“I remembered feeling immediately that I could trust this woman” (3). Thus begins a relationship built on the struggles of tradition and modernity between Pang-Mei and her great-aunt Yu-i in Pang-Mei Chang’s memoir Bound Feet and Western Dress.
Yu-i shares her stories of growing up in a traditional Chinese life, getting married by age fifteen, divorcing at twenty-two, and breaking through the challenges of who to rely on in a world she didn’t understand. shy girl who has grown to revere Yu-i
Pang-Mei shares her ideas that conflict between cultures is inevetible through her own experiences and those of her great-aunt.
Pang-Mei faced many cultural challenges as she grew up. As a child attending school, Pang-Mei was bullied because of her Chinese
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She grows up in a society where tradition and family are the norm, but gets tastes of more modern viewpoints throughout her childhood and young adult life. Yu-i, thinking of her life as a child, expresses, “You see, when Mama said women were nothing […] part of me heard but part of me did not. I was born into changing times and had two faces, one that heard talk of the old and the other that listened for talk of the new, the part of me that stayed East and the other that looked West, the spirit in me that was woman and the other that was man” (15). Yu-i shows her own cultural split with these ideas. She was born into a time where she cannot be one person or the other, but still puts effort into trying to be the perfect daughter and wife while considering modern life. She’s not quite one kind of person or the other; Yu-i struggles with her identity and role in life. This role is made somewhat more confusing by Yu-I’s marriage to Hsu Chih-mo. He doesn’t want a traditional wife, but still follows in some Chinese customs. Yu-I, contemplating their wedding, discloses, “[…] in China the color white is only for mourning: a bride always wears red. I wore pink on my wedding, a combination of white and red, because Hsu Chih-mo had said that he wanted a modern bride […] In a step away from custom, Hsu Chih-mo would lift my heavy veil during the ceremony […]” (77). The color pink is literally a cross between the colors of Western and
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
She also considered this help in finding her strength and independence in against the Chinese society. Through harsh events, she had learned to become a free woman and not become property of her husband which she believed she had to follow whatever he ordered her to do. Yu-I had grown up with parents that were very traditional customs and this that would determine Yu-I’s life. Chang Yu-I’s view on liberation came from her knowledge and experience she gained from being raised in traditional China. Instead of having to stick with the traditions of china, she began to question and learn to become
In the beginning paragraphs of Mrs. Spring Fragrance, Sui Sin Far introduces readers to the Chin Yeuns and their beautiful 18-year-old daughter, Mai Fwi Fan, who goes by her American name, Laura. Sui Sin Far describes the Chin Yeuns as living “in a house furnished in American style, and wore American clothes, yet they religiously observed many Chinese customs, and their ideals of life were the ideals of their Chinese forefathers” (865). Abiding by Chinese tradition, Laura’s parents have “betrothed their daughter” (865) to the son of the Chinese Government school-teacher. Laura confesses to Mrs. Spring Fragrance that she is actually in love with Kai Tzu. Mrs. Spring Fragrance is the only person who knows about the relationship between Laura and Kai Tzu. Unfortunately, for Laura, her betrothal is quickly approaching. Mrs. Spring Fragrance, trying to cheer up her young friend, quotes the famous l...
While traditional Confucianism plays a large role in the problems faced by the Kao family, it is the combination of both Confucianism and modernization that brings the family to its knees. Chueh-hsin is a huge factor in the novel for many reasons. It is because of him that his little brothers Chueh-min and Chueh-hui realize how unfair the old system of arranged marriage was. They witnessed their older brother Chueh-hsin go along with tradition and release a lake of tears over the years because of his willingness to let his elders determine his future instead of himself. Chueh-hsin was in constant reflection of what he should have done to save his happiness and the joy of the woman he loved, Mei. In the end Mei is so overwhelmed with unhappiness that she stops treating herself well, gives up in life and withers away and dies.
