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Beiping In China

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The end of Sun- Yat sen’s life in 1925 was the beginning of Beiping. Following Sun- Yat sen’s death, Chiang Kai- shek (Jiang Jieshi) became the party leader of the Nationalist Party (Guomindang). By 1926, Chiang Kai- shek had already reunified the majority of south China and defeated many northern warlords in his Northern Expedition. This led the Nationalist Party to build their capital in Nanjing rather than staying in Beijing. Beijing at the time correlated with “political conservatism, warlord corruption, and imperial decadence” (Beijing, Pg. 135). Therefore, from 1928 to 1949, Beijing lost its privileged to hold the nation’s capital and was renamed Beiping. Today, we are able to learn and imagine for ourselves what those times were like through readings such as Rickshaw Boy, Midnight In Peking, and Beijing: From Imperial Capital to Olympic City that provide …show more content…

Huniu was greedy with her money and did not give it away generously to those in need. When Fuzi was in need of a home, Huniu jumped at the opportunity to offer her a room only to gain more money. If Fuzi wanted the room, Huniu’s “only condition was that Fuzi give her twenty cents each time she used the room. Friends are friends, but business is business” (Rickshaw Boy, Pg. 211). Another person worse than Huniu was Er Qiangzi, Fuzi’s father. This man forced Fuzi into selling her body to bring in money for her starving siblings. Rather than working himself, he decided to be a drunk and have his daughter sell herself. This showed the corruptness people were living though at the time. After losing all hope Xiangzi became a drunk, corrupted man himself. Although he once borrowed money to be a puller, in the end he borrowed money with no intention of ever paying it back and would spend it on drinks and brothels. This represents daily life at the time from two sides of the spectrum, he honest, hard workingmen, and the men that would spend their money

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