Qiu Ju

Jin Wang is embarrassed to even be apart of his family by the way he acts and how he represents their culture. He now can see how hard it is to fit in.

Once the novel comes to an end, we notice clearly the way Wang Lung changed. In the beginning of the novel we learned many ancient Chinese traditions by observing Wang Lung as a simple peasant, but as he becomes a wealthy landowner his life collapses. This rapid change of social class makes it difficult for anyone who intends to keep their traditional values until their death. This fantastic novel by Pearl S. Buck reminds us that we can never forget our traditional values, because if that happens your life will collapse just the way Wang Lung unfortunately

How does Ji-li’s point of view change during the Cultural Revolution? It shifts from believing that Mao was most important, to believing that her family and responsibilities are most important. “Once my life had been defined by my goals: to be a Da-dui-zhang, to participate in the exhibition, to be a Red guard. They seemed unimportant to me now. Now my life was defined by my responsibilities. I had promised to take care of my family, and I would renew that promise every day”(Pg.263) This shows how her view point has shifted from herself and Mao, to her family. Ji-li had a lot courage to be able to do what she did, and I think that it is her courage that got her this

Another conflict that arises from Confucianism is when Jing-mei was told to go back to China and tell her half-sisters about their mother. She said “‘what will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I don’t know anything.’” (Tan 31). In Confucianism, very little of tradition is explicitly told from mothers to daughters in the form of text. Ritual actions are supposed to be observed, absorbed and understood in order to be preserved and handed down for posterity. But Jing-mei, who grew up in America, did not have a sense of following the tradition her mother brought to America, or rather considered the Chinese tradition to be eccentric.

Also, their relationship is shaped by the pressure Suyuan puts on her daughter. When Jing-Mei was growing up, her mother had the need for her daughter to be smart, talented, and a respectful Chinese daughter. This pressure put on Jing-Mei resulted in misunderstanding between mother and daughter. Jing-Mei constantly believed, “that she was disappointing her mother,” because she felt as if she failed at everything her mother wanted her to do. She believed she could never be as perfect as her mother was. Therefore she doesn’t think she is worthy enough to take her mother’s place at the Joy Luck Club “They must wonder now how someone like me can take my mother’s place” (Tan, 27). Jing-Mei does not understand that her mother wanted the best for her; Suyuan wanted Jing-Mei to challenge herself because that is how one builds up character. Suyuan thinks her daughter could do anything she proposed to do but never put enough effort into anything “Lazy to rise to expectations” (Tan 31). Furthermore, Suyuan forced Jing-Mei to learn how to play the piano and then perform at a recital. Jing-Mei rebelled against her mother and refused to learn how to play the piano well. So, at the recital she ends up forgetting the music notes. Jing-Mei blames her embarrassment on her mother and states,

The story is around an American-conceived Chinese lady, Jing-mei, who goes to China to meet her twin stepsisters that her mom was compelled to relinquish numerous prior years. Since her mom had passed away just a couple of months prior, the meeting is full of vulnerability and bitterness. Jing-mei battles with self-character issues and what it truly intends to be Chinese. En route, she takes in reality about the reasons her mom deserted her sisters and the significance behind their names. At last, she at last associates with her sisters and makes the passionate association with her Chinese legacy.

The conflicting Chinese culture of the mothers’ and the American culture of the daughters’ result in differing interpretations of virtue. One example of this is during the last time Jing Mei’s mother made crab. When Jing Mei was talking to her mother, they discussed that Waverly, of American culture, wanted the best quality crab, but in the Chinese culture, making a sacrifice for someone else is the best quality. “‘Only you take that crab… everybody else want best quality’” (Tan 241). Another example of the differences of virtue between Chinese and American culture is the different ways people treat the dying. When Jing-Mei’s mother was dying, they sent her to a doctor to find out what was wrong. When An-Mei’s grandmother was dying, her mother used traditional practices to try to cure her by, “[cutting] a piece of meat from her arm” (Tan 41), as an act of deep love and respect. When the Chinese and American do try to combine, it doesn’t always turn out the way it’s expected.

