Ling Yushi's Room: A Narrative Fiction

Furthermore, instead of arranged marriages that only benefited the patriarchal head, intellectuals pushed for marriages based on love which would create happy and productive citizens . In addition, based on her mother’s experience, Bao Qin rejects arranged marriages and intends to only marry for love . After hearing of two concubines who drug Cousin Hu’s mother to feign adultery and gain the favour of her husband, Bao Qin is enraged by the historic “powerlessness of women, [the] barbarity of age-old customs, cloaked in tradition .” With the broad shift from tradition as well as her own personal experience, Bao Qin rejects traditional gender roles and seeks to create her own. Furthermore, as China became divided into separate spheres of influence and opened to international markets, British and American industrialization brought new ideas of opportunities for women, challenging established gender relations . With new economic opportunities and education, women could become self-reliant, broadening their choices and their role in society. Consequently, after disobeying her parents’ command to attend Mr. Liu’s funeral, Bao Qin was able to support herself by enrolling in a new teacher training department . Reducing patriarchal control, industrialization allowed children to head to schools and factories, no longer needing to rely on their parents for education and work . As a result, while foreign

In contrast, during the era of The Story Yingying, the cultural norm for a woman was to be submissive, patient, and passive. Yingying upheld all of these cultural standards. After meeting Zhang for the first time Yingying showed no interest in him at all but overtime Yingying finally gave into Zhang and fell in love and they became engaged. Unfortunately, Zhang had to leave for a year to go take a civil service examination, but he promised her he would come back to her. She waited patiently and after a year, her fiancé returned but shortly after had to leave again to retake the examination. Again she waited patiently for his return, but he never came back. After waiting for years for her fiancé to return, she became eager to

2. Although Jing Mei is too young to know what was her mother’s real thought, she gives a clear description of what her mother said, did, how she did it. Some

As a result of Jing-mei having no self confidence, this causes the relationship between Jing-mei and her mother to be destroyed. After Jing-mei tells her mother, “‘Then I wish I’d never been born!” “I wish I were dead! Like them.” Jing-mei describes her mother’s reaction as, “and her face went blank, her mouth closed, her arms went slack, and she backed out the room, stunned, as if she were blowing away like a small brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless” (Tan 231). After saying the one thing that hurt Jing-mei’s mother the most, their relationship changed forever. As Jing-mei ages she realized that her mother was right about her natural talent all along. “And after that, every time I saw it in my parents’ living room, standing in front of the bay windows, it made me feel proud, as if it were a shiny trophy I had won back” (Tan 233). Even though Jing-mei says the one thing that hurts her mother the most, the love and confidence for her daughter was never lost. However, once Jing-mei comes to the realization that her mother was right, it is too

"My mother once told me why I was so confused all the time. She said I was without wood. Born without wood so that I listened to too many people. She knew this, because once she had almost become this way" (107). Rose is not very sure of herself and lacks self confidence. She was experiencing a divorce and knew her mother would not approve. Although Rose believes there is nothing to salvage, her mother will do anything in her power to try and save it. To the Chinese culture, keeping a marriage together was essential. If you did not, you have demolished your family's honor. Both An mei and Rose have different values and views on life. They do not see eye-to-eye on anything. Furthermore, the reader may infer that conflicts arise in the lives of Lindo and Waverly

Again, the daughter, Amy Tan, and her mother’s relationship is very tense, but the love and care is replaced with cold anger and hate. Tan has been pushed to her limits and beyond during her piano lesson when she sobs,”You want me to be something I’m not!...I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!” (141-142). Her mother, unlike the one before who was a bit more understanding of how much pressure she put on her daughter, shows no sense of love or care when she was ‘smiling crazily as if she were please that I was crying’(Tan 141-142). The relationship in “Jing Wei:Two Kinds” is extremely warlike between Amy Tan and her mother. The hostility in their relationship due to her mother’s extreme measures for her to be successful creates quite an angry and hateful tone in the

