Lost Daughters Reveal Historical Courtesan Life in China
595954
A story of mothers and daughters - daughters lost and feeling isolated and rejected.  There is a large focus on Courtesan life - the wiles and schemes of the women to win suitors and gain status through gifts.  But an equal focus on relationships among women in China around the early 20th Century.  This book is probably of most appeal to women who enjoy books around relationships and unique settings.
2443586
Bi Feiyu has the eye of a filmmaker -not surprising given his long involvement in entertainment - and it shows in this novel of three sisters living in one rural Chinese family in the early days of Mao's revolution.  Feiyu's writing is lyrical and crisp, delineating with an unwavering eye the dynamics of old traditions butting up against the new order in the lives of one Chinese family.  The novel is divided into 3 parts, each limning a portrait of one sister in the line up of 7 girls, plus one lone boy.  The novel is set in 1971 and tells the story of Wang Lianfang, a party worker who squanders his small degree of power when outrageous womanizing lands him in the bed of a respected soldier's wife, and he is stripped of his rank.  His family must figure out ways to survive in an increasingly hierarchical Mao ordered world, and the story of eldest daughter Yumi unfolds. From Yumi's story of love lost and family honor regained, the story of the second daughter, Yuxiu springs.  Unlike her composed elder sister, Yuxiu is a "fox spirit" and flirt who learns to manipulate everyone and thing in her environment, until she becomes pregnant out of wedlock.  A decade later, youngest sister Yuyang is poised to escape a dreary fate when she's accepted by a school in Beijing, but she, too, has a story that ends just short of heartbreak.

Feiyu is particularly successful when he is honing in on the qualities that make each sister being profiled unique -her struggle to find her place in the family, and make her way in a changing world.  He is far less successful in weaving together the 3 stories into anything approaching a coherent whole. But the writing is lovely, the sense of place he achieves feels spot on, and Three Sisters is ultimately a journey well worth taking.
540573
Shan Sa chronicles the rise of a young girl from the humble Wu clan to Empress in the 7th century Tang dynasty. A girl of singular sensibilities, the girl eschews the rites of femininity for the more masculine image of a soldier, an accomplished horsewoman, Thanks to the intercession of the Great General Li Ji, she is sent to the Emperor Eternal Ancestors' court, there to be known as Talented One. Interred in the court, Talented One struggles to accept her fate, walled within the women's quarters, where the rituals are many and the hierarchy strict. She leaves the inner workings of the court, the petty rivalries, secret romances and vicious infighting for the Emperor's favor, where "the most elementary arts of life are meticulously regulated by superstitious codes". Recognized for her talent with horses, Talented One flaunts convention, adapting the mien of the soldier-woman. It is in this manner that she meets Little Phoenix, next in succession for the throne, and his beloved sister.

The three young people become fast friends, Little Phoenix recognizing in Talented One a loyal nature. Sent to a monastery after the death of the Emperor, Talented One expects to spend the rest of her days in prayer, but is summoned by the new Emperor, Little Phoenix, the Sovereign Lordly Ancestor. Little Phoenix has need of her advice, if not more, having already proved himself a connoisseur of women in the first years of his reign. Returning to court, Talented One becomes a pawn between two women who vie for the Emperor's heart; withdrawing from the fray, she concerns herself with the business of governance, acquiring the critical skills that will eventually bring her to the throne. Succumbing to Little Phoenix, Talented One, now Heavenlight, eventually falls in love with the Emperor and bears him four sons, changing the paradigm of the relationship, insinuating herself into power and marriage by means fair and foul, having learned well the Machiavellian ways of politics.

After her husband's death, Heavenlight ascends the throne, declaring a new dynasty, the Wu Dynasty: "I, the ordinary, restless child, the plain adolescent, the commoner who had twice been a nun, would prove to be a Daughter of Heaven." Written in the first person narrative, the only perspective is that of she-who-would-be-Empress, with the bias one would expect of such a driven woman, with few regrets and excessive justifications for the sometimes ignoble actions of her long life. Chronically emotionless and inaccessible, the Empress remains detached, save her plunge into passion for Little Phoenix, observing her progress without affect or commitment to others. In Empress, the author carefully documents a remarkable historical event, Empress Wu accomplishing more than she ever dreamed, but paying the price of power, surrounded by perfidy and constant scheming of those who would usurp the throne. Ultimately she is victorious, aging and lonely: "I had become my own jailer and I was my prisoner." Luan Gaines/ 2006.
2122458
A true cautionary tale for any romantics abroad who believe that exotic intrigue is enough to sustain an interracial marriage, Good Chinese Wife will wrench hearts as much as it will enrage readers on both sides of the gender debate.

