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Compare and contrast between traditional and modern societies
Compare and contrast between traditional and modern societies
Compare and contrast between traditional and modern societies
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Tradition and Modernity within Spring Silkworms
Mao Dun, author of "Spring Silkworms", was a twentieth century Chinese novelist, critic, organizer, editor, and advocate for Chinese Communism. According to David Wang, Mao Dun was one of the most versatile Chinese literati among the May Fourth generation. Mao Dun was an advocate and practitioner of European naturalism. Motivated by history and politics, Mao Dun has introduced western literary ideas to China in his novels. As a left wing writer Mao Dun focuses on the peasant's point of view and relies on his depiction of reality to evoke change. A good example of this style of writing is the story "Spring Silkworms".
"Spring Silkworms" is about the trials and tribulations of an old farmer named Lao Tong Bao and his family during the silkworm raising season. The story raises the issue of the changes occurring to the Chinese agricultural traditions due to modern influences. It is a tale that "represents Mao Dun's historical dialectic that highlights the confrontation of modern machinery with provincial handicraftsmanship; of western know-how with native values; and of capitalist money with rural struggle for cultural and socioeconomic autonomy." (Wang xviii) In my paper I will highlight several confrontations between modernity and tradition. I will also analyze how modernity and tradition were portrayed in the story.
Before I delve into my analysis of modernity and tradition within "Spring Silkworms", I believe I should give a brief overview of my ideas on what constitutes modernity and tradition. It is my opinion that modernity generally is characterized as anything that has been involved with the process of modernization in the west. Probably the most distinguishing factor of modernity would be influences of western capitalism. Tradition on the other hand, I characterize as any old Chinese values, customs, or superstitions uninhibited by western ideology.
The first example of modernity clashing with tradition occurs when Old Tong Bao is sitting by the canal reminiscing about his childhood. As he is reminded of his past an oil burning river boat passes by to interrupt his train of thought. As this boat passes through the canal, Old Tong Bao can't help but be filled with anger. While this boat passes through it disturbs the peaceful canal waters and fills the clean air with its' smoke. The boat causes a peasant in his little craft to toss from side to side and up and down like a see saw.
“The Death of Woman Wang”, written by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence, is a book recounting the harsh realities facing citizens of Tancheng country, Shandong Province, Qing controlled China in the late 17th century. Using various primary sources, Spence describes some of the hardships and sorrow that the people of Tancheng faced. From natural disasters, poor leadership, banditry, and invasions, the citizens of Tancheng struggled to survive in a devastated and changing world around them. On its own, “Woman Wang” is an insightful snapshot of one of the worst-off counties in imperial Qing China, however when taking a step back and weaving in an understanding of long held Chinese traditions, there is a greater understanding what happened in
The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chinese 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 of 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.
“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.
In his poem, “Notes from the City of the Sun”, Bei Dao utilizes obscure imagery consistent with the Misty Poets and veiled political references to illustrate the struggles in Chinese society during the Cultural Revolution. The poem is sectioned into fourteen short stanzas containing imagery that are symbolic of the cultural hegemony in China under the rule of Mao Zedong. Bei Dao, born Zhao Zhen-kai, is an anti-revolutionary poet and one of the founders of a group known as the Misty Poets. The Misty Poets wrote poems that protested the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong. Therefore, a lot of Bei Dao’s poems speak out against the Cultural Revolution and the restrictions that it placed on any form of art. Bei Dao’s poetry is categorized as “misty” because of the ambiguity in its references to Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. An obscure imagery that occurs twice in “Notes” is the sun imagery. Another imagery that depicts the injustice of the Cultural Revolution is the description of freedom as scraps of paper. In the poem, Bei Dao also equates faith to sheep falling into a ditch; this is a depiction blind faith during the Cultural Revolution. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how Bei Dao’s use of the Misty Poet’s ambiguous imagery and implicit political context in the poem “Notes from the City of the Sun” to illustrate the cultural hegemony in China under Mao.
