Chinese Culture Revolution

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Chinese Culture Revolution

A Daughter of Han by Ida Pruitt and A Woman Soldier’s Own Story by Xie Bingying are

autobiography books about two Chinese women who fought oppression and tradition in their

lives. Through the two books, the reader can learn about the cultures and traditions of China. The

norms were the reason for the oppression and struggles faced by the two women in the stories.

These two books are about real-life experiences of the Chinese women, struggles, and challenges

they had to endure during that era. This paper will compare and analyze the two sources in an

attempt to relate the Chinese culture and practices in the old era.

A Daughter of Han is a story about a woman named Ning who lived between 1867 to the

early 1930s just before Japan had evaded China. Ning was raised in the Penglai city in Northern

China where she lived with her impoverished family. She did not have the privilege of going to

school because of her gender. Girls in those days were expected to live their lives doing house

chores as they waited to be married off in an arranged marriage. At the age of 14, Ning was

married to a 28-year-old man (Pruitt 40). After living together for some time in marriage, they

began to experience various challenges. Her husband became addicted to the use of opium to the

extent of selling household items to satisfy his need to afford the drug. He also became very

irresponsible to the extent of not providing for his family. On one occasion, her husband sold his

younger daughter so he could get money to buy opium (Pruitt 53). After this incident, Ning, a

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woman who had known poverty all her life, young and married to a man who let her stay hungry

and even beg for food, decided to make a move that would change her life. She decided to take

control of her life. Ning left her husband and found jobs in various households as a house cleaner

to support her family. Her experience in multiple homes is also part of the book as she points out

life lessons from her own experiences. Her life undergoes challenges and changes in a bid to find

freedom.

A Woman Soldier’s Own Story, conversely, is a book written by a Chinese woman named

Xie who lived between the years 1906-2000. Xie was brought up in a society where girls had no

right to go to school, and her parents and future husband from an arranged marriage determined

her fate (Xie 36). Xie turned out to be a rebellious child who did not want the norms and

traditions of her country determine and control her life. At the age of 10, she decided to stay

hungry for days until her parents gave in and enrolled her in a girl’s school near her village. Xie

fought to have education and escaped her arranged marriage (Xie 40). Additionally, she did what

was unexpected of a girl by joining the military at the age of 20 and later fought in the two world

wars. She also lived as a single mother with her child. In an attempt to define her life, Xie faced

imprisonment and torture, but never relented. Xie emerges as a feminist and writer because of

her struggles and willingness to bring change in China. Her story is a journey from the old China

to the new world. Through the book, the reader can learn about the lifestyle and cultural practices

of Chinese people in the olden days.

The two autobiographies A Woman Soldier’s Story and A Daughter of Han revolve

around the lives of two women born and raised in China at around the same time. As a result,

they faced similar cultural treatment and challenges. However, the two women responded to the

challenge differently that resulted in divergent outcome. Some of the difficulties experienced by

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Xie and Ning are similar. For example, from childhood both are denied the right to go to school.

In addition, the tradition dictated that they have an arranged marriage by their parents. Ning even

kept the tradition and arranged marriage for her daughter. Additionally, the economic status of

their families was same: both families lived in poverty. Xie and Ning had their feet bound by a

cultural practice in China. These challenges, however, shaped their lives differently depending

on the choices each of them made.

Women in China during early 20th century faced many challenges. The world at that time

belonged to the men. The numerous problems faced by both subjects were because they were

female. Women had no voice, and they were expected to follow orders given by men. Change is,

however, mandatory in life, and the reader sees both women bring a difference to their lives and

in the lives of those they took care. Ning decided to assist workers in the military, generals, civil

officials, and chief judges as a house help. Every family she worked for treated her differently.

She got life lessons by watching the lives of those she met and worked for at the time. She was,

however, inspired to provide for her family and to live a free lifestyle. Xie, conversely, was

determined to act differently from a young age. She might not have known what her rebellion

meant as a young girl, but it spurred change in her life and the lives of the Chinese people. Her

participation in two wars led to China’s victory over her enemy Japan. The little changes that

were done by these two women in their lives were an inspiration to many, hence change on how

the society viewed women.

Both Xie and Ning went against their cultural practices by leaving their marital homes

and ended up single women. Ning was married to a man 14 years older than she was. She later

left her husband to live alone with her children due to the frustrations her husband brought to her

family. Ning reunited with her husband later on, and she had another daughter and son, but the

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daughter died. She later left him again to raise her two daughters and son alone. By contrast, Xie

was forcefully married to a neighbor’s son whom her parents had chosen for her at a young age.

She tried to escape the marriage plans, but she was caught, imprisoned, and forcefully married.