Huang Cheng is a dominant man. He is a man who will always get his way. Since Cheng is this way, “conflicts can’t be resolved” (“Bridegroom Theme”). Cheng began to worry about his niece, Beina because “she turned twenty-three and still had no boyfriend.” This shows dominancy in Cheng because it shows that he controls and worries about everything that Beina does. Cheng feared that “she’d end up an old maid” (365). If Beina would have ended up as an old maid this would make Cheng look like a bad guardian. It would appear that Cheng did not have good control over his niece. Cheng thought that he had found the perfect man for Beina but then he realized that “Baowen had been one of the most handsome unmarried men in the factory, and nobody had expected that Beina, stocky and stout, would win him”(365). This made Cheng realize that he made the wrong decision because it will only draw more attention to him and Beina. Beina’s marriage was not what Cheng had in mind for her. He did not expect her to enjoy it or become attached. Cheng was upset because Beina was not listening to him. He tried to use his power to make her divorce him, but her attention and focus moved to another man in her life. Cheng thought he wanted his niece to get married, but he realizes that he misses the control that he had over her. He realizes that “when Beina still refuses to divorce her husband and insists on his goodness and the inviolability of their marriage vows, her uncle

By ignoring their mothers, these daughters do not see the similarities between themselves and their mothers, for their mothers have also rejected Chinese traditions, particularly those that repress women. After witnessing her mother's tragic fate, An-Mei has come to America determined to raise her children to have choices. Lindo's early arranged Chinese marriage has taught her to value America where "nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you" (254). Jing-mei's mother "believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America" (132). Ying-ying belatedly realizes that her lifetime of keeping her mouth closed "so selfish desires would not fall out" (67) has meant that she has lost herself. In all four cases, it is when the daughters recognize these similarities that they start to understand not only their mothers, but also themselves.

After he saw Jingyan, he remembered where his loyalty lied and he figured out the identity of the man who haunted his dreams. With that knowledge, Mei Changsu made the decision to destroy Hua and return to Liang to seek justice for the Chiyan Army. "I can only tell you that I used to be a Liang warrior."

One of the young turned its head and it was close enough that she could see her reflection in its eyes as it passed by. They continued down into the valley, as soon as the wildlife passed over the road.

The sound of a gunshot rang out. Everyone started to run. Cherie got dizzy,and then everything went black. She had a flashback to the sound of her sister Jojo’s screams as the government took her to take the test. When Cherie woke up she started to look around, but something in her right arm didn’t feel right. Then, the nurse came into her room.

It was a hot summer’s day in NYC. Many people were out, some because they wanted to be, and others because they had nowhere else to be. A large man looked around disgustedly as he waddled down the street. His name was Stanley. For 50 years he had been living in New York, and he didn’t truly enjoy one minute of it. He had been handed everything he had ever wanted his entire childhood, and he expected the same as an adult. Though rich, his parent had been neglectful and inattentive to him, and when they were with him, they would tell him that he deserved everything he desired.

As Zhanshi pace outside trying to think of a plan to interrupt Shen, he overheard Shen telling Rin to tell a maid to prepare two meals. Smirking to himself and rubbing his hands together, Zhanshi decides that he’ll intercept the maid and go into the room that way.

Later, Jing-Mei believes her mother is attempting to change her into someone she is not, and, fed up, the two begin to fight. After uttering that only “obedient daughters” are allowed to live in her home, Jing-Mei retaliates by declaring: “‘I wish I were dead! Like them.’ [...] [H]er face went blank, [...] and she backed out of the room, stunned, as if she were blowing away like a small brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless” (142). Realizing the importance of the lost twins, Jing-Mei utilizes this information to essentially destroy Suyuan. As Suyuan leaves the room stunned, Jing-Mei also discovers the hurt she has caused her. Consequently, Jing-Mei is able to perceive how tormenting coming to terms with losing her children, and being forced to abandon them in China, has been to Suyuan. Yet, after her mother passes, Jing-Mei is left to reflect on Suyuan’s wishes and life, surrounded by her mother’s

After leaving Shanghai, Liusu stays in a hotel in Hong Kong and spends more and more time with Liuyuan. The two of them develop a relationship but their intentions are different. For Liusu, getting close to Liuyuan was a way for her to leave the Bai family. Liuyuan, on the other hand is seeking spiritual love. He professes his love for her on many occasions, but she rejects him each time. Her goal in being in a relationship with Liuyuan is to have security and Liuyuan’s words hold no meaning to her, but instead are examples of his playboy behavior: