Throughout the Chinese history, peasants, especially women have always aimed for a recognized position in Chinese society, their roles and positions in both their family and society have not been quite pleased with them. Generally, Chinese women have had almost no legal rights or career opportunities compare to Chinese men until early twentieth century. However, it started to change right after a movement known as “The May Fourth movement in 1919 .” The May Fourth movement was based on Western principles to create a new Chinese culture. Through this revolutionary movement, the peasants and intellectuals had a unified voice to express radical ideologies in Confucianism, traditional civil service hiring exams, patriarchal family structures, …show more content…
In the film, Wu Yonggang tried to describe the life of an unnamed prostitute : Every night she walks the streets, forcing herself to smile for clients, returning exhausted at dawn. The money she earns, she uses to support herself and raise her son. She endures not only humiliation, but also must avoid the police. The unnamed prostitute, also known as Ruan Lingyu reaches the epitome of her virtuosity as an actor in bringing together both the unyielding love of a mother and the tragic fate of a prostitute in one character. This effectively conveys the leftist message of the time, while also gripping viewers’ emotions. The director’s skillful use of prostitution as a way of highlighting China’s social problems of oppression, along with his simultaneous focus on the consequential victimization of the helpless, ultimately causes viewers to heavily ponder the dramatic issues presented in the film and gain a deeper insight as to the injustice of the time. Furthermore, the director delivers a message to the leftist sentiments of social inequality and of the need for change within China through focusing on female suffering in 1930s society. One way in which this message is effectively conveyed in the film is through Lingyu’s beautiful mastery of the role. Her facial expressions and subtle gestures reveal the inner turmoil the character feels, and ultimately, it is her performance that brings true meaning to the film’s underlying argument. In one scene where Lingyu’s character comes home after having worked the streets, we see her quickly tend to her crying baby and, while she warmly cradles him in her arms, look up and stare off to the right in deep contemplation of the unfortunate reality she is being forced to live. She skillfully takes on a deep look of sadness and hopelessness, which tells viewers that, despite her loving heart
William Hinton, a US born member of a Chinese Communist land reform task force in 1948, noted that the peasants were challenging the landlords and money lenders in regards to overcharges and restoration of lands and property seized in default of debts (Doc 4). This was due to the newly found confidence in themselves through the defeat of the Japanese. Although Hinton was born into the communist party, his recount of the actions he saw concerning the peasants was simply from a look from the outside in. He personally did not experience this sudden upsurge of challenges, which gives the public a view of what the communist party thought of what looked like a move towards social equality. Although Hinton’s recount may not have been thoroughly verified, the communist party did indeed aid in fueling what was known as a struggle meeting, where Chinese peasants humiliated and tortured landlords, as seen in the picture, organized by the Communist Party as part of the land reform process, of a group of peasants at a meeting where in the center a woman is with her former landlord (Doc 7). Alongside the destruction of the landowning infrastructure that was previously followed, the Communist party also aided the peasants in a form of social reform. One important law that granted specifically women more freedom in their social life was the creation of the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China in 1950, where it states that the “supremacy of man over woman, and in disregard of the interest of the children, is abolished” (Doc 5). The newly introduced concepts of free choice in partners, abortion, and monogamy that derived from this law changed the societal position on women and peasants which greatly expresses the amount of new social mobility
The rise of nationalist movements and the modern nation-state has affected women’s political and economic participation and social freedoms. Based on the following documents, there were many opportunities and barriers that nationalist movements posed concerning women's rights in the twentieth century. Many women saw the opportunities of the movements accessible to women, but other women focused on the barriers and didn’t feel that the opportunities were accessible.
