| Title | : | Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 562 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1991 |
| Awards | : | NCR Book Award (1992), British Book Award (1993) |
An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving—and ultimately uplifting—detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China Reviews
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Wild Swans may well be the most depressing book I've ever read. Don't let that keep you from giving it a try, though, for by some strange mechanism, it also ranks among the most uplifting books I've read, chronicling as it does a courage, resilience and will to survive which are nothing short of riveting. I could sum the book up by saying it's the greatest ode to courage and resilience ever written, or that it's one of those rare books which make you despair of humanity and then go a long way towards restoring your faith in it, but no, I'm not going to leave it at that. I'm going to do this book justice, because damn it, it deserves it.
For those of you who missed the hype back in the early 1990s, Wild Swans is the true history of three generations of women living through the horrible nightmare that is modern Chinese history. One is the author herself, now a naturalised British citizen. The second is her mother, an earnest Communist who raised a large family at a time which was extremely bad for family life. The third is her grandmother, who was married off as a concubine to a warlord as a girl and lived to see her family suffer for this unfortunate connection again and again. Using these three extraordinary lives as her main focus, Jung Chang tells the history of China's even more extraordinary twentieth century, from the late Qing Dynasty in the first decade of the century to the relatively free 1980s, a period comprising the Republican era, the battle between the Kwomintang and the Communists, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. It's gripping stuff even for those who know their Chinese history, and it blew me away when I first read it halfway through my Chinese degree, making me wonder (for the first time but not the last) whether I really wanted to devote the rest of my life to China. It took me two more years to decide that I did not, but this book, whose memory has always stayed with me, played a large part in that decision. To this day, I vividly remember the horror I experienced when I read the long section about the Cultural Revolution. It brought alive the terror of that particular episode of Chinese history better than any other book I'd read, and it shocked me to my core.
While Wild Swans is largely about the three women mentioned above, the most interesting person in the book (I hesitate to call him a character as he was obviously a very real person) is the author's father, a high-ranking cadre who genuinely believed in the Communist ideals and strove all his life to implement them in daily life. At first, he is infuriating in his refusal to grant his wife and children the privileges to which they are entitled as his relatives (on the grounds that to do so would amount to nepotism and corruption, which is precisely what the Communists are supposed to be trying to eradicate), but as the story progresses, you realise that there is something quite heroic about Mr Chang -- that he is, in his daughter's words, 'a moral man living in a land that [is] a moral void'. By the time the Cultural Revolution rolls around the corner, you feel such admiration for him that you'd personally drag him away from the humiliations and beatings he receives for sticking to his guns if you could, to prevent him having to experience that loss of faith and dreams which is bound to follow. His is a tragedy with a capital T, and it's harrowing -- one of the most painful things I've read, and then some.
Yet for all the personal struggles described in the book (and there are many of them), the main struggling character of Wild Swans is China itself. Chang does a great job chronicling what J.G. Ballard called 'the brain-death of a nation', sharing historical facts in a way non-sinologists will understand and showing the cruelty and mercilessness inherent in the Chinese -- or should that be humanity in general? She does a marvellous job describing the panic and unpredictability of the early Cultural Revolution, when absolutely everybody could be denounced at the drop of a hat, and when pettiness and lust for power reigned. Along the road, she provides fascinating insights into Mao Zedong's selfishness and megalomania, and into the hypocrisy and incongruity of the movements he set in motion, which brutalised human relationships like nothing else ever has. And all these atrocities she juxtaposes with the integrity and courage of her parents and grandmother, who get through it all with some hope and optimism left intact. It's a riveting story, and Chang tells it well.
If I have any complaints about Wild Swans, they concern the first few chapters and the romanisation of names. The early parts of the book, which deal with events the author did not witness herself, feel a bit aloof and lifeless. (It gets better once Chang starts telling about her parents, and once she reaches the part of the story to which she herself was privy (the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution), the book becomes quite unputdownable.) As for the romanisation, I wish the publisher had hired an editor skilled in Pinyin, as Chang's spelling of Chinese names is all over the place (something non-sinologists won't notice, but which is an eyesore to me). These are minor flaws, though, which hardly detract from the overall quality of the book. Wild Swans is an intensely compelling read -- moving, unsettling and unforgettable. It should be compulsory reading for everyone remotely interested in China, or in history in general. -
Do you know who the President of China is? This might be a trick question.....
Isn’t it strange that most Americans don’t know the names of world leaders?
No time like the present to read this book! This week, CNN published this article:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/22/china/...
In the United States, 1 million people have died from COVID. In China, it is reported that less than 6,000 people died. Does this seem accurate? No. The Chinese government has a history of censorship. In The Great Chinese Famine, doctors were prohibited from listing starvation as a cause of death. The Chinese people deserve the truth, accurate information, not coverups.
And this review might get me killed, but if I'm not brave enough to speak up, who will?
Wild Swans is the true story of three generations of Chinese women: Jung Chang, her grandmother, and her mother. The book focuses on the time period 1909 to 1978.
Wild Swans doesn’t hold back. It has meticulous attention to details, not vague stories. We get to know the women, but we also learn about Chinese history, society, and the regimes at the time.
