact and fiction in his book The Death of Woman Wang. Approaching history through the eyes of those who lived it, he tells a story of those affected by history rather than solely recounting the historical events themselves. By incorporating factual evidence, contextualizing the scene, and introducing individual accounts, he chronicles events and experiences in a person’s life rather than episodes in history. Spence pulls together the narrative from a factual local history of T’an-ch’eng by scholar Fenge K’o-ts’an, the memoir of magistrate Huang Liu-hung, and fictional stories by writer P’u Sung-ling. The book closely resembles an historical fiction while still maintaining the integrity of an historical reconstruction.
A Pair of Tickets”, by Amy Tan, is a brief narrative about the conscience and reminiscence of a young Chinese American woman, Jing-Mei, who is on a trip to China to meet her two half-sisters for the first time in her life. Amy Tan is an author who uses the theme of Chinese-American life, converging primarily on mother-daughter relationships, where the mother is an emigrant from China and the daughter is fully Americanized --yellow on the surface and white underneath. In this story, the mother tries to communicate rich Chinese history and legacy to her daughter, but she is completely ignorant of their heritage. At the opening of the story "A Pair of Tickets" Jandale Woo and her father are on a train, the are destined for China. Their first stop will be Guangzhou, China where father will reunite with his long lost aunt. After visiting with her for a day they plan to take a plane to Shanghai, China where Jandale meets her two half-sisters for the first time. It is both a joyful time and yet a time of contrition, Jandale has come to China to find her Chinese roots that her mother told ...
“It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137). This line, echoed throughout Wang Anyi 's short piece “The Destination” is the glowing heartbeat of the story. A refrain filled with both longing and sadness, it hints at the many struggles faced by thousands upon thousands trying to get by in the city of Shanghai. One of these lost souls, the protagonist, Chen Xin, was one of the many youths taken from his family and sent to live the in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Ten years after the fact, Chen Xin views the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution internally and externally as he processes the changes that both he, and his hometown have over-gone in the past ten years. Devastatingly, he comes to the conclusion that there is no going back to the time of his childhood, and his fond memories of Shanghai exist solely in memory. This is in large part is due to the changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution. These effects of the Cultural Revolution are a central theme to the story; with repercussions seen on a cultural level, as well as a personal one.
The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan Spence is an educational historical novel of northeastern China during the seventeenth century. The author's focus was to enlighten a reader on the Chinese people, culture, and traditions. Spence's use of the provoking stories of the Chinese county T'an-ch'eng, in the province of Shantung, brings the reader directly into the course of Chinese history. The use of the sources available to Spence, such as the Local History of T'an-ch'eng, the scholar-official Huang Liu-hung's handbook and stories of the writer P'u Sung-Ling convey the reader directly into the lives of poor farmers, their workers and wives. The intriguing structure of The Death of Woman Wang consists on observing these people working on the land, their family structure, and their local conflicts.
Madame Liang is a character with many different complicated aspects. All of the other characters in the story revolve the mother. As the novel begins and ends, the mother is described as strong and beautiful. The description of the mother created a symbol of the power and ability for women, which is shown through her daughters. In the beginning the author says, "There were too many men and women who were jealous of the famous Madame Liang, who managed, no one knew how, to keep open a restaurant whose daily menu carried the finest gourmet foods" (1). This shows ...
The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When Liang Heng and Judy Shapiro fell in love in China during 1979, they weren’t just a rarity they were both pioneers at a time when the idea of marriages between foreigners and Chinese were still unacceptable in society.
There is no better way to learn about China's communist revolution than to live it through the eyes of an innocent child whose experiences were based on the author's first-hand experience. Readers learn how every aspect of an individual's life was changed, mostly for the worst during this time. You will also learn why and how Chairman Mao launched the revolution initially, to maintain the communist system he worked hard to create in the 1950's. As the story of Ling unfolded, I realized how it boiled down to people's struggle for existence and survival during Mao's reign, and how lucky we are to have freedom and justice in the United States; values no one should ever take for
Bone portrays an aspect of Chinatown that no history book or lesson can accomplish. By allowing readers to read through and live through the characters, readers viscerally grasp the tension and frustration of the characters as they each strive to find acceptance among themselves and family members, and to form an identity as either a Chinese or an American. Through harsh economic circumstances that require a father to work overseas and a mother to work in sweatshops to provide for the upbringing of their children, the experiences of the Leong family demonstrate the arduous life of immigrants. Also, the story of Ona and her subsequent suicide plays a key element in the story of the Leong family, allowing us to understand the social impact of her life as an Asian American and the ultimate complexities of life in Chinatown.
In analyzing these two stories, it is first notable to mention how differing their experiences truly are. Sammy is a late adolescent store clerk who, in his first job, is discontent with the normal workings of society and the bureaucratic nature of the store at which he works. He feels oppressed by the very fabric and nature of aging, out-of date rules, and, at the end of this story, climaxes with exposing his true feelings and quits his jobs in a display of nonconformity and rebellion. Jing-Mei, on the other hand, is a younger Asian American whose life and every waking moment is guided by the pressures of her mother, whose idealistic word-view aids in trying to mold her into something decent by both the double standards Asian society and their newly acquired American culture. In contrasting these two perspectives, we see that while ...
Regardless, this way of thinking provides incentive for Lessons for Women, and is ultimately the foundation of the work. She projects these same ideals onto her own son, who she claims she is worried will ultimately disappoint her, despite the commendations of nobility he has acquired. Yet, now that he is a man, she feels that is not her place; instead worrying for her daughters. Ban Zhao reveals herself to be terminally ill, the origin of her concern, and leaves this document to her daughters as guidelines for living. I found it interesting that such a personal, heartfelt piece of work would ultimately become the standard for women in Confucianism.
She is an aristocratic woman from the Hans empire who believes women should follow their duties set by society. One of a woman’s responsibilities is to be respectful. Zhao wrote, “Let her bear contempt; let her even endure when others speak or do evil to her.” Women are required to be respectful even if a man is doing or saying evil things. Zhao essay also discusses how women are subservient to men. She states, “They only know that wives must be controlled and that the husband 's authority must be maintained.” Men are supposed to control women and it is the woman’s responsibility to follow his orders. Lastly, she discusses womanly behaviors. She says the four womanly behaviors are “… womanly virtue, womanly speech, womanly appearance, and womanly work.” Women are required to be modest, use appropriate language, to maintain personal hygiene in order to look “womanly” and to make clothes or prepare
...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.
...ime. Majority of the women in the novel overcame the tough traditions of women treatment in ancient Chinese culture. The ancient Chinese culture believed that women should fall under patriarchy and strict ethics. This gave women no opportunity to move up the social class ladder. Being treated poorly effected would often affect women. Women like Lindo represent the power of escaping the oppressive atmosphere. Lindo decided to leave when she saw the Huang couldn’t control her anymore. Women had to be able to find their own independent identity. Ying-Ying is an example of this since she always wished to be found by someone, but inevitably she realized that she was her solution to finding her wholeness. Today modern women can express their thoughts, independence, and creativity. Aid should be continually provided for liberating women from oppression and discrimination.