Each and every character in Yu Hua’s To Live is a catalyst through which the author explores human nature. The novel itself follows the life of Fugui, whose narrative is framed by pre-communist, Maoist, and post-communist China. Though he chronicles a long period of time, Yu Hua effectively uses characterization to present and prove his claims on human nature. Throughout Fugui’s journey, each character he encounters reflects on an aspect of humanity, through an event or group of people. For example, Long Er symbolizes the death of feudalism, while Fengxia symbolizes the Chinese people under a fascist, nationalist government. In Yu Hua’s To Live, Fugui’s son Youqing is a symbol of the Chinese people living under Mao because they were child-like in their innocence, and Youqing’s journey proves that naively trusting authority leads to deception.
Fengxia being taken away from Youqing reflects on the ways in which authority can be wrong, and trust can be destructive. Fugui and Jiazhen are adamant that giving away Fengxia is what is best for Youqing, and even for their daughter. This is similar to how Mao claimed that communism was for the good of the people, even though some people spoke out against this. Youqing voices his opinion after Fugui explains to him that “[they have] given Fengxia away to somebody else to save money so he could go to school . . . he [screams] through his tears, ‘I’m not going to school, I want Sis!’” (Yu 92). This serves as a reflection of China under
Xiong uses battles, executions, assassinations, and scandals to appeal to readers of any genre. Once a reader gets into the book they are hooked in the epic events of the book and the deep look into the ruling class. Unfortunately, Xiong’s novel might somewhat difficult to get into for many readers with no experience in Chinese history. Xiong also attempts to utilize dialogue that often comes off as underdeveloped or simplistic.
Before we had started reading The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff we were given a MACC objective, MACC standing for Massachusetts Common Core. The objective was to read The Tao of Pooh to determine the main precepts and tenets of Buddhism. The Tao of Pooh is about the author attempting to explain Buddhism to Pooh, who at first seems to be an unmotivated and lazy bear and throughout the story uses examples from Pooh’s adventures with his friends to explain the principles of Taoism. As the author describes the principles he uses, effective presentation, rhetoric strategies and style. All of these add to the beauty, power and persuasiveness of the text.
1. How did Wu Zhao manage to rise to such a high position in an empire that favored Confucian Values? Wu Zhao was an extraordinary woman of many talents. However, Wu Zhao’s intelligence and charisma were not enough to help her attain the throne. As the book states “Only with the assistance of Propagandists, rehoriticians, ideologies and strong-arms of different persuasions.
The Communist Party gained Ji-Li Jiang’s trust and in doing so made her question her family ties. Ji-Li Jiang said that she believed what the Communist Party told her and her fellow classmates. When told "...father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao" (page 1) , she had no want to question it, so it is of no surprise that when her family forbade her from going to a liberation audition, she immediately was confused and upset. Why is it that Ji-Li Jiang questioned the people who raised and loved her, and instead wanted to follow Chairman Mao, a man whom she only saw hanging above a blackboard in her classroom. The answer is simple.
On the other hand, it leaves a kind of profound thinking about the typical ordinary Chinese ideology and how great is the impact of such a decision on people’s
We can see the social affect the anti-revolutionist accusation against his parents had on Fan Shen when he tries to join the Party. Fan Shen was told that because of his
Even Though Weiwei is supposed to agree with the regulations, he shares his opinions freely and disagrees. Ai Weiwei still remains outspoken of freedom and human right. He knows they “own the land, [they] set the game rules … but the disappearance is [his]” (Weiwei 2). The government has control over the benefits, therefore Weiwei is trying to emphasize that the chinese receive the consequences. Rather than the government, the people of China have to deal with the pain, lies, and being controlled.
This protest from the Nanyang Public School showed that people were alienated from the Confucian tradition in modern times, and the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty was greatly declining in the eyes of the Chinese citizens. Cai Yuanpei’s advocacy of anti- imperialism and anti sentiment toward the Qing Dynasty
Ji-li even acted as a red guard as well, naming stores or places that had four olds. However throughout the book, Ji-li’s point of view of the cultural revolution changes. Her father is detained, her house gets searched, she is excluded from activities, and she had to choose between her family or Mao. In Ji-li’s memoir she explains about the cultural revolution and about Mao.
The character development of Dieyi was a build-up of emotions for his lifelong friend: so much that Dieyi bids farewell as Concubine Yu in the final scene. On the other hand, To Live brought to life the realities of family relations and abundant tragedies. Unlike Dieyi’s infatuation of friendship and theatre, Fugui was overwhelmed with many hardships. One comparison can be made that Dieyi’s suicide was a result of confusion from his rocky friendship with Xiaolou. Meanwhile, Fugui’s perseverance “to live” became constant underlying perception throughout the film.
Over and over again Youqing is let down because he allowed himself to hope for greatness; with sparrowcide, land reforms, and peoples communes, the Chinese peasantry hoped that they would be helped, because it is human nature. However, throughout Youqing’s youth the author uses a skeptical tone when describing the new policies enacted by the CCP, such as the peoples communes. At this point, Youqing’s family had been self-sufficient for years, and “naturally, Jiazhen was reluctant to see our five mu of land be returned,” and Fugui is even more reluctant to hand over all of their pots but he “figured there was no real way out,” (Yu 101). This use of language implies the authors disappointment in the rise of communism, and implies the negative effect it will have on the
Jing Mei, while portrayed as an obedient child, is only willing to listen to her mother to a certain extent. Throughout the story, it is consistently hinted that Jing Mei would eventually explode against her mother as an attempt to free herself from her mother’s chains. In addition, after the fiasco at the piano recital, she eventually derives further from her mother’s wishes as she “didn 't get straight A...didn 't become class president...didn 't get into Stanford...dropped out of college.” (54). On the flip side, Jing Mei’s mother is a stereotypical Chinese parent who is fully determined to ensure her daughter’s success in a new environment.
This presents a development of characterisation when we meet Ling in the first paragraph of the extract. The description of Ling’s wife follows straight after. In the second paragraph , we encounter Wang-Fô whom inspired Ling to have a new perspective of the world as “Ling avait grandi dans une maison d’où la richesse éliminait les hasards.” The passage is written in an omniscient third person narrative. It is predominantly narrative
A Chinese Life in its presentation is selective by nature because it only includes what the author deemed significant and had an impact on his life. Furthermore, the author likely did not experience every event that took place during the Cultural Revolution, thus a personal memoir lacks the ability to express different
To Live suggests that The Cultural Revolution was a time when communist students took authority over Chinese citizens, and the historical event was similar. In the film, Fengxia dies in the hospital because the red guards are performing jobs of professionals and do not know what to do. In historical records, the red guards accused professional workers of crimes and resumed their jobs for them without experience. The film accurately shows how red guards, or young communist followers had control of the maintenance in China. In order to feel safe, citizens would need to be a true communist and throw away old prophecies or ideas.