Women in the PRC (3): Further suggested readings.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

In addition to the previously mentioned books I would also recommend: "Little Sister" (1996) by Julie Cherkoway; "One Half of the Sky" (1987) [ a collection of stories by Chinese women writers]; "Women and Sexuality in China" (1997) by Harriet Evans. This book has an outstanding bibliography; "Children of China: Voices from Recent Years" (1988) by Ann-ping Chin. this is a wonderful collection of interviews with children of all ages in the 1980s.

I also found "Chinese Families in the Post-Mao Era" (1993) edited by Deborah Davies and Stevan Harrel very interesting. This book is a collection of conference papers...especially see "Marriage" and "Childbearing". There are more than 50 tables to quantify the information presented...Excellent bibliography!!!

And last I would recommend "I Myself Am a Woman: Selected Writings of Ding Ling". Ding Ling (1904-1985) was a very influential Chinese Communist woman writer who was able to survive Mao's 1940s "rectification " campaign, the anti-rightist campaign and "hundred flowers" campaigns of the 1950s, and the 'cultural' revolution (1966-76)...just barely. She was tortured by the Red Guards and most of her manuscripts were destroyed. But in the end she refused to blame Mao or the Party for the persecution of writers...even though many perished by Mao's orders by the Party.

The introduction contains a very useful summary of her life.

[Anonymous]

As regards the readings about women for this Saturday: I was excited to find the "Ballad of Mulan" included! I showed the film to my classes at the end of the year and of course, they all love it because it's Disney, but I didn't expect it to bear much resemblence to the actual legend. I'm surprised and pleased! It would be an interesting lesson to both show the film and have student's read the legend, then have the classes analyze the peices (comparing and contrasting) and extrapolate: based on the differences in the tellings of this legend, what characteristics are valued in each society?

[clay dube]

Michael's suggestions are outstanding. I would like to suggest another book that's not usually thought of in the context of women's history. Jonathan Spence (one of the greatest of this generation of historians) focuses on three individuals in his masterful Gate of Heavenly Peace. The first is Kang Youwei, a man who rose to advise the emperor in 1898 and then to flee the wrath of the empress dowager who would essentially put the emperor under house arrest. Qiu Jin is the second person. She left her husband, studied in Japan, returns to China and becomes committed to overthrowing the Manchu Qing dynasty. And the third is Ding Ling, the writer who Michael mentions above. As a young woman, Ding Ling fostered enormous discussion as she wrote of a young woman who admits to desires and dreams. She served the revolution, writing about land reform and more, but ran afoul of political winds and was largely silenced during Mao's last decades. Spence is a great writer and this is a wonderful book. It's a terrific example of using biography to illuminate important historical periods.

[Anonymous]

I agree!!! I also think "Mulan" is a very good film to initiate discussions about Chinese literature and the role of women in China ...And everywhere. The concubine issue is handled tactfully. The only thing that bothers me is the extreme xenophobia against the "barbarians".

The book the "Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute : The Story of Lady Wen-Chi", Robert Roex and Wen Fong, (1974) is a very sad and poignant scroll/story about a Chinese woman that was kidnapped and married to chieftan. She forced to live with nomadic peoples on China's borders. After living with the nomadic chieftan and having children, she describs the joy and sadness and at all of a sudden hearing Han [Chinese language] . The Chinese had not forgotten her and paid her ransom. She the then has to decide to stay with her husband and children or return to China without them...

The scroll is translated and has the original Chinese.

Read the book to find out what she did and why !!! [Edit by="mwhittemore on May 16, 11:42:39 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I agree!!! I also think "Mulan" is a very good film to initiate discussions about Chinese literature and the role of women in China ...And everywhere. The concubine issue is handled tactfully. The only thing that bothers me is the extreme xenophobia against the "barbarians".

The book the "Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute : The Story of Lady Wen-Chi", Robert Roex and Wen Fong, (1974) is a very sad and poignant scroll/story about a Chinese woman that was kidnapped and married and forced to live with nomadic peoples on China's borders. After living with a nomadic chieftan and having children, she describs the joy and sadness and at all of a sudden hearing Han [Chinese language] . The Chinese had not forgotten her and paid her ransom. She the then has to decide to stay with her husband and children or return to China withou them...

Read the book to find out what she did and why !!!

[Author]

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