Criticism In Yu Hua's My Life As Emperor

Emperor of China; Self Portrait of K’ang-hsi should not be read as a textbook or as a completely true historical

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

    Postmodernism is a form of literature which is marked both stylistically and ideologically, by a reliance on such literary conventions as unreliable narrators , parody, unrealistic plots, dark humor and authorial self-reference.  A Girl’s Story written by David Arnason is a perfect example of postmodernism because David tends to ignore the traditional limitation of structure. He uses the power of his mind to develop his story (A Girl’s Story). David uses the cultures and classes to create a limitation free story that anyone can enjoy and understand.

The three men, the only good ones, participate in a ritualistic funeral ceremony. Wang Lifa picks up the death money. Wang ends up committing suicide. And so, good men die, and the corrupt survive and thrive. The Tea House becomes a set-up for spying. The government gets worse. One wonders if Lao She is really predicting the increasing corruption of the communist government which was to

Originally, Liang’s “parents were deeply involved in all the excitement of working to transform China into a great Socialist country” (4). Over a serious of unfortunate events, though, he became the child of a “Rightist’s cap” mother and a “Reactionary Capitalist stinking intellectuals” father (9, 51). Impacted by the shattering of his family and horrific bloodshed created by fighting, Liang Heng began to question the Cultural Revolution. He claimed that his “family had scarified so much… but it had given [them] nothing in return” (148). Liang Heng presents his shift in ideology to demonstrate that most Chinese were no longer in support of a Communist nation. His “troubles were common enough and anyone could see there was a discrepancy between the glorious words of the newspapers and [their] painful reality (232). Even Liang Heng’s father, after many years of devotion, found that he could no longer defend the Party’s policies after he experienced the ill-treatment of the peasants in the country

Literature changed drastically between the nineteenth-century and twentieth and twenty-first century. Idealistic views that British writers once held, turned into skepticism as Great Britain enter war and inequalities grew greater. The writers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries wrote realistically what was happening in the world. The Moment before the Gun Went Off by Nadine Gordimer and “The Day They Burned the Books” by Jean Rhys are both stories that show the shattering of Idealism in twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

This memoir of Ma Bo’s sent shock waves throughout China when it was published and was even first banned by the Communist Government. This passionate story paints a clear picture for what the Great Chinese Cultural Revolution was really like. Many Chinese living today can attest to similar if not identical ordeals as expressed in Ma Bo’s story. The toils of being a young Red Guard in inner China were experienced by many if not millions. The horrors and atrocities were wide spread throughout the country, not just in Inner Mongolia. The experiences illustrated in Blood Red Sunset uniquely belong to Ma Bo’s entire generation of mislead Chinese. As expressed in the books dedication the Cultural Revolution

The majority of the book looks deep into Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the main focus was Mao’s campaign was created with the simple means to destroy China’s history of hopes of a free and pure culture that would separate itself from the old Chinese culture which existed before during 1949. We will mainly focus on Liang’s treacherous life, and the obstacles he endured in spite of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, we look at the different events in which led up to the Cultural Revolution and the purpose of Mao’s culture Revolution.

It is through his use of rhetoric and storytelling does the reader realize the importance of the sorghum. Although it is just a grass plant, by the end of the novel it becomes a character on its own. It sees the best and worst of this period and shields those from opposing forces. These forces included the likes of the Japanese foreign military and even fellow Chinese citizens. This period of time is one that people experienced great amounts of conflict and chaos. However, we do see the ability for the characters and certain people to stand together in an effort of resistance against outside forces. The author successfully illustrates the very real struggles that ordinary people due to the chaos from the Japanese and each other. There are also instances in which we see the author conveys the importance of the Chinese people coming together against a common enemy. Also, we see a change in gender expectations and behaviors through a literary figure. This can be noted through the intelligent and untraditional heroine, Grandma. She is the epitome of liberalization and defies the image of being just a silent and beautiful figure. Mo Yan's writing is filled with large amounts of imagery and historical context to fully exemplify the conflict and horrors of China in the

Spence uses 3 main sources to immerse the reader in Tancheng life. P’u Sung-Ling, a short story writer that told and wrote folk-tales displaying “Little Tradition” where those in ordinary society seen in lower ranks, rise above,

“Better a live coward than a dead hero”, a proverb passed down by the Chinese since ancient time, it coexisted with China’s constantly in volatile state and periodical social unrest. Coincidentally, the saying resonates with the life of Fugui in the novel “To Live” by Yu Hua, a prominent novel which touched many souls and emotions within and outside China. Meanwhile life, a key component and a main theme of the novel, is being valued and portrayed vividly through Fugui’s life, demonstrated by the use of literary devices and among them characterization evident.

Moral power held by literature or art has often smashed against some form of material power and censorship. For instance, books against the ideas of the Nazi regime such as Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto” were burnt in the Nazi’s book burning of 1933 and The Bible is currently banned from North Korea. Authors have therefore been pressured into finding a method to avoid the strict restrictions forced by material power. In this paper, I will argue that Philip K. Dick was able to criticize the government and the situation of America in the 1960s, without suffering consequences, thanks to the generation of a time shift in his novel and the construction of a parallel between story and history hence manipulating the line between fiction and reality.

Literature: the enlightenment, romanticism, realism, modernism, and postmodernism…. Where does one begin? To some, those words can be as scary as the word computer is to others. This essay is designed to help you become a great literary interpreter. Getting the motivation is three fourths of the battle to getting into the heads of the artists. To begin, an outline of some of the literary movements has been provided.

Ji-li Jiang during China’s cultural resolution. During this time, Ji-li was humiliated, bullied and witnessed people very close to her heart, suffered horrible atrocities. Both book’s share a fascinating story, where socialist governments inflict such grief and lack of freedom upon the people. In some ways, I can infer similarities of both these phenomenal-books within certain aspects of my own life. As well as, to the current social and governmental trends of the world and most of all I can relate both books together!

During the 1990s China experienced very significant changes in its culture and economy. “Iron rice bowls” were removed and the country began to shift further toward capitalism from socialism. The idea and symbolism of the “iron rice bowl” plays a big role throughout the history of China. It has a literal meaning as well as a symbolic meaning that is tied to socialism. Where this socialist system lacks competition the capitalist system that the country is converting to is built off of competition. The story “Iron Rice Bowl” illustrates the transformation in China from socialism to capitalism through the main character, Dong. Dong is a representation of the old system, he is exploited by the new system, and then converts to the new competitive system and improves his economic state through his business. The economy and business world is the main focal point of the author. However there is a direct correlation in the stories competitive business world to other parts of society like education that better society through competition. The author Qui Xiaolong uses the story to express his belief that competition improves society through Dongs experience.