Ah Q Story

The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan Spence is an educational historical novel of northeastern China during the seventeenth century. The author's focus was to enlighten a reader on the Chinese people, culture, and traditions. Spence's use of the provoking stories of the Chinese county T'an-ch'eng, in the province of Shantung, brings the reader directly into the course of Chinese history. The use of the sources available to Spence, such as the Local History of T'an-ch'eng, the scholar-official Huang Liu-hung's handbook and stories of the writer P'u Sung-Ling convey the reader directly into the lives of poor farmers, their workers and wives. The intriguing structure of The Death of Woman Wang consists on observing these people working on

The main character of the novel, Wang Lung, was a poor young peasant who lived with his father. He worked everyday in the fields harvesting goods and he enjoyed

“As one of the Red Guards in the middle school, I was given power through Mao to torture and humiliate our teachers, headmaster or anyone we didn’t like. I didn’t know it was wrong. I thought I was doing the right thing to continue the revolution, to fight and win the class struggle”- Zhao, Lin Qing. As a teenager Zhao was a Red Guard in Guangzhou during the Cultural Revolution. When asked what her impression was a member of the Red Guards, Zhao answered with two words: “naïve and senseless”. She refused answering anything more about her experience. She said, “The memories are still too painful to recall.”

Even with her previous experiences at Beijing University and at Big Joy Farm, Wong still held some belief that the Chinese system wasn’t as bad as it was sometimes made out to be. This event proved to her that it was. “The enormity of the massacre hit home…Although it had been years since I was a Maoist, I still had harbored some small hope for China. Now even that was gone” (259). As a reporter Wong was able to view the progression of the protests in leading up to the massacre, and in viewing it understood that the Chinese people were much more independent than they had previously demonstrated over the past 50 years. She had continuously seen the Chinese people following what they were told between learning in school or with physical labor, yet this protest was one of the first large scale displays of the unacceptance of the regime by the people, and the government did not know what to do with it. But because of this, Wong was able to recognize that the people were not reliant on this way of life that they had previously been bound to, but truly could lead for themselves and take control. The massacre awakened Wong both to the reality that the government was not acting to benefit the people, and that the people were more than capable of acting for

First, in Xinjiang, the revolution was brought about by the heavy influx of Han Chinese into the Uighurs territory. This caused them to feel marginalized politically, and also made them feel as if their very culture and independence were being threatened. The Uighurs reacted to these feelings by going down a violent path, rioting and fighting for what they perceive to be incursions on their rights. Now, even 50 years later, there is still conflict in the region, with the Chinese Army having to quell a riot just as recently as 2009.

One of the first effects, that was shown in the book brought by the revolution was shown through her fellow student’s attitudes in which they quickly embraced the idea of criticizing their teachers as well as other individuals in hopes to impress others or even get into higher positions such as a redguard this is evident where even Ji-Li has thoughts such as “We were proud of our precious red scarves, which, like the national flag, were dyed red with the blood of our revolutionary martyrs. We had often been sorry that we were too young to have fought with Chairman Mao against the Japanese invaders, who tried to conquer China.” (2.44). I believe due to thoughts such as these it leads to actions such as the da zi-bao. In relation to current events in our current timeline, I see many attributes from the revolution in our country currently, such attributes would parental influence as well as societal influence. When a parent influences their child they lead through example which is based on what they knew and what they believe, for example if the parents were to be more conservative it is likely for the child to conform to those beliefs. When societal influence happens the individual is witness to other people’s emotions, opinions, or behaviors. By following this the individual can be molded into someone of certain beliefs, for example when you go to university you are met with many worldviews and opinions which can take affect of how you view certain aspects of life, whether or not these turn to something of immoral is up to you. When influences are held wrongly the outcome can often become immoral which can lead to such events with high

She also writes of her experience with Maoism, which she had worshipped as a student before realizing the harsh realities and witnessing the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In one event, a fellow student had asked her to help flee the country but under the influence of Maoism, Wong turned her in to the authorities. She writes she still does not know what happened to the distressed woman after she turned her in. Throughout her book, it is evident that she regrets some of her actions that were misguided under the notion that it was for the better, although she says it was a major part of her life so she doesn’t know if she would change what happened or

“There is danger0from all men.0The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man0living with power to endanger the0public liberty.” says Ayn Rand. The novel Forbidden City by William Bell tells us a real story about students and civilians democracy in0Beijing, China in 1989. The government no0longer works for people when the movement0becomes violent and a power struggle between the government and people appears. In a word, power0can take over0freedom when a certain0group of people controls it all, but it can’t control people’s0thoughts forever. Firstly, the setting shows the background0which is thousands of students were doing hunger strike in Tian An0Men Square because of freedom. The Character Lao Xu is one of the leaders in the activity of hunger strike Lao Xu sacrificed because saving students. Finally the conflict between China0and citizen shows that government cannot ignore any citizens and controls their thoughts.

Compare and Contrast the ways in which modern authors have re-imagined traditional narratives for their own purposes.

In this rags-to-riches novel, Wang Lung rises from an obscure farmer living in poverty to a famous landowner living in luxury. As his story begins, Wang Lung is a poverty-stricken farmer who is setting out to collect the slave, O-lan, who has been purchased to serve him as wife. He is so poor that to him drinking tea,”Is like eating silver.” (Buck 4). He was so poor that he has never been asked for money by a beggar till the day he went to

In conclusion, historical fiction helps historians have an understanding of the ways of life in the west, the environment and the increase of technology's impact on it, the way people lived, and the people of the west’s relations, all contrasting from the 1820’s to the early 1900’s. While the ways of life are far advanced and humanity would never think about living in an era like that again, it still helps us to study and understand their way of life for us to understand how technology has advanced to this point. As someone once said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat

However, others may believe that using historical fiction is a great way of teaching students. They assume that it can encourage and even motivate students to learn, but it can be misleading, and possibly dangerous. Those in favor of teaching through historical fiction may think that it can take a boring subject and make it more exciting. This may be true, but it discourages the understanding of what actually

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

Historical fiction is set in the past and tells a story using details from the time and place to which it is referring. This can and often includes historical figures giving the reader a sense of the time and place. Children who read historical fiction gain understanding of their own heritage, people, beliefs values hardships and physical surroundings. They can make the connections between the influences of the past and what influences them now. As they discover universal truths identify feelings and behaviors, it will encourage them to make a better choice for themselves. Understanding different viewpoints will develop sensitivities and empathy helping them to realize that history shows us that we must work together.

The genre of historical fiction novels can be subdivided into many categories and often crosses genres, such as historical mysteries and romances. The traditional definition of the historical fiction genre is “fiction set in the past” where the author is writing from research rather than personal experience. This definition leaves a lot of room for interpretation, controversy, and contradiction. Critics in the media, even when they praise individual historical novels in their reviews, somehow manage to turn this praise into criticism of the genre as a whole. In 1950, author Howard Fast, a historical novelist himself, wrote: “This is an era of many historical novels, few of them good and very few indeed which have more than a nodding