Susan Blumberg-Kason is a shy, frizzy-haired American exchange student in Hong Kong, where she meets an attractive Chinese scholar ten years her senior. Waltzing their nights away in dance halls, the previously married Cai doesn't waste time. "In China couples traditionally date only if they plan to marry."

Susan's insecurity, which is her biggest folly, gets the best of her, and gets hitched, simply so "I'd no longer worry about whether he'd still want to meet me every night."

The realities of marrying into China, however, become apparent during a visit to Wuhan to meet her in-laws. "Kids don't learn anything until they are five. The baby can stay with us, for several years," her new "mama" exclaims. Cai's true colors are also soon revealed: he prefers to watch porn on their honeymoon instead of consummate their marriage, and play cards with pals in their underwear instead of spend time with his new wife.

Feeling "like a lowly daughter-in-law in a Chinese backwater town," Susan persuades Cai to relocate to San Francisco, where they conceive a son. Flying in the in-laws proves to be a mistake, and the ensuing childcare differences (force feeding; four layers of clothes indoors) will resonate with Westerners considering breeding with the Chinese.

Cai becomes increasingly sullen and verbally abusive ("No meaning, no anything here," he huffs. "I thought you had a wife and son here," Susan responds, to which he snaps "You're so lucky I don't hit you.").

Wishing he'd go back to China only fuels her paranoia that, if he actually does, Cai will take their son with him ("China hasn't signed the Hague Convention," a lawyer warns).  Susan's grand finale "escape" will leave women readers woot-woot!'ing aloud - and fathers instinctively gritting their teeth.

It's hard to be critical of an intensely personal memoir such as this, but the authoress offers little self-examination other than the occasional "was my tone too harsh?", nor any insight into Cai's perspective except his outbursts: "I know what American wives are like. I also know what Chinese wives are like. And then there's you!"  And Susan's final musing that "I was abandoning him in a country he didn't like, taking away his son, and leaving him with a house, two cars and no way to pay the mortgage or other bills" could also come across as vindictive rather than remorseful.

Good Chinese Wife is a fascinating read for anyone suffering a dose of yellow fever and contains topical issues that are certain to generate heated debates about custody and cultural differences. Yet one wonders if Susan and Cai might have made it work had they remained on Hong Kong's east-west cultural middle ground, where they met, without the pressure of the Mainland's blind filial piety or the influence of divorce-happy Americans.

###
3357519
Extremely well written and interesting novel about Chinese women when the are beginning to become enlightened. Interesting take on concubines and relationships,
4025322
I first found Ms. Li's short story, Immortality, in the Paris Review.  She frames a story around a rural Chinese village's tradition of sending castrated young men (the euphemism she uses is "cleaned") to the imperial palace to serve as eunuchs.  Fast forward to the Cultural Revolution, the story shifts focus to a young man with the likeness of the country's dictator (it can be inferred that she is speaking of Mao Tse-Tung).  The surprise is how she weaves present with past to reveal stories of China.

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers is full of such beautifully rendered stories.

In Princess of Nebraska, a Chinese man and a Mongolian woman traverse time and space in a quiet Michigan cafe while pondering their past relationship to the same man, Yang, a blithe narcissistic Beijing youth with a gift for singing Beijing opera.

In Love in the Marketplace, an English teacher in a rural village ponders a promise broken by two of the most important people in her life - her childhood sweetheart and her best girlfriend.

In story after story, the reader finds disappointment and a trail of hearts broken by modern life's adversities, lies, and unfulfilled dreams.  The language of the book adds to an unadorned tone that is at once mercilessly unforgiving in description of human life and deeply sentimental and non-judgmental of the characters.  Highly recommended!
1957628
I liked the insights into the Chinese culture, beautiful story. The struggles and sacrifices that two sisters make for survival in a world not of their making.
4602417
3rd in a series.  Revisits the lives of a Chinese family and their adopted daughters.
2571565
This is a quick read, and one that appeals to people from 12 to 92.  Rich in images from China when missionaries and colonials lived lives of luxury while the poor toiled all around them.  Fascinating.
1221840
Zoe S. Roy's novel is a story of an extended family's adaptation to the reality of a communist myth. The novel begins with the pregnancy of Meihua Wei, an art instructor at Spring University in Kunming City, China in 1965. Meihua is alone much of the time with two of her children in the University living compound because her husband is away working in a rehabilitation mining camp accused of anti-revolutionary activity. On one monthly visit home from the camp, Meihua and Lon decide to have the baby even though they are poor and have two sons already. Even if the newborn is a girl, the separated couple will keep the child in the family.

