In the outstanding book Mao’s Last Dancer, it tells a life story about a peasant boy named Li Cunxin who’s fate is laid out for him being a labourer in the fields just like his whole family but his determination helps him to escape his destiny. Li was chosen to go to the Beijing Dance Academy to study ballet. He moved away from his home and family to pursue ballet and make his family proud. Li got the chance to go over to America to discover the Western World of ballet. Through hard work, perseverance and dedication, Li was able to escape from his so-called destiny. When Li first started school, he had started the path of being a labourer and following Chairman Mao’s rules, but one day that all changed. When he was 11 the headmaster brought …show more content…
He knew that he was going to have to leave his home and village, Qingdao to go to Beijing and study ballet. Li knew that he was going to be leaving family and friends behind, but he knows that going to Beijing is a good thing for him, “My dear son, this is your chance to escape the cruel world”. By going there, Li knows he will make his family and him proud and be something more than just a labourer. “Go and do something special with your life! Become someone other than a peasant boy”. Therefore, by Li leaving home, he is becoming stronger and independent and ready to face the real …show more content…
After a while at being at the academy, Li got to know his teachers and they saw a lot of potential in Li’s ballet skills. They told him a lot of legends and stories that made Li want to practice and work hard at ballet and become better at it. “Sit down, I want to tell you a story”. Li trained hard, day and night, getting advice from teachers and students on how to improve, “I worked hard and listened to what they said”. Li pushed through injuries just so he could get better at ballet in hopes to get his name out there but most importantly making his family proud. “My rapid improvement surprised my teachers and classmates”. Therefore, by improving on his ballet it shows that Li has a lot of determination in getting better at ballet every day and he is getting more independent in this whole process of training and
Mao Zedong was born December 26, 1893 and lived until September 9 in 1976 when he died in Beijing China. Mao Zedong died from the Motor neuron disease. Mao Zedong was born into a peasant family in the place Shoshanna near Hunan. During the years of 1928 throughout 1931. Mao Zedong and others that worked with Mao Zedong established armies in the hinterlands and created the Red Army which was known as the most feared “army” in china during the time of the revolution.
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...
The novel 'Mao's Last Dancer', is a gripping story about the author, Li Cunxin and his story to success as a professional ballet dancer in communist China. The story shows how hard work, determination and hardships lead to the achievement of goals. Throughout the book, Li suffers from a number of physically and mentally challenging struggles that test him and push him to become stronger and more determined. Both mental and physical struggles are equally as difficult to overcome and both play a big part in different stages of Li's life.
There might be an emotional response at the tragedy of thousands of people plucked from their homes to live in a foreign place, but it is far more effective to show these struggles through the eyes of one person, rather than from an economic or or national viewpoint. Anyi does exactly this in “The Destination”. Anyi never forgets the individual hardships of each character, she demonstrates what “It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137) means to each person. Characterizing their hardships with compassion and understanding that, young or old, changes in China had an effect on all, and all have the right to acknowledge
Teenager, an age of rebellions is offered the perfect opportunity: to falsely testify against their parents, and became the educable children of Chairman Mao. But for many, the choice is not easy. Specially for the kid from "black" family, similar to main character Jiang; they have to choose between siding with their family, consider a disgrace, going against Chairman Mao's idea, or to be an honorable red guard,and side with the communist party."' Why don't you stay home with him? In case...' 'I've thought about that.' She looked away from my face to the litter on the table. 'But we can't allow personal matters to interfere with revolutionary duties. Especially for an important political assignment like the exhibition.'"(205). That's the idea chairman Mao encouraged, and it clearly separate family from politics. From this other girl point of view, she valued her policies and belief overtook her love for her brother. The action of this girl makes a strong contract to Ji-Li, bother third action define who they are.
Her lasting career was not given to her easily, therefore, creating an inspiring story full of hardships and success. Ever since she was a little girl, her dream was to become a successful and famous dancer. In New York City, when she was trying to fulfill her dream, she was unable to find a job in the theatre department. Instead of being discouraged, she decided to make something good come from it. She choreographed her own routines, created her own costumes, and organized solo recitals for audiences to enjoy. This event led her to the biggest adventure in her life that would later impact the world. She was invited to return back to London to pursue her education in the performing arts, so that she could further improve her talents that would make up her entire career.
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
(Qian 26) Through his support of who he thought was the best man to lead China, Li portrayed another Confucian virtue; "'What should I do to win the hearts of the people?'
