The cultural and class differences in China - Essay Example

In China, the 20th Century was accompanied by two significant political changes that are substantial to the fame that Chinese female authors gained in their role as a woman and author. This paper aims to analyze the cultural and class differences that arose in that era by comparing Eileen Chang and Ding Ling literature works Jasmine Tea and Miss Sophia’s Diary respectively. These literature works arose as a cultural response to the political, social, and historical experience. They represent the articulations and expressions of the competing cultures that contended against each other during that period. This paper reviews the effects and challenges that arose due to the modernity of Chinese culture for both men and women. It also shows the notion of love and its ability to unite and destroy. In Miss Sophia’s Diary, Sophia is faced with the predicament of her identity and questions on the social standards concerning sexuality. She tries to understand the notion of love and find someone who loves her, but in the end falls short. In Jasmine Tea, Chuanqin struggles with low self-esteem, as he feels physically inadequate. He searches for a patriarchal figure, which leads to dire outcomes. Introduction The two important changes started in 1905, with the termination of the traditional civil service examination. It ended the long culture of educating males for employment in the government. The notion of educating women was taken up by the scholars and welcomed Western girls’ schools. The second event was in 1912, with the abdication of the Qing Emperor, ending a 267 years Manchu rule and 2,000 years of imperial rule, and forming the Republic of China. The reality of the presence of Western powers in China fostered cultural tension and strong rebellion. Factions like the May Fourth Movement and the Culture Movements perceived there were advantages in the removal of traditional cultures and emphasized on the debate of equality between the genders. Theme Both stories show the challenges faced by both women and men as cultural traditions gave way to more western beliefs of love and romance. As the characters adjusted due to the influence of western cultures, they found themselves trapped and judged by customs and standards that most people held in the Chinese society. They also feature a common theme of troubled relationships. The troubles of the relationships in these works reflect the changes happening in China during that era. Sophia is in a dilemma with her relationship with Lin Jishi; she wonders whether she should give in to her feelings. Likewise, Chuanqing has trouble in his relation with his parents as they keep ridiculing him, with his father even physically abusing him. However, Sophia’s diary focuses on the changing role of women in the Chinese culture concerning modernity. It reveals that a woman has feelings and emotions that maybe does not concur with the society. It focuses on the modern Chinese woman who is freer, explores the moral standards put on women, and challenges the opinion that moral standards arise from the depiction of the female body. On the other hand, Jasmine Tea reviews on the role of a patriarchal figure in the raising of children; it highlights the division in Chinese culture between the classical patriarchy and the increased modernity. Point of view The narrative point of view of both literature works is both different and similar in their respective ways. The narrators are similar as they are in the search for understanding the events of their lives. Sophia is on a quest to find someone to love and understand her, which is similar to how Chuanqin is searching for a patriarchal figure to look up to as a mentor. Nevertheless, there is a difference in how both works are conveyed. ‘Miss Sophia’s Diary is written in a diary form that is highly subjective and allows the first-person point of view. In this scenario, it is a woman called Sophia, who is always questioning the suitability of her feelings concerning the social standards created for women. This style allows the reader the chance to accept Sophia as she is rather than who she should be. It indicates that internal conflict is allowable. Since Sophia is human, she can justly refuse genuine opinions of her behavior as a woman while still accepting her issues and insecurities. The narration in Sophia’s words and terms allows the reader to see her secret thoughts. Therefore, enables the reader to gain insight into her struggles with modernity and identity. Unlikely, Jasmine Tea is written in third-person narration with different characters. The author also switches point of view to that of another character, details their thoughts before going back to the main character. This style denies the reader the sympathy toward the protagonist over others in the literature. Through the point of view of all characters, we realize that each character is struggling and feel trapped by their complicated desires in the society whose culture is changing. Crisis of Identity In both works, there are conflicts of identity where the characters do not comprehend their surroundings. Sophia has a crisis of identity; she is isolated from the world because she feels that her surroundings do not understand her. She lives alone in an apartment, without attending any job or school, and thus occupies a space, both psychologically and physically, outside of any social structures in the cruel environment. She illustrates the fear of being denounced by a society that does not permit women to be sexually assertive. It is evident when she describes that she knows very well that the society has forbidden her to acquire what she requires to satisfy her desires, even if it would not hurt anybody (Ding, 17). Likewise, in Jasmine Tea, Chuanqin has internal conflicts of whether he is of worthiness. He views himself as inadequate both socially and physically. He is physically underdeveloped and half-deaf due to beatings from his father. He is also antisocial and hates his life at home because his parents always belittle him for