Monday, December 10, 2007

NEW BOOK!


Okay, so finally I'll be reading a new book, and it's call Peony In Love, by Lisa See. As quoted from Amazon.com, this is what the story is about:

"Set in 17th-century China, See's fifth novel is a coming-of-age story, a ghost story, a family saga and a work of musical and social history. As Peony, the 15-year-old daughter of the wealthy Chen family, approaches an arranged marriage, she commits an unthinkable breach of etiquette when she accidentally comes upon a man who has entered the family garden. Unusually for a girl of her time, Peony has been educated and revels in studying The Peony Pavilion, a real opera published in 1598, as the repercussions of the meeting unfold. The novel's plot mirrors that of the opera, and eternal themes abound: an intelligent girl chafing against the restrictions of expected behavior; fiction's educative powers; the rocky path of love between lovers and in families. It figures into the plot that generations of young Chinese women, known as the lovesick maidens, became obsessed with The Peony Pavilion, and, in a Werther-like passion, many starved themselves to death. See (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, etc.) offers meticulous depiction of women's roles in Qing and Ming dynasty China (including horrifying foot-binding scenes) and vivid descriptions of daily Qing life, festivals and rituals. Peony's vibrant voice, perfectly pitched between the novel's historical and passionate depths, carries her story beautifully—in life and afterlife."

This book seems very interesting and i cannot wait to blog about it!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Education Can Overcome Anything

Ok, so one of the biggest, most important value for the Chinese is education (which I'm sure other nations value too). There is nothing can substitute this value, as long as you have high education and is serious about it, no is no opportunities that is impossible. For our main character, Adeline, she was living the life of Cinderella, where her stepmother and siblings hate her and her own biological father acts like she never existed. With no one in the world to care for her, Adeline looked towards books and learning as her only hope to make something of herself one day. Fortunately, while she sent away to a boarding school, she heard of a an international playwriting competition, and so she decided to enroll in it. After months of agonizing wait, and even beginning to lose hope, Adeline was suddenly called home to her father's office( which she has never entered) and he handed her the newspaper encompassing her victory. She has won first place in the contest! Through this, her father has finally noticed her, and was proud for once she was his daughter. Also because of this, she was able to be treated like her brothers and go to England to study. Finally Adeline's dreams have come true, and it was all due to the help of education.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Arranged Marriages

So long ago in China, and even today in some parts, love was not a determining factor for marriages. I'm sure this happened in not just the Chinese culture, but also other European, African, and Asian cultures. In Adeline's case, her older sister was "only 17 years old" when she was arranged by the stepmother and father to marry someone "already 31, almost twice her age". Not only is this wrong in general, but the girl is "to be taken out of school and thrust into the arms of a stranger" and would have "no possibility of ever going to college". Of course, this wouldn't be considered a big problem, since some poor girls don't even have the chance at education. The issue lies in the fact that one's life would be determined by their parents just to benefit the family's financial situations in most cases, and treating a human being like an object to trade for some extrinsic value. And to disagree would be disobedient and selfish, because people would believe that you would risk the well-being of everyone in the family just to find "love". A common question was always, "Can love feed you?", since no matter how strong love is, it can't provide you with the necessary things for survival, which is a very materialist view on life. I just strongly disagree with this whole idea of arranged marriages, and rarely do these matrimonies work out with the hope the parents have in mind initially, since without love, there is no other feelings, and this can lead to many problems. Although this idea may still exist in some parts of the world, I can somehow see why it would continue, since the countries and areas that practice this are in for the idea of benefiting the whole, rather than oneself. And sometimes there are the possibilities that these arranged marriages might work out, like how my parents' did.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Chinese Foot Binding

In the story, Adeline's grandmother had bound feet and it was indeed a fascinating but scary tradition. A suffering which had caused her grandmother great pain throughout her life and prohibited her from much movement without assistance from others. When I read this, I automatically thought this was definitely a tradition that could help me answer my essential question (How the traditions and customs has shaped China into what it is today). Due to my Chinese heritage, I have some prior knowledge to this aspect, since I have heard many stories of my great great grandmother's bound feet told by my grandmother, but i never actually have seen a bound feet. This interested me and encouraged me to do some research on it. The results was a terrifying nightmare and made me want to kiss my own feet because I felt so lucky i wasn't born a millennium ago.