The marriage did not work, and Xie left for Beijing where she had lovers and later bore a

daughter out of wedlock. She lived as a single mother with her daughter and provided for her

needs. The authors of these books may have intended to make readers see the cultural change in

society. From a strict community where a woman had no voice even to choose a partner for

herself, which resulted in divorce and they had to single handedly raise their children.

The spirit of hard work was manifested in the lives of Ning and Xie. Ning as a young

married girl said that she did not know how to do anything that could make her be like her

mother who waited for her father to bring food. She stated that women could only bind their legs,

make their hair as they waited for their husbands. However, the situation changes when her

husband becomes addicted to opium to the extent of not providing anything for his family. Ning

decides to go to the streets to beg so that she can fend for her two daughters. She later seeks for

various kinds of employment and leaves her husband. She works as a house help and even assists

weddings to earn more money. As for Xie, she seems to be hard working from her childhood.

Her determination to go to school shows that she was willing to do something on her own and

achieve her goals. She enquired from her brother if she could be a soldier and even sat for a

military entry exam, which she passed. She was a soldier for a while and traveled to further her

studies. Her ability to cater for her daughter as a single mother is evident of her hard work. These

two women achieved their dreams because of their determination.

The perceptive of life of the two authors are divergent. Ning believes that one’s fate is

sealed and that the only step one can take is to accept and live by it. She mentions that from the

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time she was born, her family's fortunes went down and her destiny, which had been determined

by the heavens, was not a good one. Ning also later states that her daughter Mantze blamed her

for her misfortunes in life while a woman was destined to marry and to continue her lineage.

Ning visited a fortuneteller who told her that she would have many marriages but the men would

always be the same, making her not to divorce or leave her husband. Xie, conversely, lives

knowing that she can get whatever she wants and goes ahead to find her own path. She refuses to

be tied to their culture that victimized the females. Consequently, Xie lives her whole life

fighting different battles for change and women rights. As a result, she lived an independent life

and strived to rewrite the culture of a new era in China.

The choices that Ning and Xie made were inspired by the need to liberate themselves and

the next generation. Ning was motivated to move out of her matrimonial home for the safety of

her children. With no idea of where to go or begin from, her action was purely inspired by the

need to protect her family from her irresponsible husband. She worked hard throughout her life

to provide for her children and to change their life story. She managed to take her children to

school and even her grandchild. Ning became an inspiration to her neighbors and friends who

noticed the difference she had brought in her family. Xie’s life was different from her childhood.

She did everything differently and fought for anything that came between her freedoms. The

people to whom she was responsible in life may not have inspired her inspiration as a young girl

growing up. She was just a young girl fighting for what she thought was right. However, later in

life, she may have gotten her inspiration from the need for change in her country and to live a

better life than which her parents provided. Xie ends up fighting for the rights of women. Need is

a great motivator for achieving success. The two women were inspired at different times in their

lives, but responsibility and need to fill a gap somewhere were the main inspiration.

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Although Xie lived in the old era, her actions portrayed a lot of modernity. For example,

she openly told her parents that she wanted a divorce; even though, it was against the norms

during that era. Even when her parents tried to convince her that love came after marriage, Xie

disagreed with their opinion and took a stand that people should first know each other well

before getting to marriage. Xie is a traditional woman who only changes because of difficult

circumstances. She seem to embrace their traditions and believes by consulting fortuneteller to

reveal her fate. The two women seem to live in different eras.

It is controversial to find out later that Ning changed her attitude in life and decided to

take control of her life. Ning seems to have forgotten about her beliefs in living by what

experience provided. The change occurred after her husband oppressed her for many years and

after life got worse with time. Her husband even sold her younger daughter to buy opium. When

Ning found out and approached him about the issue, he promised never to consume drugs again.

However, Ning decided to leave her husband with their elder daughter and a son to begin a new

life as the women did not believe idle promises as his acts contradicted them. One is left to

wonder what happened to the idea of accepting one’s fate and living by what life brought your

way. Why Ning did not stick by her husband when fate had brought them together?

Actually, culture revolution in China was a long journey and had many challenges. Xie

and Ning are not only the people who experienced the difficulties of culture revolution but also

other people who struggled to transform it had a hard time. According to Schoppa (123), many

people who were working in education centers and research institutes lost their lives during the

revolution of the culture. Also, the political system experienced dramatic changes during the

revolution in the 20

century.

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The books A Woman Soldier’s Own Story and A Daughter of Han are inspirational

autobiographies of women who made their lives and those around them better by following the

course in which they believed. The life stories of Ning and Xie have a lot of similarities and

some differences. Their achievements have contributed to shaping the culture in China and the

world at large.

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Works Cited

Pruitt, Ida. A Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman. Vol. 5925.

Stanford University Press, 1967.

Schoppa, Keith. The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History. Columbia University Press,

2005.

Xie, Bingying. A Woman Soldier's Own Story: The Autobiography of Xie Bingying. Columbia

University Press, 2001.

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