To Live by Yu Hua

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, today we will celebrate the life of an individual who achieved the impossible through perseverance and mental strength. Also, I will convince you why the film Mao’s Last Dancer MUST be screened at this year’s film festival. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” This insightful quote ultimately embodies the notion of working hard for your freedom instead of waiting for it. So, precisely, one will only have the strength to gain freedom by persevering throughout life’s obstacles and hardships. Li Cunxin did not expect freedom to arrive at his doorstep; he was acutely aware that freedom and success are born from hard work; he suffered through blood, sweat and tears throughout his whole journey to earn his freedom.

The eighteenth-century German philosopher Johann Wolfgang van Goethe is quoted as saying: “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free”. If Goethe, who died in the early 1800s, could have looked forward a hundred and twenty years to Mao Zedong’s Communist China, he would have doubtless seen his words ring painfully true. Mao’s dynastic rule survived on elimination of any thought deemed contrary to his own. Those who dared to speak out were dealt with swiftly and severely. Yet some people did not believe they were free, and were willing to do risk everything to subvert Mao’s manufactured culture. “The Mao Button”, “Black Walls”, and “Dogshit Food” are short stories that criticize the

The poem "A Song of Changgan" is very poignant, as it starts with a bashful girl who does not even smile around her husband and ends with her almost heartbroken, as her husband is far away. The poem shows the different stages of the relationship of the speaker and her husband, and it is an excellent example of long-distance relationships before modern communication systems.

The short story, “Saboteur” by Ha Jin is about a man, Mr. Chiu, who is unjustly arrested and manhandled after an unpleasant interaction with a police officer in Muji, China. As a result Mr. Chiu takes matters into his own hands to get revenge on the people who mistreated him. The theme of abuse of power in Jin’s, “Saboteur” is revealed through the author’s brilliant use of irony, tone, setting, and characterization.

Bob Fu conveys clearly the inexorable control that Communist leaders in China have over their people. For example, after Fu and his friends participated in the Tiananmen Square protests, Fu was coerced, day in day out, to write a confession of his purported misdeeds against China and her people as a “counterrevolutionary” (79-82, 85, 87).

“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.”

To do so, Fugui attempts to maintain his ‘face’ in the commune by donating the most steel and telling his son to work rather than sleep. Consequently, like the very puppets that he holds, Fugui becomes another puppet in the communist authoritarian rule. His effort to uphold social standing ultimately contributes to the death of his son.

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 book is a written as conversational memoir between two women, Ye Weili and Ma Xiaodong about their experience during the first three decades of Mao’s era. The two women had gone through almost similar position and situations in their life, faced equivalent hardships, their approach or attitude towards those experiences in a completely different manner. This book is meticulous in its historical detail, making it a standout among similar memoirs of twentieth-century China. It also tries to add another dimension of the general perspective of historic events. The events are described in a chronological sequence and with the right amount of proper relevant information so the reader can understand the conversation.

The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When

Hua has illustrated, "Long Er had screwed himself," (83). Long Er had previously gained all of Fugui's fortunes by luring him into his addictive games. This is the point when Fugui had to turn his whole life around; relearning how to appreciate what he had. He knew that if he didn't change soon, he would end up just like Long Er. Fugui had basically lost all of his riches because of the fact that he wasn't appreciative and careful. Fugui states, "I've got to keep on living," (85). Fugui was really close to that fate, but then Long Er lost everything. The death of Long Er was the turning point for Fugui's. He knew he had change his path in order to survive. Hua is illustrating that Fugui finally appreciated the value of life when he escaped execution. Hua also demonstrates that if one continues to make bad decisions in life, as Long Er did, he will met with the same

“Dagong” means “working for the boss” or “selling labor,” and illustrates the commodification of labor and the subordinate status of the worker, in contrast to socialist imaginations of work as liberating. “Mei” means little sister, often associated with young, unmarried women in contrast to “jie”, the older, mature sister . Thus, the term dagongmei symbolizes the subordination of female migrants, both as migrant workers under urban factory owners, and as women expected to work long hours, some sacrificing their education, in order to support their families. Pun articulates the very real struggles many dagongmei face, from the 1993 Shenzhen factory fire that killed over 80 migrant workers, all but two female, only then alerting China and the rest of the world of the human costs of China’s rapid development to one woman, Yan, who screams in her sleep after years of work despite being in deep physical and emotional pain. Such pain is unbearable, and to scream out is the only way to survive. Yet as Pun argues, their very survival is of itself a form of resistance. These migrant workers may not be organizing, staging mass strikes or protests against the state or factory owners, but they are resisting. By screaming out, Yan is forcing the world to hear her pain. By telling

Laozi expresses his philosophical interpretation about the meaning of Dao in Dao de jing. In other word, he illustrates the more admirable and rational attitude toward life, considering the varied forms of temptations and selfish desires in the secular world, rather than indulging in temporary fame and wealth. In this paper, I would like to concentrate on the eleventh section in Dao de jing in order to further interpret the divergent roles of virtues in different circumstances and the indivisible interaction between the individuals with substantive existences and the things without actual forms.

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!

Family loyalty in China has had a tumultuous past filled with fluctuation between remaining loyal to the state, yet also remaining loyal to blood relatives. In the autobiography that also serves as a biography, Wild Swans, by Jung Chang, this is seen. The book, which outlines the biographies of the author’s grandmother and mother, as well as her own autobiography, gives an interesting look into the lives of the Chinese throughout the 20th century. This book is beyond eye opening, and is truly a raw glimpse into the daily lives of women throughout China, struggling with situations that no human should ever be thrown into. I loved this book and was truly scared about the world that it opened me up to. The book does many things well, but also has its faults. The author consistently and clearly exemplifies the social hierarchy that consumes China, as well as its obsession with cultural stagnancy. The author also gives intense imagery that thrusts the reader into the scene, and creates a new reality showcasing the truths of China. Although both of those things take main stage in the book, there are a few weaknesses in the book. One, asking the question of how she had such clear anecdotes on her grandmother and mother’s life, how did she have such intimate details? The second shortcoming that Jung Chang had a subjective view of China, partly being that she loves China despite the cards it has dealt her. Her life was not short of hardships, but her family was typically