The Cultural Revolution in China was led by Mao Zedong, due to this Liang and many others faced overwhelming obstacles in many aspects of their life such as work, family and everyday encounters, if affected everyone’s families life and education, Liang lets us experience his everyday struggles during this era, where the government determined almost every aspect of life. The beginning of the book starts out with Liang’s typical life, which seems normal, he has a family which consists of three children, two older sisters and him the youngest, his two sister’s reside in Changsha 1. his father has an everyday occupation working as a journalist at a local newspaper. Things start to take a turn early in life for Liang Heng, his family politics were always questioned, the mistake made by one of his family members would impact his entire family and it would be something they would have to suffer through, it was impossible for them to live down such a sin.... ...
The typical idea of a dancer is that they are tall, slender, full of energy, and lucky because they dance with all of the “stars”. Much of this is true, however, what many people do not think of are the many hardships that a dancer goes through in order to achieve their high status in the dance world. It takes much hard work and determination along with good direction to become a dancer. However, nothing good comes without a price. Dancers often times have many pressures put on them which can lead to physical and emotional damages. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers.
There is no better way to learn about China's communist revolution than to live it through the eyes of an innocent child whose experiences were based on the author's first-hand experience. Readers learn how every aspect of an individual's life was changed, mostly for the worst during this time. You will also learn why and how Chairman Mao launched the revolution initially, to maintain the communist system he worked hard to create in the 1950's. As the story of Ling unfolded, I realized how it boiled down to people's struggle for existence and survival during Mao's reign, and how lucky we are to have freedom and justice in the United States; values no one should ever take for
In the very beginning, Ji Li is confidently dedicated to the revolution, but then slowly starts to discover the despicable truth. Ji-Li thinks, " We thanked heaven that Chairman Mao had started this Cultural Revolution… otherwise we would not have even known we were in trouble. What a frightening idea." (38). This quote depicts Ji-Li's thoughts on Chairman Mao as she started off in the beginning; an exemplary student and daughter of Chairman Mao. Her first carefree opinion is quickly countered when she is told she cannot participate in the audition. "'Ji-Li, the fact is that our family will not be able to pass the investigation'…For a long time I did not speak. ‘Why?' I whispered at last." (9). When she is told at this early point in the revolution she would not pass the audition, she is only getting an insidious whiff of what is to come, but has not experienced anything that would be wrong with her family, the revolution, or otherwise the world up until then. Although small, her first glimpse at the tormenting trials that are to come start to penetrate into her oblivious mind, and make her start to think...
Communism came to power in China in the year 1949 and was dictated by Mao Zedong, who later ordered for all educated men and women of China to be reeducated in the countryside. Lou and the narrator were just two of many thousands to be sent off to be reeducated. Lou and the narrator then meet the Little Chinese Seamstress, and Lou, as well as the narrator to an extend fall in love with her.
Mao was born on December 26, 1893 in Shao Shan, a village in Hunan Province. 3 His family lived in a rural village where for hundreds of years the pattern of everyday life had remained largely unbroken. 4 Mao's father, the son of a "poor peasant," during Mao's childhood however, prospered and become a wealthy land owner and rice dealer. 5 Yet, the structure of Mao's family continued to mirror the rigidity of traditional Chinese society. His father, a strict disciplinarian, demanded filial piety. 6 Forced to do farm labor and study the Chinese classics, Mao was expected to be obedient. On the other hand, Mao remembers his mother was "generous and sympathetic." 7 Mao urged his mother to confront his father but Mao's mother who believed in many traditional ideas replied that "was not the Chinese way." 8 Mao in his interviews with historian Edgar Snow reports how during his childhood he tried to escape this traditional Chinese upbringing by running away from home.
Mao’s Cultural Revolution was an attempt to create a new culture for China. Through education reforms and readjustments, Mao hoped to create a new generation of Chinese people - a generation of mindless Communists. By eliminating intellectuals via the Down to the Countryside movement, Mao hoped to eliminate elements of traditional Chinese culture and create a new form Chinese culture. He knew that dumbing down the masses would give him more power so his regime would be more stable. This dramatic reform affected youth especially as they were targeted by Mao’s propaganda and influence. Drawing from his experiences as an Educated Youth who was sent down to the countryside Down to the Countryside movement, Ah Cheng wrote The King of Children to show the effects of the Cultural Revolution on education, and how they affected the meaning people found in education. In The King of Children, it is shown that the Cultural Revolution destroyed the traditional incentives for pursuing an education, and instead people found moral and ethical meaning in pursuing an education.