A Literal Review on Oppression: An One-act Comedy by Xilin Ding

Everyone has had an embarrassing moment in their life at one point or another; slipping on ice in public or forgetting a coworkers name at the company picnic. Making a fool of yourself is bound to happen, especially in a setting outside of what you are accustomed to. Some people do not like reliving these moments while others have a gift for turning their embarrassment into a great story. Kellie Schmitt’s essay “The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore” is a perfect example of laughing at oneself. Throughout a cluster of Chinese do’s and do not’s, Schmitt tells the reader of one specific event and its comical conclusion. The essay is fun to read and relate to. Laughing with the author is made easy while she gracefully shares her missteps while she and her husband adapt to living in China. Learning new customs for an inevitable occasion most Americans probably are not privy too makes the essay most interesting.

Zhang Yimou’s To Live is a powerful indictment of communist authoritarian rule and blind patriotism. The film places the viewer in the position of an insider as the Communist Revolution alters the political and social landscape of China. By using dramatic irony, Zhang Yimou appraises communist collectivist culture, class structure and power in revolutionary China, and the Cultural Revolution. In addition, by using shadow puppetry as a symbol of indoctrination, Zhang Yimou examines the link between political change, personal tragedy, and bureaucratic incompetence.

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

A third narrative thread is created by stringing together the stories of young Chinese students, both men and women. Their optimistic visions of the future contrast poignantly with the stories of Chen Mengjia and Polat, who expose more of the dark side of China especially the Cultural Revolution. Chen Mengjia committed suicide during the Cultural Revolution. Hessler (2006) interviews an old man about the issue of personal responsibility and political activism and reveals the deeply conflicted nature

The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan Spence is an educational historical novel of northeastern China during the seventeenth century. The author's focus was to enlighten a reader on the Chinese people, culture, and traditions. Spence's use of the provoking stories of the Chinese county T'an-ch'eng, in the province of Shantung, brings the reader directly into the course of Chinese history. The use of the sources available to Spence, such as the Local History of T'an-ch'eng, the scholar-official Huang Liu-hung's handbook and stories of the writer P'u Sung-Ling convey the reader directly into the lives of poor farmers, their workers and wives. The intriguing structure of The Death of Woman Wang consists on observing these people working on

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.

Women and men are born equal. However, females are receiving unequal judgement and unfair treatment in the society, and thus Marilyn Frye brings up the notion of “oppression”, claiming that women are oppressed. Throughout the essay, I will first give the definition of Frye’s oppression and then list 5 critical qualifications to be considered oppressed. After that, I will explain my appreciation on Frye’s perspective on elaborating oppression using the “bird cage” analogy. I will support Frye’s “double-bind” argument for sexism followed by flaws in the argument. Furthermore, I will point out some social group are mistakenly placed inside or outside the parameters of oppression, once the theory of oppression extends over other marginal groups.

Described as utopian in nature, the Chinese culture is often in pursuit for the perfect individual, a harmonious and structured society where the citizens as a whole create the ideal culture. In a collection of short stories entitled The Bridegroom, author Ha Jin documents this aspect of reality in homeland China. Primarily for the purposes of instruction and satirical verse, Ha Jin, shows how people are trying to find themselves in a society that focuses on the ‘whole’ of the country rather than the individual. He is able to interconnect this theme of individualism through four major stories in the book while presenting ‘Chineseness’ or satire of fictional verse as a way to focus on the changes throughout China

Leadership is the general theme of the chapters from 57–81 of the Tao Te Ching. Overall, the verses suggest to offer leaders values and ideological guidance. The suppression of people by leaders and government appear to be a common theme as well. There are many examples of the theme of suppression in these chapters. One example, can be found in Chapter 57, “Stop trying to control.

This clever story is crafted down to the smallest detail - every word and expression implies something, often has a second meaning and so manipulates the reader's opinion. The factor that makes this story even more

What is the denotation of the term oppression? It is defined as unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power (MerriamWebster.com). Mao Zedong, a malicious and dictatorial tyrant, was a leader of China who exposed the nation to numerous forms of oppression. Through the movements known as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, Mao removed capitalistic and traditional principles from China’s society while implementing both communistic and socialistic ways. During the time period of the these movements, the civilians of China faced cultural, political, and even religious molds of repression. After the first movement, known as the Great Leap Forward, a campaign to radically conform China from agrarian standpoints to an industrialized communist society, millions of Chinese citizens died from famines and other forms of maltreatment. Deaths from hunger reached more than fifty percent in some Chinese villages and the total number of dead from 1959 to 1961 was between thirty and forty million, which is equivalent to the population of California (Edwards). After the time of the Cultural Revolution, over 1.5 million civilians died during the movement, and others were tortured, publicly humiliated, or suffered imprisonment (History.com). The memoir Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang brings to life the cultural oppression that the Chinese citizens faced during the time Mao Zedong led China.

“Better a live coward than a dead hero”, a proverb passed down by the Chinese since ancient time, it coexisted with China’s constantly in volatile state and periodical social unrest. Coincidentally, the saying resonates with the life of Fugui in the novel “To Live” by Yu Hua, a prominent novel which touched many souls and emotions within and outside China. Meanwhile life, a key component and a main theme of the novel, is being valued and portrayed vividly through Fugui’s life, demonstrated by the use of literary devices and among them characterization evident.

“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

It was released in the year 1993, covering the period of the Chinese social upheavals between the 1920s through to the 1970s in the setting of the Beijing Opera. The film raises the attitude of homosexuality in the most painful period of the traditional Chinese history, for the Chinese and Western viewers (Lau 1995, 22). Despite that, China holds a strong homosexual stigma within the twentieth century. According to Lau, this film was an opportunity to stimulate the inherent of the Beijing Opera in relation to the homosexual practices that were tolerated during the era (Lau 1995, 22). Zheng further suggested that the film was also a chance to understand the homophobic anxiety of the historical and political brutality in Chinese history (Zhang 1999, 101). The film attempts to illustrate that the Chinese cultural connections and homosexuality cannot coexist. The main protagonist, Cheng Dieyi, sense of identity is heavily reinforced by the power structure within the environment through harsh symbolic rapes. Lau suggested that the symbolic rapes, such as the loss of finger and getting a pipe forced into the mouth are indications of homosexuality (Lau 1995, 23). According to Zheng, the scene when Dieyi gets raped by the eunuch has exhibited Dieyi’s disruption towards the societal rejection of homosexuality (Zhang 1999, 104). Zheng also stated that Dieyi’s violent

In XI Xi’s work, “A Woman like Me”, the narrator is a woman who works as a cosmetician for the dead, and throughout the entire story she says how her job has lost her friends over the years. Which in some parts of the text she mentions her fear that if Xia, her boyfriend, were to find out that she deals with the dead he will leave her. It is from this fear of death that mainly drives away her friends , and the very idea that she works with the dead with no problem scares her friends away. It such the fear of death that most stray away it when possible as it reminds them of their own mortality. Although despite her career choice and the cultural role it plays, she is hopeful that the reaction of Xia after he finds out, it will turn out well. The story begins with the quote, “ I’m surprised that our love has reached this far, especially for a woman such as myself”(XiXi 303). In more detail, the narrator explores that typical woman like her are expected to not find love because of her profession, which it is assumed is not normal for women in her culture. I however, am convinced that she is a proud and brave woman because of how her career has shaped her. While it appears that she is doubtful of the meeting she is rather hopeful of the future despite her circumstance, which is the restrictions of the social norms of her social life.