Wild Swans is a multi-generational romp through 20’th century Chinese history through the lives of 3 generations of women. For me, it helped solidify the effects of the tribulations that China experienced after the end of the emperor’s rule, giving theme human scope and context.
The book underscores how different the lives of these past 3 generations of women had been – going from an era of foot-binding and concubinage, to revolutionary ideals, and a sojourn to the west. However no matter how different the lives — the uniting thread is the women’s ability to deal with adversity: labor camps, secret tribunals, long marches under gunfire, forceful breakup of the family, re-education in the hinterlands.
A great deal of what this book instilled in me is the ability of the policies of one strongman to slowly submerge a nation into darkness. I can draw many parallels between the life and times of Mao to that of Stalin, Russia’s strongman. The rise from obscurity, the policies leading to famine, the personality cult, the purges and push into collectivization, and the thaw associated with each strongman’s demise. Unfortunately the experience of the generations of the Chang family are not unique within the context of China’s upheavals – and taking this idea further are similar to what was experienced under Stalin. Its no wonder the Sino-Soviet split was primarily a result of Mao being against the Soviet Union moving away from Stalin’s policies – the two had an affinity for one another. Just within my family the result of Stalinism was going from millionaire to gulag pauper after nationalization of assets, death from starvation in what is considered the bread basket of the Ukraine, the black car taking whisking loved ones away under cover of night. In a smiliar way the victims still held out an isolated hope that the great spider drawing them into the web perhaps was not responsible, translating in the belief in the power of the personal letter to “him”. But I digress …
When such experiences are common it changes the face of a nation, how generations perceive the world around them. The book does outline that on a positive note repression while bottling productivity, creativity and free thought cannot keep the genie in the bottle forever, as evidenced by the current rise of both nations.
The rich tapestry of the Chang family’s history is presented in a truly engrossing and realistic fashion. As you can see it made me relive some of the events in my own family’s history. The women are portrayed as sources of strength – a grandmother that treks through half of China with bound feet to see her daughter, the mother who while in a labor camp loses none of her spirit and resourcefulness, the daughter who deprived of a true education rises to a vocation of a doctor. Each is limited by what society lets them do, but rise above it. In fact the women seem stronger and more realistic than the men – faced with forced labor the father goes mad. The ordeal takes his mental and physical strength. “His old energy and sharpness had disappeared. Watching him shuffling along, stopping to rest every now and then, battling with his mind as well as his legs”(P 456) He is punished for “being a moral man living in a land that was a moral void”(p 457).
The frank descriptions of the family trials can be hard to stomach. “When he arrived at the office, he was immediately yanked into a small room, where half a dozen of large strangers set upon him. They punched and kicked the lower part of his body, especially his genitals. They forced water down his mouth and nose and then stamped on his stomach. Water, blood, and excreta were pressed out” (p 356). Not all travails are put upon them forcibly — you see the influence of society and the fact that the desire to conform, can be as strong as any strongman. Pre-communist China was not exactly a great place either. The first few pages talk about the practice of foot binding, which on description is the worst torture inflicted upon daughter by mother with the best intentions. “[Her mother] first wound a piece of white cloth about twenty feet long around her feet, bending all the toes except the big toe inward and under the sole. Then she placed a large stone on top to crush the arch. My grandmother screamed in agony and begged her to stop. My grandmother passed out repeatedly from the pain…Not only was the sight of women hobbling on tiny feet considered erotic; men would also get excited playing with bound feet… The binding could only be temporarily loosened at night in bed … Men rarely saw naked bound feet, which were usually covered in rotting flesh and stank when the bindings were removed.” (p 25)
Not to dwell on the foot binding, but it does underscore the one positive influence of communism – the equalization of women. While the grandmother is forced to become a warlord’s concubine and is held prisoner while her daughter is taken away, the Communist daughter marries for love, although she must put Mao before husband and family she enjoys significantly more freedom until she is put in a labor camp, the daughter fares better — she remains unmarried at 25 of her own choice and leaves to study abroad. In times of great change the difference in the lives between two generations are like night and day.
The book also gives one appreciation for the resilience of Chinese culture. The cultural revolution, was a concerted effort to wipe away the four olds, such things as family bonds, and even love. “Father is close, Mother is close, but Mao is closer”. Books are burnt, antiques smashed, families sent to remote parts of the country, yet you can see in the end the family bond survives. The tie to the homeland while painful to the author, is still one that binds.
Mme. Mao on love. “When a Vietnamese army song and dance troupe came to China, those few who were lucky enough to see it were told by the announcer that a song which mentioned love “is about the comradely affection between two comrades” “(p 488).
One result of repression of free speech is the immergence of irony. Russian culture is tinged in this, when what you thought could not be said it produced this jaded form of humor to cope with the grimness of reality. “Deep fry the persecutors of premier Zhou…Your monthly ration of cooking oil is only 3.2 ounces. What would you use to fry these persecutors with?”(p 491)
The book ends on a positive yet not entirely upbeat note with a bright yet ominously uncertain future. The author describes how the China of today is vastly distant from its shadowy red past. Yet the red sparks are still bound to ignite events like Tiannamen Square. Wherein lies the dichotomy that is China. “the course of liberalization is irreversible. Yet Mao’s face still stares down on Tiannamen square” ( 508)