Deng Xinran's Message From An Unknown Chinese Mother

The letters from Chinese mothers indicate and expose the government’s inhumane treatment of its nation’s entire female population.

The novel, Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother, consists of ten stories unveiling the harsh realities of living in China under the communist rule of Deng Xiaoping. During this time, it was especially difficult for women as they were oppressed and subdued; they were frowned upon if they were unable to produce a male heir for her husband and his relatives. In a sense, girls and women were considered to be “the other” for they were exoticized, maltreated, and robbed of their identities. Xinran states, “They lived on the bottom rung of society, unquestioning obedience was expected of them, and they had no means

Essentially, the communist government had become “the colonizer” while Chinese mothers became “the colonized”. With a rapidly increasing population, China encouraged the birth of males to ensure its labour extensive workforce and in return, would provide those families with land and money. In addition, traditional families demanded a son in order to pass down and carry on the family name; otherwise, it was deemed to be humiliating and disgraceful. With the glorification and advantages of having a male offspring came the ostracization of female infants, leading to their deaths in great numbers by the method of infanticide; it was common practice and considered conventional. Nobody would or could oppose the “orthodox” way of living for it was as if it were impossible to feel compassion towards a female baby. “You can’t not do (kill) girl babies…” (24) Nonetheless, few babies had escaped their inevitable fate of death, whether it was to be left on the steps of an impoverished orphanage, or be abandoned at a train station; China’s girls were born to suffer. It is evident in this time and age that Chinese women

These acts have allowed them to somehow reach out to their lost daughters and regain their identity as mothers. Throughout the novel, it is evident that each woman, a Chinese mother, has felt some type of remorse in her lifetime; it was ultimately caused by the regulation of the collectivist party. In one letter, a mother writes to Xinran reminiscing of a teenage pregnancy and explaining her regrettable decision of leaving her daugher, Mei, on the steps of an orphanage. She states, “Xinran, do you think that I can walk away from the past which my daughter has given me, simply efface it from memory, and live in the present and face the future?” (20), and signs “Waiter, a mother in agony.” She is one of many who continue to anticipate something that will never come. In China, so many women are unable to reach a level of acceptance and cannot progress towards a happy future. With that being said, this collection of historic accounts is dedicated towards the relinquished children of China in order to prove the love their birth mothers still feel towards them; for that love, they have suffered an eternity of agony and have shed a bottomless pit of tears. Through these stories, we as the readers are able to dig deeper into the roots and personal experiences of