Chinese Novel Gold Dust Dynasty - Book Report/Review Example

A Study of Chinese Novel "Gold Dust Dynasty" (jin fen shi jia A Study of Chinese Novel "Gold Dust Dynasty" (jin fen shi jia) Titus Rock Manickam Order No. 225210 28 May 2008 Table of Contents Thesis3 Introduction3 The New Ethos.4 Gold Dust Dynasty8 Chinese Women and Western Culture10 Traditional Women in China..10 The Chinese Women's Thought Pattern.12 The Chinese "New Women"..13 Women's Segregation.13 Should Women Work.................................................................................14 Traditionalism vs. Modernism14 Dilemma of the New Chinese Women.15 The Chinese Culture18 Limitations of the "New Women"19 Conclusion.20 Sources..23 A Study of Chinese Novel "Gold Dust Dynasty" (jin fen shi jia) Thesis The image of the new woman is shaped by cosmopolitan medicine. Introduction What happens when a beautiful girl marries into a rich family According to bedtime stories, the boy and the girl lived happily ever after. But if the couple happened to be living in pre-industrial China, married life was not so blissful, especially for the woman. Traditional married life and the interpretation of the women's physique and psychology by the physician, the superiors in her own family, her husband and in-laws, her society's and her politico-economic environment subjugated the women to a large extent. This had its impact on the woman's physique, psyche, mental and physical health conditions, and her place in the family order. The onus for treatment of different mental and physical weaknesses and ailments was squarely placed on the status of the woman's external and internal organs, and her relationships. So long as the dictates of traditional and cultural ethos prevailed there was a semblance of normalcy in the family and society. At any rate, the married woman in the traditional order did not have any option than follow the established guidelines on issues governing her pregnancy, post-partum period, and the rest of her life with her husband and in-laws. These issues were largely governed by family elders like the mother, mother-in-law and other elders in the two families. The woman had to acknowledge her dependence with submission and gratitude. The social and familial scenario in traditional China was a peculiar mix that favored family values and disciplined those that deviated from the established norms. Family issues such as respect and obeisance towards the elders, faithfulness, loyalty, etc. were symptomatically enjoined to health issues and ailments. Administration of family affairs was firmly held by the elders, especially elderly women. It was obligatory for a newly-married housewife to conduct herself with humility and respect towards the elders and received instructions on every family issue, including issues regarding pregnancy and conception, from her mother and mother-in-law. The New Ethos However, the emergence of the new woman in China in the early part of the 20th century was set to change the social and economical order and usher in an era of medicine and pharmacy primarily designated to augment beauty and health issues of the Chinese women. Under the influence of colonialists from the west and the churns of her own internal political turmoil resulting from external and internal factors and forces, the Chinese women were activated into shedding their traditional subordinate roles and emerge as a new and more forceful entity to make useful contributions to society and win security and freedom for themselves in the process. The compulsions for change far from being pre-meditated or negotiated came about in the form of a dynamic phenomenon without the aid of any particular individual, institution or movement. It did not meet with any opposition from the male population segment. On the contrary, the new Chinese woman had the silent blessings of the male on their search for the Hollywood star salubrity and appearance. And by the accounts of Gold Dust Dynasty it came with a good dose of introspection and deliberations. The event serves as a useful lesson of what the human mind is capable of against the backdrop of challenging odds at the highest social, political and economical levels. The human mind is conditioned largely by what we read, learn and are told. In the bygone era before the age of cause and effect began to take roots during the transitional period between the medieval and modern ages, the routine and the unusual or novel used to be predominantly scaled through the cynical and dismissive eyes of tradition and culture. It remained this way to the greater part of the time till the 19th century. The establishment of the industrial and information era, however, changed the trend and new methods of appraisal and conclusion became more favorable to changes for the better as and when opportunities presented themselves. The cosmopolitan medicine, a variant of the Western medicine, chose the best of the traditional medicine and the Western medicine and localized it for the new woman in China. It demonstrated the efficacy of modern medicine to serve the purposes of the new woman and the capability of the Chinese society to select the useful aspects of the Western culture and seclude its debilitating influences. This essentially set at odds the traditional and modern forces against each other and cleverly exploited by fundamental