The setting of a story has a ponderous influence on the reader’s perception as it often justifies a character’s behavior. In Saboteur, the story takes place in communist China as witnessed by the concrete statue of Chairman Mao in the middle of the square. During this period, the communist leader Mao Zedong was ruling with authority and transforming the society based on a Marxist model. The author states that “the Cultural Revolution was over already and recently the party had been propagating the idea that all citizens are equal”(26). The statue is located in the middle of a square before Muji train station. Muji seems to be a middle sized province town. The place is very busy as suggested by the “food and fruit vendors crying for customers in lazy voices” (3). The place “smells of rotten melon and a few flies kept buzzing above the couple’s lunch”(3) foreshadowing a unpleasant event. The season in which the plot takes place is summer since Mr. Chiu and his bride are both wearing sandals. Additionally later during the story Mr. Chiu is offered to sign his self criticism carrying a date that is July the 13th.
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.
Jealousy is an innate facet of humanity, an emotion universally felt during childhood. It is through this jealousy that we begin to resent the reality that we are given. In the article “Eat, Memory: Orange Crush,” Yiyun Li recalls how influential the western product “Tang” was during her childhood. Growing up, Li remembers a time where she was resentful of her lack of Tang, desiring the “Tangy” lifestyle which was symbolic of luxury and social status in China. Through the logos of Li’s father, Li’s appeal to pathos through her childhood experiences, and the disillusionment of Li’s utopian view of Tang, Li typifies the struggle a teenager undergoes as they grow up.
Timothy Brook’s book, The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China is a detailed account of the three centuries of the Ming Dynasty in China. The book allows an opportunity to view this prominent time period of Chinese history. Confusions of Pleasure not only chronicles the economic development during the Ming dynasty, but also the resulting cultural and social changes that transform the gentry and merchant class. Brook’s insights highlight the divide between the Ming dynasty’s idealized beliefs, and the realities of its economic expansion and its effects. Brook describes this gap through the use of several first hand accounts of individuals with various social statuses.
Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
In a village left behind as the rest of the China is progressing, the fate of women remains in the hands of men. Old customs and traditions reign supreme, not because it is believed such ways of life are best, but rather because they have worked for many years despite harsh conditions. In response to Brother Gu’s suggestion of joining communist South China’s progress, Cuiqiao’s widower father put it best: “Farmer’s have their own rules.”
China has gone through many changes in its history. Changes include economic, political, and social. In the early 1500 and throughout history, mostly all social classes followed Confucianism. Confucianism is a type of religion based on an ideal society (Chang 2012, 22). China was molded though Confucianism but that slowly deteriorated as years went on. One main group that has been a main part in these changes is the Chinese literati. The Chinese literati include the higher-class people such as officials and scholars. The Chinese literati were the dominant social class during the 1500’s but their power slowly decreased throughout history. Throughout my paper, I will explain the Chinese literati involvement as centuries passed.
Programs such as collectivization and land reformation were essentially a microcosm of Mao's impact on China. Under the policy of collectivization, the government promoted cooperative farming and redistributed the land on the principle that the product of labor could be better distributed if the la...
Jung Chang, who wrote Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China was the first of her 3 generations to be raised under the Communist regime. Her parents worked for the Communist party and throughout her childhood she had to follow a set of rules that forced her respect orders under Mao’s rule. Like most Chinese people, she indeed followed Mao’s words and perspective, but in the end she knew that it was Mao that was responsible for China’s suffering. Her views are very biased because she hated Communists, and primarily wrote about the bad that Communism brought to China. She watched her family suffer for years, hating the Communist regime.
In Dai Sijie’s novel, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, about the impact of China’s Counter Revolution, the Little Seamstress, one of the main characters, processes an idea that will forever change her. We see The Little Seamstress, an uneducated person living in a distant corner of China, developing into someone new, almost being able to touch the image she creates in her mind; as someone transformed with new ideas not looking back into the simple mountain girl she once was. The story is set in a far western corner of China to which two young educated men –Lou and the “unnamed” narrator– are banished and where they fall in love with the Little Seamstress, the beautiful but illiterate daughter of the local tailor. With the author’s use of imagery, diction, syntax, and
When the contemporary society is observed, it can be perceived that there are hidden influences from past cultures that constructed how many people live their lives. Past cultures have left many innovations and notions that have either been reimagined or have advanced into items and concepts that are still used today. The era that contained a generous portion of inventions and ideas that are still used or have influence the culture of today would be the Middle Ages.