The origins of how this practice came to be is not definite. Many believed that it started during the Tang Dynasty, where legend has it that the emperor fell in love with his concubine because she had such beautiful dainty little feet that she wrapped with silk every time she performed a "Lotus Dance". From then on, this idea of small feet was considered a sign of beauty and women from all over China were put to this torture. This process is a horrifying procedure, where girls at the age of 4-6 were put into this mandatory fate, having the foot wrapped with binding, which eventually broke the bones in their feet. Sometimes, the toenails would grow into the feet. Disgusting and painful! After about three years, the feet was officially "dead", and this procured a stench that stayed for the rest of the girl's life. All this was done in order to achieve beauty, to be eligible for marriage, and to attain social status. It was said that no man would marry a girl with "clown feet", and that bound feet helped put a graceful style in a girl's walk. In a society where men ruled, this tradition ensured that women were kept weak, out of power, obedient and dominated by her husband. The lower class citizens of China didn't have to go through this agonizing pain because they had to work in the fields all day, but some did attempt to put their daughters through this in hoping she would marry a wealthy man where she no longer have to work in life. In my opinion, I rather suffer in the scorching heat and pouring rain, than have my feet bound to live a "supposedly" luxurious life.

Below is a link of pictures of a woman who had bound feet. Some pictures are GROSS and DISTURBING! So, enter at your own risk, because I have WARNED you!

CLICK HERE

Sunday, October 21, 2007

So to begin. My essential question is how does the cultures and traditions of China help shape itself to what it is today, in other words, how has the past affected the identity China possesses today? Right in the first chapter, these cultural beliefs are brought into the picture. Adeline (main character), or also referred to her family as Wu Mei (meaning 5th sister), is hated and mistreated by her family due to a superstition, that she was "bad luck", because her "Mama died giving birth" to her. According to what I know of my culture, indeed children who were born at the sacrifice of their mothers are supposedly cursed. Many of these innocent babies would be abandoned like as something despicable and left to die, especially in the case if the child was a girl, since the Chinese favored sons over daughters. When I shared my rage of this situation with with grandmother, she laughed and said that "this little girl was considered lucky in her case", that despite what her birth has brought upon, she was still kept in the family instead of being murdered by suffocation from her own family members. Of course when i heard this, I was even more horrified, because i remember being told during my birth, i almost encountered death, since an umbilical cord was giving my mom and I complications. Although I'm quite sure that by 1989, superstitions like that would have disappeared from the city (at least I hope), or maybe I'm just lucky. =) But yes, poor Adeline.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Chinese Cinderella



Ok, I'm finally going to start reading my first independent reading book, its call Chinese Cinderella. This book is basically an autobiography of the author's life as she was growing up, struggling with her stepmother's cruelty, her dad's forgetful attitude towards her, and her sibling's hate, whether biological or half. It was a reality that "she was denied carfare, frequently forgotten at school at the end of the day, and whipped for daring to attend a classmate's birthday party against Niang's (stepmother, but meaning "mother") wishes. Her father even forgets her name when filling out her school enrollment record" (Amazon). In the mist of all this neglect and torture, the only comfort she could depend on was her love for learning and reading. Eventually, by working hard and persevering did this unfortunate little girl captured a big dream; having her father notice and be proud of her and having an opportunity like her brothers to be going to study abroad in England.

I chose this book because it was a role model I could look up to, someone to inspire me in my journey towards a successful path in my life. I am also infatuated with my own culture, but it's hard to learn anything about it when you live don't live in China, everything you learn in school is basically all European or American related. Although I can proudly say that I am very familiar with my culture due to my parents and grandmother, I still have this hunger to learn more. I don't want to be Chinese, but forget about my identity due to the fact that I live in America. Yet, I am ever- grateful for having such an opportunity to embrace and be apart of both such different and incredible cultures.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Chinese Cinderella

RESERVED FOR LATER POSTS =)

Jing