and marketing disciplines. The fundamental elements knew that they could not stop the modern women from pursuing their newly chosen way of life. The marketing gurus were aware that they had to sagaciously balance their thrust for modernity without overstepping on cultural sentiments. (Miriam Gross) The situation for the Chinese woman turned more complex in post-industrial era when a beautiful girl married into an affluent family. Here she found herself in company of other females who were her in-laws or maids or other employees. However, with the liberating features of the industrial economy and the enthusiastic coming into existence of the women's liberation movement, the hitherto undisputed supremacy of the man's role as head of the household came under scanner. The undisputed supremacy of the mother and the mother-in-law was consigned to history. Nonetheless, the new woman movement brought its own set of conflicts and problems. The new movement brought strengths, opportunities, weakness and threats of the new woman into sharp focus. She could use medicine and pharmacy to enhance her beauty, but she could choose to use it to win her man's favor or as a means to bargain with him. Then there was also confusion and conflict because of the men's promiscuity and women's demands for greater freedom and financial security. This was the turning point during the 1920s and 1930s when the first whiff of progress blew in under the influencing socio-economical factors from the west. Progress also gave rise to teething problems when Chinese women for the first time began to question their secondary roles and made inroads into the male bastions of corporate employment and business enterprises. The penchant for the Hollywood like appearance obsessed the Chinese elite. Affluent Chinese women turned to cosmopolitan medicines, pharmaceutical drugs, and cosmetics to acquire curvaceous body shapes, glowing complexion and radiant personality to vie with each other for the attention of men. The average woman, even if she was not endowed with good body shape or complexion had to emulate her wealthy counterparts by resorting to skin exposure and wearing Hollywood style dresses. Or else, she was left out as social misfit. The industrial era unleashed a sea change for women, particularly those with good educational background and/or hailing from affluent families. The new woman concept and scenario in China had cascading effects on family life, social and business outlook and made the overall environment conducive to meet modern global standards. It disrupted the normal family routine because the new woman had become assertive and emboldened to exercise option to divorce or separate if conditions so required. It created new social awareness about the unique needs and aspirations of women and their natural endowments best suited for successful business purposes. Needless to say, the first marketing segment to benefit from the new woman concept was the medical and pharmaceutical industry. By and large, the promotional activities arising from the new woman concept did more for the prosperity of the pharmaceutical industry than the welfare of women in China. Socially, the cause of women's emancipation and welfare received a shot in the arm for individual women who dared to venture out of her family's harassing dictates to pursue independent careers. Cosmopolitan medicine had the potential to help such women achieve personal turnaround from their role as simple housewives to glamorous staff officials. The paradigm shift in domestic and social systems and behavior due to the industrial interlude was so overwhelming that it spilled over from a domain managed, controlled and powered by men to the waiting arms of the female gender. The industrial dispensation and diaspora realized that female traits had potential in the scheme of things in business. The transitional flow of power from male to female in certain aspects of business where the latter held the upper hand caused some heartburn as it does even today among the males. However, the males learnt to adjust and accommodate the females with a pinch of salt. The bone of contention, wherever they existed, was found among the females themselves. Sir William Shakespeare's adage, 'Hell knows no fury like a woman scorned' resided within the portals of the feminine realms. Gold Dust Dynasty Zhang Henshui, in his novel Gold Dust Dynasty provides a kaleidoscopic view of the myriad viewpoints, conclusions, analyses that women exchange in different situations. Most of the time, the interpretations of the situations have to do with beauty and health, the favored topics of discussion for females. The interpretations are largely a quixotic mix of tradition, taboo and medicine. The noble elements of caring, affection and nursing are intrinsically attributed to women. Conversely, the meaner aspects of nagging, slandering and scandalizing also figure at the thresholds of the fairer sex. So the observations and opinions of women in general in Gold Dust Dynasty tend to reflect according to the nature of the circumstances and the ailment. Normally, they tend to be censorious against the victim. Traditional medical theories and interpretations in China are dependent on external, internal and cosmic factors of the woman's biology and her interactions with her husband. Serious medical practitioners are capable