Jook-Liang’s grandmother doesn’t let her become a movie star, because Poh-Poh thinks that Jook-Liang is a girl and that she is useless, she can’t be a movie star, she can do nothing. Conversely, that is just her opinion without any proof, even though Poh-Poh is also a woman. This kind of gender discrimination and ridiculous opinion makes Jook-Liang hate Grandmother. Thirdly, this traditional Chinese thinking makes her think about herself.

“It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137). This line, echoed throughout Wang Anyi 's short piece “The Destination” is the glowing heartbeat of the story. A refrain filled with both longing and sadness, it hints at the many struggles faced by thousands upon thousands trying to get by in the city of Shanghai. One of these lost souls, the protagonist, Chen Xin, was one of the many youths taken from his family and sent to live the in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Ten years after the fact, Chen Xin views the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution internally and externally as he processes the changes that both he, and his hometown have over-gone in the past ten years. Devastatingly, he comes to the conclusion that there is no going back to the time of his childhood, and his fond memories of Shanghai exist solely in memory. This is in large part is due to the changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution. These effects of the Cultural Revolution are a central theme to the story; with repercussions seen on a cultural level, as well as a personal one.

For the majority of the story, the characters remain static and flat. There is no growth of the characters as they remain locked in their "battle of wills." This type of characterization makes the reader focus more on the theme rather than on the individuals themselves. The only growth exhibited by any character is at the end. Jing Mei realizes that it was only a mother’s love which drove her to make Jing Mei succeed. She understands that her mother only had good intentions for her at heart, although the outcome was not the desired effect.

Another aspect of cultural conflict is that humility and obedient are considered as the traditional virtues of the Chinese culture. Children should unconditionally obey their parents because parents have the ability and willingness to teach and control their children. For example, according to Jing-mei’s mother, Jing-mei has to practice piano assiduously. She would not be punished if she devotes all her effort to playing piano. We can clearly see this point in her mother’s word in the quarrel, “Only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter” (461). But Jing-mei cannot understand this, because she is not familiar to Chinese culture. As a consequence of Jing-mei cannot understand her mother, she does not cooperate and has rebellious attitude against her mother. In the story, Jing-mei decided, “I didn’t have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one” (460). As described above, Jing-mei cannot understand the humility and obedient of Chinese culture, even they are recognized as the

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 this time in China, the role that women and men had were very different from each other. Women were expected to be quite, obedient, and respectful. While men were the provider, the intellectual and the decision maker in the family. In Shen Fu and his wife, Yun marriage it started out like the typical relationship in eightieth century China, each one fulfilling the roles that society had in place for them. But as they became to know each other more, Shen Fu saw Yun real personality and wanted someone to experience life, so he started to encourage her to be herself and told her she didn’t have to live up to this gender stereotypes for women. They both were always

According to the book, this woman gave birth to a baby which was a symbol of embarrassment and humiliation not only for the villagers but for all the family. Even though this baby did not have any notion of what was going on, she was still a victim of Chinese norms. This baby also became forgotten being that she was not given the opportunity to be alive. Kingston’s aunt decision of killing the baby, had to do greatly with the fact that she was girl. As the book states “it was probably a girl; there is some hope for forgiveness for boys”. Without any doubt, if the baby was given the opportunity to live she would have been mistreated and condemned all her life. She would not have had the opportunity to developed her own identity or raise her “own voice”.

All through time, successive generations have rebelled against the values and traditions of their elders. In all countries, including China, new generations have sought to find a different path than that of their past leaders. Traditional values become outdated and are replaced with what the younger society deems as significant. Family concentrates on this very subject. In the novel, three brothers struggle against the outdated Confucian values of their elders. Alike in their dislike of the traditional Confucian system of their grandfather, yet very different in their interactions with him and others, begin to reach beyond the ancient values of Confucianism and strive for a breath of freedom. Their struggles against the old values