A young socialist group was created by the name “Red Guards” are hunting down “capitalist-roaders” who are guilty of the “Four Olds” which is old customs, old habits, old thoughts, or old culture. This is shown when the village chef comes for Fugui to get rid of the puppets because everyone knows that they are part of the old culture and though the puppets remind Jiazhen of her son Yongqing, the family burns the puppets. The audience is shown that the Communist party has infiltrated people’s houses and propaganda is even in the marriage song between Fengxia and Erxi. It is known that by this time the Revolution is at it’s strongest. Education is depicted to not matter and that proves to cause a disaster as later in the film during Fengxia’s childbirth the doctors are all gone and only the students are left. It is noticed that these students are all young woman and the Communist party is trying to make gender roles equal for these young woman, however it is clear that since the doctors were the only ones educated to help this puts the death of Fengxia who dies of blood loss after giving birth to her son Mantou. Fengxia who is mute and considered back in China as a disability in Chinese culture as a “dishonor” since disabilities was considered that no doctor or nurse would that treat them, manly because they did not know how. This part in the film is symbolic to this part of China during that time as it shows both children, Youqing and Fengxia victims of the Communist Party polices. At the end, when Erxi buys a box full of young chicks for his son, which they decide to keep in the chest formerly used for the shadow puppet props. Implies the history of Puppetry in Chinese culture such as it was made for an emperor who had lost a loved one and so an Official made a shadow puppet of her and when presenting it to the emperor he was overjoyed that he could see his loved one again.
Qiu Jin was a female revolutionary who died fighting the Qing Empire. In Qiu’s piece, An Address to My Two Hundred Million Women Compatriots in China, she addresses her 200 million strong female audience. Qiu tells her female audience that change is needed, “But I hope that from now on we sisters will do away with the state affairs from the past and exert ourselves to create new circumstances. It is as if we had died and been reborn as human beings.” . This message was progressive, as women in China at tis time did not have many rights. They were treated as second hand citizens in the eyes of most men. This call for equality that was coming from Qiu reached many women and recruited them to the communist cause. At the end of her piece, Qiu says something else that shows the importance of women in the communist revolution, “Men cannot be sure of their own survival, so how can we continue to rely on them? If we do not lift ourselves up now, it will be too late once the nation has perished” . Qiu made it clear that without the women’s help the fight for freedom would not be achieved. It was not only the female members of the communist party that were calling for equality for women. Mao Zedong wrote social reforms that explicitly gave women more rights. One that strands out is, “18. A women can dispose of her land the way she wishes when she is married” . The leader of the communist party made it clear that women need to have more rights. Hearing it from one of the major players of the communist movement reassured women that if this revolution were indeed to take place and succeed, then they would have more rights. If women were treated as equals they would be more willing to fight for Mao and the communist revolution. There were other factors that contributed in people joining the
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.
Across cultures, many times similarities lay within them that go unnoticed. It is true that obvious differences set them apart; but if a closer look is taken, it is surprising what can be found. The Chinese culture is obviously different from the American culture, but underneath the surface there are similarities. One of them is how the treatment of women has evolved and changed. Anti-feminism in China has been present since ancient times, and has just recently decreased. Anti-feminism in America has never been as severe as it was in China; however, instead of the value of women gradually increasing over the years - it has reversed. The value of women in America has decreased. There are many similarities between the ancient Chinese women and the modern women of America. Women in China and women in America have both gone through evolutions of how they are treated and looked upon; it is just that women in China have evolved, where the women of America have devolved.
Zhu Ying was a member of the military’s theatre troupe, and about to be a member of the party, until she refused to sleep with party members. After that, they transferred and then imprisoned her. While her role in the military could have made Zhu Ying an androgynous figure, an emblem of communist gender equality, the party’s expectation that she have sex with party members makes her a sexual object, which is its own form of feminization. Zhu Ying is allowed to retain her femininity only if she consents to being a sexual object; when she does not, she is sent to be a laborer, and later imprisoned. Moreover, by being separated from her boyfriend, her chance at domestic happiness is taken away. After imprisonment, she has no opportunity to fill the traditional female role of marriage and children (which she may or may not have desired). Thus, the party halts the “natural” order of marriage and
As the women narrate the harm caused by men, they lose track of the beings that they once were and become different people in order to cause a reaction in others. These women are hurt in ways that cause them to change their way of living. The Lady in Blue becomes afraid of what others will think of her because a man impregnated her: “i cdnt have people [/] lookin at me [/] pregnant [/] I cdnt have my friends see this” (Shange, Abortion Cycle # 1 Lines 14- 16). Instead of worrying about the life of her child, she worries about how her...