of correlating such factors gainfully with constant observations, study and applications. However, these factors also become ignoble tools of idle gossip in a circle of misinformed women. The traditional Chinese medicine distinguished the contrasts, differences and similarities in male and female physical features. The treatments of the female's emotional and physical ailments were factorized according to the combined organic, emotional and physical inputs of the woman and her husband or any other man intimately involved with her. The cosmopolitan medicine, on the other hand, provided the Chinese women the chance to put medicine to good use for recovery from illness and health care. Together with the women's liberation movement, cosmopolitan medicine, which was nothing but the Chinese version of western medicine, the scope for marketing health care medicines was quite bright. The feminist movement provided the ancient Chinese health system additional market in health and cosmetics. Having witnessed the tremendous gains notched by their western counterparts in health care, advertisements, business enterprises, and in almost every other area of economical interests, Chinese women's determination to emulate has been exemplary at individual levels, although it had to maintain low profile socially due to gender discrimination in a male dominated and discriminatory environment. The struggle for the new look Chinese woman was a genuine desire to win freedom, gain employment and social status through good health and well-maintained body shape by the use of cosmopolitan medicine. However, it was not easy to achieve full potential in a state controlled market. It was all the more daunting in the initial stages when the state was beset with more pressing issues and the country's sovereignty was at stake. In the 1920s and onwards, China was passing through traumatic times due to incursions by Japan and also internal strife between nationalist and socialist forces. Chinese Women and Western Culture It is difficult to study the traditional and the new Chinese women without reference to the influence of the western culture on China. Obviously the Chinese admired the western culture and they could not help admitting that the western medicine was effective and its systems and principles of marketing and research were superior in comparison to the interpretation or misinterpretation of the symptomatic diagnosis and administration of traditional medicines. They were also astutely aware of the huge business potential available with the use of the western methods of manufacturing, marketing and distributing medicines. (Analysis draft) Traditional Women in China Since time immemorial in predominantly rural China, parents decided who would best suit their daughters as spouse for a lifetime. The venerable elders possessed the authority and experience to pair the couple. The system worked like a clock and the two, hitherto total strangers, quite literally wrapped up to each other at the dictum of the venerable elders whether they liked it or not. Two complete strangers, most often without common interests, bid adieu to their own personal aspirations and found themselves bound to each other by the shackles of traditional customs. This trend continued unchallenged until the 1920s when the European colonials began to introduce the novel concept of industry and economy. This in turn had its impact on the social and familial orders, and even influenced the Chinese women. But local culture and society at large did not permit an easy and quick transformation. However, there may be times when love went wrong even in traditional arrangements. The affected man or woman began to look elsewhere for solace. It was easy for the men, but the women were not so fortunate. It was here that the "new woman" in China in the 1920s and 1930s began exploring options. The opportunity came with the dawn of the industrial era which impacted social and familial orders due to the industry's need for manpower consisting largely of male and inclusive of females as and when required. In the process, it impacted the status of women and family situations because till then women's duties were confined within the familial household. Exposure to colonialism brought a breath of fresh air to the traditional Chinese woman. Despite the drawback of western culture with its obsession for excessive freedom and exploitative manipulations for trading purposes in Afro-Asian countries, the bold and unobtrusive lifestyles of the western women challenged the Chinese traditional women to imbibe their positive aspects. It did not take long for Chinese women from affluent families to ape the western women's penchant for body exposure. Chinese women at the middle and lower levels of the social strata were expected to follow in the footsteps of their affluent counterparts or run the risk of seclusion. (Literature Review) The Chinese Women's Thought Pattern The female psyche is difficult to understand, and traditional arranged marriages are even more illogical. The couple remains strangers till they wed and are expected to accept each other without a question and start a family. In traditional terms, the Chinese woman is made aware of the uniqueness of her body in contrast to that of a man's physique. This uniqueness, however, does not denote anything superior or equality between