In Mao Zedong's cultural revolution, the status of people in China has turned upside down from the past. Meihua as an educated person is inferior in status to uneducated citizens. She is vulnerable to charges of anti-revolutionary thoughts and activity by these unintelligent and vindictive people. Just because Meihua was born in America, the daughter of a Canadian woman and a Chinese man, she is seen as subversive by Communist Party officials. She had returned to China to live and seek her father, but her immersion in the culture does not free her from her past ties with the USA, enemy of China.

Meihua has her baby, her third child Yezi and begins to raise her with the help of Yao an uneducated but loving person who is dedicated to the family. The cultural revolution involved intense background searches of citizens looking for evidence of subversion to Mao's rule. Meihua is incarcerated for her alleged crimes against China leaving Yao to raise the boy Sang and his younger sister Yezi.  Meihua's oldest son Dahai is off fighting in Mao's army, but this does not help Meihua stay free. The story focuses on the hardships of poverty and persecution visited on Yezi, and only Yao's efforts and cultural status keep recurring trouble from completely destroying the separated family.

The repressive situation eases to some extent in China, causing some people to forget the devastating effects of the Red Terror on citizens who lived through it. The cultural revolution based on its utopian myth is seen widely to be a failure in terms of the poor living conditions of the vast majority of Chinese people. Yao and the family gain the freedom to be together and resume some of their former living activities. The third generation Yezi gains the most freedom of all as a young woman and takes advantage of it to strengthen family bonds.

This is an excellent novel of the reality of cultural revolutions that always end up with a few privileged characters at the top enjoying all the riches of society, and the majority of citizens living at the bottom concerned more about daily survival than utopian rationalizations. If you like the description of this novel, you will enjoy reading&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Old-Town/dp/1611090075/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Old Town</a>&nbsp;by Lin Zhe.
1374238
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which can explain the Chinese womans life, is an excellent novel to read. I would recommend this writing for AP world history students. Starting off with Lily reminiscing her past life, the book sets the places background information as well as a circle of princes. The novel itself is very interesting, which it tells a grand story of Lily and Snow Flower to the Confucius Chinese belifs. All the happenings in their lives revolve around how a woman is supposed to live during the Chinese era, in the midst of lifes fate in the Taiping Rebellion, Lily and Snow Flower communicate through nu shu womans writing. Furthermore, the characters Lily and Snow Flower, remain laotongs until the desk, overcoming every obstacle in the way. Thus, the plot and the characters in the novel enable the audience to enjoy the writing.
Furthermore, the author's usage events than peoples relationships accomplish a major goal: teaching Chinese social behaviors. For example, the religious aspects are examined set women go to the Temple of Gupo to pray to Guanyin at every stage of life. It can be said that there were social classes in the Chinese society. Due to Confucianism, woman respected their elders, and had undivided loyalty for all the men in their lives. This can be seen from Lily and Snow Flower being confined to the house and unable to enter the outer around. The book is fairly short, repetitive for understanding, and overall easy to read. Conclusively, since the plot is interesting, knowledge about the Chinese in the era can be gained, and the plot is understandable, Snow Flower and the secret fan, should be read by all people.
4640775
Willow, the protagonist/narrator of PEARL OF CHINA, is Forest Gumpian in her knack for knowing important historical figures. Her best friend growing up is missionary daughter and author Pearl Buck. As Willow matures, she is pivotal in creating a relationship between Buck and a famous Chinese poet. Then she weds Dick, a close associate of Chairman Mao's.

While that constellation of characters is unlikely, the book itself draws you into this prism of China with serene seductiveness. I read a fourth of the book the first night I started reading it, and couldn't wait to return to it. The characters live and the history and environment are fascinating.

The author grew up during the Cultural Revolution and played a part in Madam Mao's crusade against Pearl Buck. With PEARL OF CHINA, she has more than atoned for her part in the propaganda wars. I am determined to read THE GOOD EARTH, something I've long had on my To Be Read list, and visit Pearl Buck's home, which isn't that far from my own. I can't wait to see the Chinese garden that is so akin to the garden Pearl lived near when she was growing up in Chin-kiang.