his inadequacies and failures. Internal emotions There is the prevalence of strong conflicting emotions with the characters in both works. Sophia is in a dilemma between finding love and discerning what not love is. She questions what love is, but chose Ling Jishi over Weidi, who expresses his love for her, due to her physical attraction towards him. She states that happiness is not just being in possession of a lover, but it is two people who want nothing else than each other (Ding 14, 15). She has a conflict with her sexuality. She describes herself as sexually liberated but criticizes herself for desiring Ling Jishi, and is filled with self-hatred and guilt after their encounters. Similarly, Chuanqing does not comprehend love and feelings. A female classmate Danzhu, who views him as different from other boys, befriends him. Instead of being appreciative, he belittles himself and thinks she views him as she would her girlfriends. Life Difficulties The main characters in both works have encountered life difficulties that have contributed to some of the issues they are facing. Sophia has Tuberculosis and lives in a hospital with no hope of getting better. She is isolated and lonely as she left her family and is living alone. She is confused and struggles with self-identity that results in her struggle with love. Due to her illness, she cannot lead a normal life and did not have family support. Likewise, Chuanqing suffered a lot in his upbringing. His mother was dead, and he lived with his stepmother and opium smoking father who was physically abusive. They continuously downgraded him for his shortcomings, and due to his father’s beatings, he had become half-deaf. All these included with his parents’ unsuccessful marriage contributed to his psychological illness and disability in love. Setting Both stories are in an urban setting with more modernity and reveal the presence of western cultures. However, Sophia’s Diary is set in cosmopolitan Beijing that is affected by western cultures and published in 1927. It explores the female mentality and mind through Sophia in an urban setting. Whereas, Jasmine Tea is set on Hong Kong Island with rich and colorful specific details of life early in the 20th Century (Zhang 5). Struggle against Society The both works exhibit struggle against society. Sophia expresses the female desire and the moral predicaments of the modern woman. Sophia wonders why society cannot allow a woman to be sexually assertive, and her suffering represents many of the Chinese liberated women who during the 20th Century struggled against the contradictory notion of modern theories and political rights that claimed naturally women are less than men. Similarly, Chuanqin struggles with trying to get a patriarchal father but he is rejected. He is ashamed of his family background because he was not born out of the result of love between two people as the new morality of the society suggests. He continuously fantasies of creating his paradise with his companion and shows his possessive behavior. Cultural Shift in Modernity In both works, we view changes in the cultural aspects of the individuals in a society. The main characters have somehow adopted some features of the western culture. Sophia becomes a more sexually liberated woman, with openness about masturbation, lesbian experiences, and openness about her desires. She even has a lesbian relationship with Jianru, and tendencies in multiple events. She is sexually assertive to attract the attention of Ling Jishi. This says a lot about the changing culture in China. Similarly, In Jasmine Tea we see Chuanqin, who is lazy, he receives traditional education since childhood, but he scores low in Chinese literature class. Professor Yan scolds him and says that if all the youth in China were like him, China would have fallen long ago. This means that Chuanqin symbolizes the new Chinese class that has assimilated some Western features and is viewed as weaklings. They were abused and despised by the patriarchal regime that was old-styled. Mood Both works exhibit a sad mood, Sophia comes to terms with her illness and sees no chance of recovering, she is waiting for her death. She goes from low to high emotional levels with every entry, and thoughts of suicide and death keep reoccurring (Ding 5). Similarly, Jasmine Tea introduction illuminates the reader that what follows will be sad story related to Hong Kong. Chuanqing had a bad child upbringing that was associated with verbal and physical abuse from his parents. When he looks up to his mentor, he ends up being humiliated by him in front of the whole class (Zhang 13). His situation keeps worsening when at the and after beating Danzhu, he discovers that his parents are planning for his marriage. He comes to terms with the realization that he could not escape. Although they both depict a sad mood, Sophia exhibits rapid mood swings with her narration varying between optimism one day and despair the next. She has a chaotic personality. On the other hand, Jasmine Tea depicts a sad mood full of despair throughout the narrative. Chuanqin is a ruined youth and a wasted life without the hope of future salvation. He desperately tries to recover his ego, but the situation does not improve it only gets worse after he assaults Danzhu within an inch of her life. His seem doomed at the end as he contemplates on how he will face Danzhu and her father while his parents are arranging for a marriage (Zhang 16). Conclusion Both kinds of literature works reveal the effects of brought about by the clashing of two cultural beliefs. It led to confusion and rebellion with some people accepting other cultures while others stayed clear with the association of another culture. It is of importance for people to respect and tolerate other people cultures and beliefs. Rather than isolating each other, we should strive to learn other cultures to understand the motives behind peoples’ actions. Works Cited Zhang, Ailing. Jasmine Tea. New York, NY: New York Review Books, 2007. Print. Ding Ling. Miss Sophia’s Diary. Boston: Beacon Press, 1989. Print. Read More