the genders. Traditionally, the Chinese woman's physical status (yin) is counted as inferior to that of man (yang). In terms of cosmopolitan medicine which emanated from western medical concepts, the "new woman" of China must appear healthy and good looking. Otherwise, she is looked down upon by her spouse as well as society. Consequently, the perceptions governing health issues place high premium on use of cosmopolitan medicines. The individual Chinese woman's thinking and self-acceptance depends on the attitudes of her spouse as well as other women in her familial and social circles. Her health, personality and self-esteem swims or sinks on the positive or negative effects of their impressions. Nonetheless, it has provided the "new woman" in China the new option of separating from her husband in search of financial and personal independence through employment and self-actualization. (Analysis draft) The Chinese "New Woman" The "new woman" is no longer shy, meek, submissive and homely. She is not confined to the home kitchen either. She has come of age to fight for her rights, assert herself and face heavy odds, if need be. The "new woman" is equal to the male with regard to fashion, behavior, ambitions and endeavors. She is the tightly dressed, short haired entrepreneur capable of scaling and achieving success at personal and corporation levels. She is the cynosure of parties, pubs, functions, and business forums. She does not want to stay home, does not want to miss concerts, cinema shows and other social and entertainment activities. She has no hesitation in taking on men at each and every level. She is, unfortunately, become inure to her duties as housewife, as daughter, wife or mother. Her main ambition is to derive maximum pleasure and bounties from life. She is westernized in her appearance and discipline, and trained to mobilize her skills to organize and meet targets. She gets nannies to look after her children and cook her household meals. She is pre-occupied with her work and the latest fads. Women's segregation The traditional segregation of the genders is largely responsible for the social disadvantages suffered by the Chinese woman. The segregation was tilted in favor of the male. It left little for the female to look forward to in life except serve as submissive member in her own family and later after the nuptials, in the household of her in-laws. The influence of the Western culture has provided the "new woman" with enough grit and scope to experiment with emancipation and self-dependence. (Introduction draft) Should women work The proximity to the rich in the Jin family has given women sufficient exposure to work and the means to seek and achieve self-reliance. Girls with good education need not stay married if they find it incompatible. A good number of educated married women in the Jin family in Gold Dust Dynasty preferred to leave their husbands and in-laws and pursue a career with the help of the new woman concept. The role of the cosmopolitan medicine had a major stake in their preparation for the road ahead in the newly found ambition to work for their future goals. The attainable goals of financial independence and social dignity worked as cushion against harassment and ill-treatment from husbands and in-laws, and provided life long security against fear of desertion. (Network of Entrepreneurial Women) Traditionalism vs. Modernism The customs passed on from generation to generation in the Chinese family provided little scope for change or improvement. Basically, there was nothing wrong with the traditional system except when it came to gender issues when the women folk meekly surrendered to the stronger male's dictum. The medical views and taboos expressed by Leng's kinswomen were not really edifying for tradition, modernism or any other man or woman. The best notion about traditional customs and medicines was to retain the good and discard the non-essentials. (Introduction draft) Dilemma of the New Chinese Women The Chinese women faced another hurdle more intensely at the time Gold Dust Dynasty was being written. The Chinese medicine intrinsically draws on social behavior and interactions along with biological issues and these conclude the individual's reactions to medical treatments. (analysis draft) The result is a plethora of viewpoints, from lay as well as experienced sources, leaving room for all kinds of interpretations except the one sought for the well being and recovery of the patient. The Gold Dust Dynasty draws parallel from The Story of the Stone, but seeks to transpose to modern situations. The beautiful women of The Story of the Stone are cultured, classical and beautiful, but confined within the provision and care of the male-dominated environment. The women in the Gold Dusty Dynasty seek more freedom and prospects. The Jin family whose patriarch, President Jin, has a yen for beautiful women, witness migration of women whose dissatisfied married lives cause them to disengage themselves from the family they marry into and seek to pursue their goals elsewhere independently and through their own efforts. The women who leave the opulence of the Jin family are not only wives who have been lured into matrimonial alliance due to financial security and social status, but also concubines and maids. The treatment of the women by the males is also a decisive factor in the