Chinese Workers: Their Thoughts, Ideas, and Spirit
Although many have doubts that Chinese workers work in conditions like prisons, they are still willing to work. Often these workers remain optimistic about their spirit; they never give up. Also, they never complain about their suffering in the factories. These depictions of the positive aspects of factories are never shown in the media. However, Leslie Chang discovers the true opinions of Chinese factory workers. In her speech, The Voices of China’s Workers, Leslie Chang describes the eagerness of the Chinese worker and their apathetic response towards their working conditions.
Chang tells the real reason why the Chinese people leave their homes to work in the factories. Chang offers three reasons for leaving home and seeking a job far away. First, workers are eager to “learn new skills” (Chang). Most factory workers come from the poorest areas of China: these villages have no education, industry, or economy. They are just “farmers” (Chang), who cannot do any other jobs. As a result, nearly “153 million rural migrants” (Smith) work outside of their hometowns in China. Secondly, Chinese workers work in factories to “earn money” (Chang). Because many factory workers come from rural areas in China, they are faced with the challenges of reality. They have many concerns such as, “how much money I can save? How much will it take to buy an apartment or a car, to get married, or to put my child through school” (Chang). Compared to the urban areas, “salaries are far lower” (Perlin) in the rural regions. Therefore, they travel to big factory cities like Dongguan, China. Lastly, Chinese factory workers want “to see the world” (Chang). In the “impoverished provinces such as Henan, Hubei, and...
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...earch. “When I first went to Dongguan, I worried that it would be depressing to spend so much time with workers. I also worried that nothing would ever happen to them, or that they would have nothing to say to me. Instead, I found young women who were smart and funny and brave and generous” (Chang). Chang creates and solves her own fallacy. Her speech proves that the Chinese workers value money and family more than the actual conditions or purpose of the job. The media shows the negative parts of Chinese factories, like the “suicide nets” (Perlin). However, the most important thing is to learn new skills and make new money, eventually returning to the village “for good” (“What Do China’s Workers Want?”). Chinese workers want the world to know they desire a successful life through their hard work; they are not afraid of the challenge and they will never give up.
“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 phrase “history repeats itself is quite evident in this film. Currently, China’s economy is in a massive industrial revolution, similar to the American industrial revolution of the early 19th century. After three years of following the Zhang family, first time director Lixin Fan released The Last Train Home, attempting to raise awareness to the down side of China’s powerful economy. While the film The Last Train Home seems to just depict the lives of factory workers, it is also making a political statement about how western capitalism exploits factory workers to produce cheap goods. The film makes this exploitation evident by depicting the fracturing of the Zhang family and the harsh working conditions they must endure.
Work is a word that one hears on a daily basis on multiple different levels; work out, work at school, go to work, work at home, work for change. Society today is made of people that work hard every moment of their day from sunrise to twilight, these workers work for food, housing, family, education, and transportation. Essentially in today’s world if one wants something they must work for it, gone are the days where handouts are common and charity is given freely. The question then arises, who speaks for these voiceless workers that are often working so hard they have no time to voice an opposition? The authors Levine and Baca speak very well for these workers and for society in general, their narrators speak of not only work but of the world
...ering the thoughts and opinions of their employee. On the other side, despite the hash and dangerous working environment, the workers could not quit. The jobs at the factories were their main source of income and without it they would suffer form hunger and poverty. Hence, the workers at that time were tangled in the system that only supports a small proportion of the population, the upper class.
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.
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.”
While modern Chinese immigrants come to the United States seeking jobs as did their predecessors, new motivations have drawn families to the country. In the mid-1800s large numbers of Chinese people began to arrive in America. These immigrants were driven from their homeland by the opium wars, British colonization, peasant rebellion, floods, and ...
Zhang David Tsao was suffering from hard labor, physical pain and mental torture. He wondered how the white men could face themselves in their posh, round mirrors, after treating the Chinese with utmost disrespect. After two years of working on the Canadian Pacific Railway following multiple attempts to run away, Zhang regretted that he had come to Canada for money. His family in China was suffering from ailments and poverty.
