Modern Chinese Culture - Term Paper Example

Modern Chinese Culture Just like an adolescent youth goes through several stages prior to reaching puberty, the same case applies for China. China has had a long history especially under the imperial rule. However, the country slowly reached its puberty after long periods of struggles and fight towards attaining her independence and self-rule. This essay shall attempt to evaluate the metaphor of China’s comparison to an adolescent youth reaching the puberty stage in relation to the analysis of contemporary writers and artists. Writers and artists in early modern era have continually lived up to the meaning of the metaphor of China being an adolescent youth reaching puberty. As seen in the work of Dafu, a young Chinese man studying in Japan is drawn with self-esteem issues, distrust, fear, frustration, hypochondria and even solitude (31-55). This man can be related to China in the then period when the country was still caught in the conservative and customary way of life prior to modernization and westernization. China can then be related to the adolescent young man studying in Japan and was awaiting for the day when he would emancipate himself from the forms of “slavery” that were existent in the times. From Dafu’s work, China can be said to be in a state of confusion just like the modern Chinese man in Japan that was experiencing several clashes in his life and was in a fix whether to be liberalized or retain his old lifestyle (31-55). The new morals in China were against the old ways; thus, could not pave way for the novel ideologies in an easy way. China can also be said to have persons that were conspiring against its developments like the young man felt while in school. Additionally, in the same way, that the young man was on guard while in public and resented the Japanese, is the same way that China was experiencing development phases (Dafu 31-55). These confusing states are linked to the past but in the end, the young man was determined to overcome the past like China also did. The young man is a clear depiction of the fact that China also underwent lots of challenges, just as he endured mental, emotional and physical issues in an attempt to liberate itself. China can be said to in a state of sickness but would later be obsessed with the need to liberalize and fight to obtain change (Dafu 31-55). In the same way that an adolescent attains self fulfilment upon reaching puberty, China also attained her self fulfilment. The use of the metaphor is evoked by the new writers such as Shi Tiesheng and Yu Hua, Hu Sang amongst others in their writing about post-socialist China. In New Year’s Sacrifice (1956), a woman endures lots of suffering and the same impact her subsequent years. Lin’s wife is marginalized especially after her husband’s death, that made her become a second class citizen and less admirable by her community members. However, she was determined to lead her life even after kidnaping from her “family”. From the film, one can tell the traumatic events of this woman especially after the death of her second husband and her son, and the relation of her life to religious beliefs (New Year’s Sacrifice 1956). This story can be linked to China that had long held the ideologies that were held by this community. The traditional views can then be said to be the major hindrance to the progress of the society just like in the case of China that still held the traditional ideologies. The revolution helped overturn the old ideologies and revolutionize the society to embrace the western ideologies that would help develop the country. In Preface to Call to Arms, Xun explains the manner in which the social concerns evolved with the times (5). In post-socialist China, the problems that touched on health care were eradicated to some extent. There were inventions in the Chinese medicine that would see to a healthier nation. The then society, as Xun would describe, was a simple iron house that had no windows (Xun 5). This means that the persons inside would die of suffocation, and it is only through intervention that solutions would be found to such a society. China would then find solutions to its problems in an attempt to solve it previous problems. The “First Person” by Tiesheng presents yet another metaphor in regard to the development of China. Tiesheng explains the story of a man with a heart disease and struggles to take the stairs while moving up his apartment (1-17). He fantasizes on a couple that he meets and why they are separated by a wall. He envisages that the woman imagines that the man has an affair, but in the end he notices that the man is staring at a baby that they abandoned (Tiesheng 1-17). From the story one can tell that delusions exist in life, but not many facts lies beyond the fantasies. From Yu Hua’s work, the story can be said to have come of age as the story explains the problems faced by ordinary people especially when they transit to adulthood. In the story, a young man is initiated and reconciled with the world even with the absence of their father’s support. In the course of life, the young man rises in his individual subjectivity and takes his place in the world. The same case applies to China that began with an idealistic vision of the world like a child to a developing nation in comparison to the young hero that overcame all his hardships. Conclusively, the coming of age of the Chinese intellectuals have risen beyond their culture, time and even place in history. From the stories, novellas and films in question, China’s story has been explained through the use of symbols that explain the progressive transition into adulthood on the characters in question. The present day China can be also be indicated to have gone through various stages, in the same way that an adolescent does, to get to its present state. Works Cited Dafu, Yu. “Sinking”. In The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. Ed. Joseph S. M. Lau & Howard Goldblatt. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. 31-55. Print. Hsun, Lu. (Lu Xun).‘Preface to the First Collection of Short Stories, “Call to Arms”’. In Selected Stories of Lu Hsun. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1960. 1-6. Print. Hu, Sang, dir. New Year Sacrifice (based on Lu Xuns novel). Beijing Film Studio, 1956. Film. Tiesheng, Shi. “First Person” In Chairman Mao Would Not be Amused: Fiction from Todays China. Howard Goldblatt. NY: Grove Press, 1995. 1-17. Print. Yu, Hua. “On the Road at Eighteen.” In The Past and the Punishments. Hua, Yu. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996. 3-11. Print. Read More