women's dilemma and disillusionment. The women in the household are subjected to impersonal, gruff and even violent treatment. In better times they are treated like toys. These alienate the women, expediting their quest for independence, respect and self-employment. The influence of uninhibited social outlook and progressive economy under colonialism add to the Chinese women's chances for better life outside. However, better economical status does not always ensure complete personal relief. Health plays a crucial role in the Chinese women's life, even it is the "new woman." Inadequate, improper, indifferent treatment by men-folk towards their sick spouses can still make life miserable for the latter. It is not only the erring husband but the attitude of the traditional Chinese women that make matters worse for the sick Chinese woman. If the husband is indifferent, the women are censorious. The idea of what makes a woman attractive to a male and the techniques to manipulate the weakness in men is not given any thought by any women in the Jin dynasty. There is, however, a general consensus on what constitutes beauty, the criteria of a beautiful woman, and what her man ought to be doing for her happiness. In the social scenario, the women from rich families tend to be more liberal and outspoken about the way they carry themselves. They are aware what makes heads turn towards them and embellish themselves accordingly in exposure and style. They are quite well informed about how to attract the male eyes and the dress fittings and the amount of pure, gleaming skin required to be shown for the purpose. They tend to go to great length to acquire herbal and cosmetic treatments for health purposes. No wonder beauty aids as a multi-billion dollar sunshine industry never ever sees a recession because it plays on the vanity of women to look cuter and more attractive to the opposite gender. There is little done to attempt physical exercises for better health purpose. Utmost consideration is shown to the facial features. This is what hits the male eyes first. Almost always the face is the one you first to get to look at and on the face they are the eyes that captivate the beholder and mesmerize the besotted male. A round face is the prettiest to look at. The one that is comparable to the luminescent moon: poet and pauper swoon over such wholesome features. The reality that moon at close quarters is a range of huge craters and an inhospitable environment without atmosphere is unheard of to these nubile ladies. Poets, lovers, lissome lasses and eligible bachelors, however, moon over the timeless beauty of the moon. It is worth considering what these "new woman" would have to say about Cleopatra whose beauty aroused passions and wars and not without her manipulative genius. The pink and yellow, apple-shaped features of a beautiful Chinese woman is exceptionally arresting. The New Cultural Movement in China which effectively provided the momentum for women's liberation as a distinct identity from the traditional one during the early decades of the 20th century lacked the verve for a metamorphic transformation capable of influencing men in power who still continued to treat both the traditional as well as the liberated women with similar chauvinism. Perhaps a powerful media could have helped. But then, even in the western world, media was in its infancy. Nonetheless, education and industry had made enough progress in the west and women gained individually and socially as a result. Western women were significantly active in missionary fields which provided them the impetus to influence education and economy. The Chinese Culture China, like other developing economies in Asia, has ancient history and culture. Culturally, the bonds in these nations are formidably strong and encompassing and they pervade every part of society socially, economically and politically. Such ramifications have become the breeding ground for fomenting unrest through fundamentalist forces and political leverages. They are nuisance to human rights, hamper the causes of freedom of expression and impose their version of movements such as the women's liberation. In China, however, the cultural aspect is neutralized by the socialist regime. It is further rendered ineffective by clever manipulation of the state by mixing medicine, health care, women's welfare and generation gap to successfully gag issues of independence and self-determination where they conflict with the administration and vested interests. Due to suppression of religion, manipulations by fundamental forces and lumpen elements are not as dominant as in democratic countries like India. However, there is no respite for freedom or feminist activists as the state effectively does the job of the fundamentalists through the administration. The "new women" in Gold Dust Dynasty appear to be in a dilemma about their true identity. Good looks and matrimonial or working association with wealthy families have not turned out to be quite the El Dorado for majority of these ladies seeking emancipation from their traditional shackles. Their counterparts in The Story of the Stone appear to lead more content lives within their own cultural and social inhibitions. The frustrations of the women married into the Jin family, or enjoined as maids or concubines to the family is the incomplete realization of their