Fortress Besieged and Cold Nights - Term Paper Example

Discussion question on Fortress Besieged Question: Considering that this novel seems largely satirical, what is the author’s opinion with respect to foreign influences on Chinese culture and traditions? On page 117 and 118, Zhongshu writes, “There lived a quack doctor from his village who admired Fang’s reputation and found time off between killing people to drop by occasionally for a chat. and he just had to keep it to himself, while he looked for some other way to restore honor to his medical skills and the good name of Chinese medicine.

” Yet, Hongjian’s character says that the only two Western inventions to catch on in China were opium and syphilis. Is this meant to be a critique of the West, China, or something else? Answer: The Chinese people love their culture, traditions and own a superiority complex about it. The author makes a sarcastic reference to the skills of the quack doctor by stating that his medicines kill the people and yet people trust him. He commands respect of the people and the patients whom he treats.

The reasons are twofold. Firstly, they have implicit faith in their traditional system of medicines. Secondly, they have no other alternative as advanced medical facilities are not available. Even if they are available, majority of the people being poor cannot afford the costs devolved in the treatment. As for the observation that the only two Western inventions to catch on in China are opium and syphilis it indicates the downfall of moral standards in the Western societies and the dangers in emulating the materialistic approach to all issues.

The Chinese people generally resent the Westerners due to historical reasons. The political philosophy of China is different from the capitalistic way of life of Westerners. So, the quack doctor and Fang, a good-for-nothing young man who returned from his studies in Europe with a sham American degree, strike a good camaraderie. Both have something in common, the phony knowledge they possess about diagnosing the diseases and treating the people. They succeed in fooling the gullible poor Chinese people living in the interior, almost cut off from the modern lifestyles and medical facilities available in the urban and metropolitan areas of China.

Hongjian’s statement that the only two Western inventions to catch on in China are opium and syphilis is the criticism on the Western moral standards prevailing in that era, as well as to tender warning to the younger generation of China. The Chinese people own an inferiority complex and they will avail any opportunity to downplay the Westerners, in an effort to restore their honor. Secondly, the character of Fang is the typical example of directionless and destination less youth in the Chinese Society of the 1930s.

Fang was the pampered son of a country gentleman. He was not all interested in studies yet he was studying abroad, and his aimless wanderings in the field of education continued and he got a fake degree. He was sure enough, with his western lifestyles, and the bogus degree that he bought and brought, he would be able to impress the gullible Chinese people. Marriages during the 1930s in China were mostly arranged by