As she gets off the train, Jing-mei starts to describe her surroundings once again. For example, she describes Guangzhou as “The landscape has become gray, filled with low flat cement buildings, old factories, and then tracks and more tracks filled with trains like ours passing by in the opposite direction. I see platforms crowded with people wearing drab Western clothes, with spots of bright colors: little children wearing pink and yellow, red and peach” (266). The colors mentioned go along with how Jing-mei described her mother wearing clothes that do not go well together. The colors are bright, much brighter than the colors she saw on the train. It could mean that she is getting closer to her mother by seeing her in other people in China. However, Jing-mei has not fully embraced her roots, which is understandable since that side of her has only just awoken. Again, Jing-mei is questioning herself when she and her father are going through customs. For example, she describes the long lines as “getting on a number 30 Stockton bus in San Francisco” (266). Immediately after making that connection, Jing-mei reminds herself “I am in China. I remind myself. And somehow the crowds don’t bother me. It feels right” (266). Jing-mei is allowing herself to drift away to what is comfortable. Reminding herself that she is in China, she begins to feel at peace and that it feels
Chang Yu-I understood woman's liberation as the tool for changing the Chinese culture. It was about a woman becoming her own person rather than the property of a man whom she must cherish under every circumstance. Yu-I believed that a woman's liberation was in finding her own independence and strength in Chinese society.
“Whenever she had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that ran like this one, a story to grow up on. She tested our strengths to establish realities”(5). In the book “The Woman Warrior,” Maxine Kingston is most interested in finding out about Chinese culture and history and relating them to her emerging American sense of self. One of the main ways she does so is listening to her mother’s talk-stories about the family’s Chinese past and applying them to her life.
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
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 ...
... her own person and wanting only to be accepted for who she is and not who she could be. Even though the argument was never discussed it still haunted Jing-mei. That is why Jing-mei was surprised when her mother offered her the piano for her thirtieth birthday, she took it as a sign of forgiveness.
Each of the Chinese mothers attempted to guide her daughters, yet they were ill equipped to translate their life experiences in China to the alien environment they found in America. It was their lives, not their language, that they were unable to translate. Like her friend Lindo, An Mei Hsu was raised the Chinese way, as she describes:
Kingston uses the story of her aunt to show the gender roles in China. Women had to take and respect gender roles that they were given. Women roles they had to follow were getting married, obey men, be a mother, and provide food. Women had to get married. Kingston states, “When the family found a young man in the next village to be her husband…she would be the first wife, an advantage secure now” (623). This quote shows how women had to get married, which is a role women in China had to follow. Moreover, marriage is a very important step in women lives. The marriage of a couple in the village where Kingston’s aunt lived was very important because any thing an individual would do would affect the village and create social disorder. Men dominated women physically and mentally. In paragraph eighteen, “they both gav...
Jing-Mei is often unhappy throughout the story due to this fact and often finds herself wanting to purposefully disappoint and let down her mother to prove
Her relationships and gender roles are dictated by her male relatives. The story retells the injustice and lack of choice that women faced in China from birth to death. Firstly, during the 1920s and 30s in China, a woman’s relationships were dictated by her male relatives. The forceful placement of women in marriages and restrictions in other relationships was often seen as fate.
I am not in agreement with the complier's opinion on the Story of Ying-ying when stating "Both lovers are acting roles that never quite fit them". I do see both error and fault within the role played by Chang. However, I think that Ying-ying's role suited her perfectly in all aspects. Ying-ying was a virtuous and beautiful young women that derived from a prominent lineage. Although, Chang was a easy route to a socially acceptable marriage, Ying-ying chose to express her free will and disapproval of Chang the very first time they met. Ying-ying was rightfully skeptical and critical in response to Chang's poem because she was unsure of his intentions. She did not want to feel as if her love was a payment of debt, in exchange of him saving her family from rioting soldiers. Ying-ying was only seventeen, which means she was more than likely inexperienced with men. Her immaturity