Chinese labor camps were created in the 1950s by the Kuomintang as a way to get free labor out of Chinese civilians. When civilians were sent to prison, some would stay in prison and others would go to the labor camps. Prisoners were sent to the labor camps as a way to become reformed through a system they called, “re-education through labor.” In the 1950s, prisoners were sent to Chinese labor camps in order to get a “re-education through labor” and hopefully, come out of the system as better and more productive members of society; but after learning about the Laogai system more in depth, they have not become better and more productive members of society. There were approximately 350 Chinese labor camps . The Kuomintang would sentence Chinese civilians who had committed minor offenses and could be reformed to become a better person for the society. The camps that the prisoners had to live in were very unsanitary. Diseases spread like wildfire and their diets were horrendous. Although no one had spoken up and tried to stop the labor camps, the Laogai system violated The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
We have all been in a situation where we have immigrated to a new country for different reasons regarding, better future, or education. In the book Jade of Peony, Wayson Choy describes a struggle of a Chinese family as they settle in Canada, with their new generation of kids born here, the family struggles to keep their children tied to their Chinese customs and traditions as they fit in this new country. The Chinese culture needs to be more open minded as it limits the future generation’s potential. Chinese culture limitations are seen through the relationship expectations, education, gender roles and jobs.
The documentary strived to show us how factories were corrupt that they couldn’t provide good working conditions for the workers until we lost people. This documentary is about the tragic fire that took place on March 25, 1911 in the Triangle factory. We can clearly see through this documentary that these people didn’t matter to the factory owners because their needs were not met. The documentary shows that the year before the fire took place the workers led a strike asking for better working conditions, but obviously their voices were not heard. After the fire took place this is when factories started improving working conditions. It is sad to learn that it took 146 lives of innocent people in order for factory owners to be convinced that they need to improve the poor working
Hairong, Y., (2008) New Masters, New Servants: Migration, Development, and Women Workers in China. (Duke University Press; Durham).
Women usually worked as secretaries or on the assembly line because “bosses felt that young women were more diligent and easier to manage” (p. 56). Men, however, were either in a high managing position in the factory or worked in the lowest of jobs available, such as a security guard or driver. It was interesting to learn that about one-third of all of China’s migrants are women. These women go to the factory towns to work, but also, a majority of them leave their homes to see the world and experience life on their own for the first time. Chang makes a point that “to some extent, this deep-rooted sexism worked in a woman’s favor” (p. 57). The statement is supported by the idea that women are less treasured in their families; therefore, they had more freedom to do what they wanted with little care from the family. Shockingly, Chang noticed that no woman ever complained about unfair treatment. “They took all of these injustices in stride” (p.58). The women were grateful for the opportunity leave home and gain a sense of freedom; injustice was not a prominent
“‘If you sell the land, it is the end.’” (360). There is absolute truth in these words, if one was in rural, turn-of-the-century China. These wise words, quoted by the main character Wang Lung, come from Pearl S. Buck’s enlightening historical fiction, The Good Earth. In the story, Wang Lung, a poor young farmer, marries a slave of the powerful Hwang family, O-lan. Together, they face hardships and triumphs, prosperity and famine, along with the birth of their three sons and two girls (the fifth child died of strangulation). Throughout Wang Lung’s life, he evolves dramatically in response to the many challenges he faces. In particular, his wealth, idea of women, and the earth itself change Wang Lung’s attitude and point of view as he rises in the social classes of China.
Lindo Jong provides the reader with a summary of her difficulty in passing along the Chinese culture to her daughter: “I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it's no lasting shame . . . You do not have to sit like a Buddha under a tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head . . . In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. . . . but I couldn't teach her about Chinese character . . . How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring. Why Chinese thinking is best”(Tan 289).