Chang 32). On the inside, the shop is no more impressive with “cream colored” walls and a mirror too large for the shop ceiling, so it must be propped up against a wall (E. Chang 34). The rather bland setting parallels with Wang’s no-nonsense work ethic: she is the only person in her group who takes charge of the situation even when Mr. Yee moves to Shanghai and their funding for their scheme is cut (E. Chang 25-26). The mirror propped up against the wall parallels Wang’s ability to take a situation that seems like it will be failing and make it work out in her favor. Her ability to act as a socialite despite the dingy “stage” she is left within the jewelry shop really embodies the strength and determination she carries as an actress and just a powerful female in general. Wang’s power is definitely notable in the story and Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang notes that: “Unlike the other women writers who sought to be assimilated into the male-dominated mainstream tradition, and thus necessarily developed a sense of self-denial [Chang] by choosing to deal with a "feminine" genre, and hence inevitably with the specific ideology of the form, have gained valuable ground in coming to terms with their own socially determined feminine experience.”(S. Chang 205). In this instance, Wang could quite possibly not be seen as any more “socially determined” to make a statement: she is working with
Power and Money do not Substitute Love and as it denotes, it is a deep feeling expressed by Feng Menglong who was in love with a public figure prostitute at his tender ages. Sadly, Feng Menglong was incapable to bear the expense of repossessing his lover. Eventually, a great merchant repossessed his lover, and that marked the end of their relationship. Feng Menglong was extremely affected through distress and desperation because of the separation and he ultimately, decided to express his desolation through poems. This incidence changed his perception and the way he represents women roles in his stories. In deed, Feng Menglong, is among a small number of writers who portrayed female as being strong and intelligent. We see a different picture build around women by many authors who profoundly tried to ignore the important role played by them in the society. Feng Menglong regards woman as being bright and brave and their value should never be weighed against
Kazuko, Ono. "Chinese Women in a Century of Revolution, 1850-1950." edited by Joshua A. Fogel, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989.
The early part of the novel shows women’s place in Chinese culture. Women had no say or position in society. They were viewed as objects, and were used as concubines and treated with disparagement in society. The status of women’s social rank in the 20th century in China is a definite positive change. As the development of Communism continued, women were allowed to be involved in not only protests, but attended universities and more opportunities outside “house” work. Communism established gender equality and legimated free marriage, instead of concunbinage. Mao’s slogan, “Women hold half of the sky”, became extremely popular. Women did almost any job a man performed. Women were victims by being compared to objects and treated as sex slaves. This was compared to the human acts right, because it was an issue of inhumane treatment.
...ime. Majority of the women in the novel overcame the tough traditions of women treatment in ancient Chinese culture. The ancient Chinese culture believed that women should fall under patriarchy and strict ethics. This gave women no opportunity to move up the social class ladder. Being treated poorly effected would often affect women. Women like Lindo represent the power of escaping the oppressive atmosphere. Lindo decided to leave when she saw the Huang couldn’t control her anymore. Women had to be able to find their own independent identity. Ying-Ying is an example of this since she always wished to be found by someone, but inevitably she realized that she was her solution to finding her wholeness. Today modern women can express their thoughts, independence, and creativity. Aid should be continually provided for liberating women from oppression and discrimination.
It is limiting for women to be married off to a family in order to please the family since they have an higher status than her. This highlights how powerless women were in China compared to men since the man's family had a say for who he is to marry. Because of their life status, women were not expected to be great because of all the great
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