personal objectives of fulfillment and happiness in their roles as the emancipated women. Added to this, their desire to achieve and retain a well developed, good looking body is hampered due to intermittent illness and the incredulous interpretations dished out by their traditional counterparts in the story. One cannot but sympathize with these "new women" for their constant trials and tribulations. On the one hand, they have been inevitably and unequivocally drawn into a new emerging situation when the country was in transition from the sedentary traditional routine to a more demanding and prospective industrial era. On the other, they could only so much as attempt to perfect their physical appearance to meet the challenges, sacrificing the intellectual aspect at the altar of male dominance and traditional interpretations. There could not be a worse case of inferiority complex left to condemn itself one way or the other. Limitations of the "New Woman" The "new woman" in China is painfully aware that she has yet to go a long way to get anywhere close to her western counterpart. The oriental tradition and culture scoffed at and smothered the concept of unbridled emancipation and self-determination. The resourcefulness and dictatorial trends of wealth and power did not diminish with the coming of the new industrial era. On the contrary, they opened new avenues for manipulation and exploitation in the name of socio-economy and women's emancipation. The women who fled the Jin clan were not all "new women" in the sense that they desired emancipation. Some of them hurriedly exited at the first opportunity to pursue careers with more prospects and rights available to them. They did so after experiencing humiliation and assaults, and the possibility of getting caught in their attempt to flee. So the actual metamorphosis of the Chinese new women was not a smooth, systematic and organized transition. To the credit of the new emerging era, a good number of the stowaways did manage to secure jobs that accorded them better respectability and freedom. It gave them a fresh outlook and vision for the future. But they understood that the sources to get there substantially lay in the use of cosmopolitan medicine and pharmacy. There is no mention in the Gold Dust Dynasty that there was any attempt to acquire good body shape through a regimen in a gymnasium. (Introduction draft) Conclusion Gold Dust Dynasty has its share of bouquets and brickbats for Zhang Henshui. A writer in the oriental dispensation rarely gets the acclaim he or she deserves until the recognition comes from the West. Critics at home are divided in their opinion. But the leftists are unsparing. Gold Dust Dynasty, according to the leftists, is an old content in a new package. The leftists did not see anything worthwhile or of acclaim in the novel, and instead dubbed it "pernicious." However, others like Zhang Youluan and Yang Yi lauded the book as representing the true picture of the changes evolving in modern China. Nonetheless, some critics in the west too are of the opinion that Zhang Henshui has nothing new to offer. The unique feature in Gold Dust Dynasty is its relevance to modernization as it applies to the Chinese women in particular. The changing role for women at home, at work places, in society is synchronic with the changing times. The teething problems in the evolution are shown largely as inevitability due to traditional and cultural inadequacies. The fact that the women choose to pursue their own individual freedom and destiny regardless of any precedence to derive inspiration from highlights the unique identity and grit of the Chinese "new women." The changing systems and norms in economy and society themselves are not immune from so-called threats of westernization of the local culture. Zhang Henshui has succinctly factorized the role of women in changing environment in developing economies. The male actors in Gold Dust Dynasty present themselves as self indulgent, hypocritical personalities prone to self-gratifications and aggrandizements. They have no qualm about abandoning their women in search of greener pastures. Their pursuits of business and pleasure leave them little time to attend to familial obligations and noble refinements. They vent their anger and frustration at maids and concubines beholden to them and show no hesitation in resorting to physical abuse when they lose nerve. The state power centers also are also implicitly fatalists when it comes to women in rich families and live in the belief that nothing can be done to redeem the status quo for women. There is no self-esteem or pride in being a woman, traditional or otherwise, in the Jin household. Alas, the mandarins of power are characterless and, for all their much-vaunted power levels, are a docile lot, their militancy horribly misguided, being singularly directed against women emancipation. Sources: 225210_Analysis draft, Analysis of the Relationship between New Woman and Cosmopolitan Medicine. 225210_Introduction draft, New Women and Cosmopolitan Medicine in Gold Dust Dynasty. 225210_Literature Review draft. 225210_Methodology draft. Miriam Gross, The Invention of Modernity: Chinese Historians Help Tradition Fight Back! http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/miriamtradmodessay.htm. Network of Entrepreneurial Women, http://www.new-women.org. Read More