I recommend this book highly to those who are interested in Pearl Buck and/or China. It is clear how intertwined these two subjects are.
60139
So nice to see Tan back and in great form.  This book closely examines the roles of women in a China of the early 20th century through the eyes of the courtesan flower sisters; juxtaposed against a half-American, half-Chinese young girl caught in the net of high end houses of prostitution..  As always, Tan's characters are finely drawn, and through their eyes we see a China with an institutionalized treatment of women as toys, possessions, and trophies that one hopes has come and gone.....A good read - and, like her other books--  one that can be enjoyed more than once.....
2099083
Jonathan D. Spence is the Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and is an expert on modern Chinese History (~1600-present).  In _The Death of Woman Wang_ Spence explores many facets of Chinese society during the later part of the 17th century.

The book examines three sources that focus on what in all honesty are historically insignificant events that took place in the obscure T'an-ch'eng county (Shandong province) over a span of four years (1668-1672).  Each of the three sources allow Spence to illuminate certain different aspects of Chinese society.  The sources and what they each reveal are as follows:
(1)  A Gazetteer compiled by an elite neo-Confucian scholar-bureaucrat (Jinshi) that recieved the highest possible...think of the gazetteer as state propaganda.  Spence draws from a section of the gazetteer entitled "Biographies of Virtuous Women."  The biographies contain accounts of chaste women, some of whom committ suicide in order to preserve their virtue--the government praised them for doing so.

(2) A diary of the county's magistrate.  The gazetteer, because it is propaganda, is highly skewed.  The writings of the magistrate allow us to see how the laws and expectations of elite society translate to a rural reality.

(3) Third, are various works of fiction by the well known author P'u Sung-ling.  The most unorthodox of Spence's sources, P'u Sung-ling's stories allow insights into Chinese society that are not found in the more traditional sources.

Unlike most histories, this book focuses on people, events, and places that are unremarkable.  This approach ultimately allows the author to present a relatively complete view of Chinese society, including many of its problems.  Among the aspects that are present here are: Gender relations; knowledge about neo-Confucianism; the relationship between family and society; social problems such as natural disasters and banditry; and inner workings of the Chinese bureaucracy--notably tax collection.

If you are interested in Chinese society then you really need to read this book.  In apx 160 pages this book paints a complex and accurate picture of Chinese society in the late 17th century.

Follow this link to learn more about Spence:
[...]
1913151
In todays publishing market, Caucasian characters and Euro-centric stories receive the lions share of coverage. Needless to say, that must change, as there are many fascinating individuals from every corner of the world who deserve attention. One such is a seventh-century tour de force named Wu, the first and only woman to rule as empress regnant in China. This remarkable figure comes to vivid, sparkling life in Weina Dai Randels stellar debut novel, THE MOON IN THE PALACE.

Randel places the future empress (whose childhood nickname was Mei) in the ruthless intrigue of the court of Emperor Taizing of the Tang Dynasty. Mei is a Select, one of the new recruits to the assemblage of women in the court; shes desperate to ascend the ranks of imperial favor to fulfill her late fathers wishes for her success and to improve her widowed mothers status in life. But court politics are a new game for Mei, a labyrinth that she must learn to navigate with care.

As she deciphers court etiquette and makes both allies and enemies, Mei befriends a young man named Pheasant, who might be far more than he seems. But she cant act on her feelings to the attractive youth; after all, shes sworn to the Emperor. Her life is constantly in danger as a determined Mei must claw her way over rivals alike, keep an ear to the ground and one hand on her dagger to survive. And in the court of the Emperor, who knows who is friend and who is foe?

Randel brilliantly evokes Meis many struggles in THE MOON IN THE PALACE. Meis instinct to love is pitted against her destiny, just as desire is against duty, trust against betrayal. The author also makes the intricacies of the imperial court easily accessible to readers new to ancient China.

Despite some repetition, the story builds to a natural climax that Randel enhances through her beautiful language and entirely relatable heroine. Readers will clamor for more of Mei, but shouldnt fear: the second volume in this duology, THE EMPRESS OF BRIGHT MOON, releases on April 5th.

Reviewed by Carly Silver
4108640
Family relationships are well portrayed in this story of China past and present day San Francisco. Tan weaves an intricate tale for the reader in the telling, she defines the mother daughter relationship between several generations of women. This book is an enjoyable read it ends far too soon.
2410848
For me the first 20% of the book had a slow beginning with lengthy explanations. Although interesting details of a courtesan, I was looking for the story of the characters to evolve sooner. I enjoyed the book much more when the story line was more developed. Interestingly, Tan was more subtle in her description of the courtesan experience in the first half which i appreciated without being offended. However the descriptions became more crude in the second half. I suppose the intent was to give the reader a more graphic visualization of some of the cruelties but it was almost as if written by two different authors. She vividly describes the scenery and the Chinese culture. I was hoping for a read that I couldn't put down but for me this didn't fit that bill. It fell more into the category of an acceptable book.