Wild Swans also talks about The Great Chinese Famine which occurred between 1958 and 1961. An estimated 15 to 55 million people died.
The book has extensive discussions of Communism and Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party at the time period covered during this book, both the positive and negative sides.
Some sections of this book were extremely heartbreaking. The huge disparity in women’s rights reminds me of the book, White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind.
Highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about other cultures or a bit more about Chinese history.
Please note that although the book has a cute name, Wild Swans, it is not a children’s book.
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At first I did not want to voice my opinion of this book since it cut so near to the bone and was such a profound shock to read in 1993. It was, however, the first book, after reading Isabelle Allende, that kept me awake for several weeks afterwards. No other book ever managed to achieve that.
It certainly is a depressing book, no beating around the bush about that, but also such a courageous introduction to a life of people shut away behind the veil of communism. My overall impression of the book was that it must have been equally painful for the author to write it as it was for her family, three generations of women, to endure the horrific takeover of Mao Tse Tung in China. As with all Communist rhetoric, so many noble promises were made to people, freedom of oppression being the biggest, and innocent poor people believed enough in the idea to die for it. Those who did not want to accept it, were killed as well - in their millions.
However, people such as Jung's father, who staunchly believed that it would bring change for the good, staggered back in horror when the first real implications of Communism hit their lives. Freedom was the first privilege to be revoked on all levels of human existence. All intellectuals( against the revolution) were either interned or killed. They all lost their jobs and their standing and their respect in society were publicly destroyed. They were declared enemies of the state.
The equalization of society also did not happen seamlessly and the population would soon find out what it really entailed. The educational- and health systems crashed completely. Expropriation of land was part of the plan. Landowners were brutally murdered, land-grabbing became the order of the day. Land redistribution soon led to the most staggering overgrazing and erosion of fertile land over millions of hectares. Large parts of China became an instant man-made desert. Poverty and famine increased substantially and exponentially. Thirty million people died of hunger alone, which was a well-kept secret for almost forty years.
Jung Chang writes on p166:
The narrative describes how an entire nation was terrorized, traumatized and intimidated into submission by various methods.Although the Communists were apposed to torture in theory and on principle, officials were told that they should not intervene if the peasant wished to vent their anger in passionate acts of revenge(against the farm owners).
People such as Jin were not just wealthy owners of land, but had wielded absolute and arbituary power, which they indulged in willfully, over the lives of the local population. They were called e-ba ( ferocious despots).
In some areas the killing extended to ordinary landlords, who were called 'stones' - obstacles to the revolution. Policy towards the 'stones' was: 'When in doubt, kill.
'My father thought this was wrong and told his subordinates and public meetings, that only those who, unquestionably had blood on their hands should be sentenced to death. In his reports to his superiors he repeatedly said that the Party should be careful with human lives, and that excessive executions would only harm the revolution. It was partly because many people like my father spoke up that in February 1948 the Communist leadership issued urgent instructions to stop the violent excesses.
Everybody living in a free country should read this book. The only way to understand real freedom is to get to know life when it is taken away - and almost always by the very same people who used the idea to win them over to a new dispensation.
Although it was an exhausting book to read, it opened the dark, horrible side of the so-called 'freedom-fighters' and communism to the world. It is written in such a way that the history lesson flows easily along the narrative, which was compelling. You need time for this book, and lots of courage. However, it was beautifully written. One of the best books I have ever read!
This book changed my life and my choice of books completely!
Listen to this
Podcast with the author about this book. -
(Book 165 from 1001 books) Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, Jung Chang
First published in 1991. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is a family history that spans a century, recounting the lives of three female generations in China, by Chinese writer Jung Chang. Wild Swans contains the biographies of her grandmother and her mother, then finally her own autobiography. An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: چهاردهم ماه سپتامبر سال2001میلادی
عنوان: قوهای وحشی؛ اثر: یانگ چانگ؛ مترجم: ابوالفضل ناصری؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، سازمان انتشارات گفتمان، سال1379، در701ص، مصور، عکس، شابک9646984185؛ موضوع سرگذشتنامه خانواده ای در چین از سال1876میلادی تا نخستین سال1991میلادی، ��ندگینامه ی خانوادگی از نویسندگان چین - سده 20م
رویدادهای اخیر «چین» و دنیای ناشناخته ی آن سرزمین است؛ نویسنده زندگی چهار نسل از خانواده خویش را در فاصله زمانی سال1876میلادی تا زمان انتشار کتاب، بازگو میکنند؛ هر چند نویسنده زندگی خانواده خود را محور اصلی داستان قرار داده، اما سرگذشت این افراد در بطن جامعه و اوضاع سیاسی روز بازگشایی شده است؛ فصل نخست کتاب شرحی از زمینههای اجتماعی و فرهنگی انقلاب کمونیستی «چین» است، اما در فصلهای دیگر توانایی نظام توتالیتری «مائو» زندگی مردم را سخت زیر فشار قرار میدهد و سایه ی ��همگین دولت بر همگی شئون زندگی آشکار میشود؛ به گونهای که تا خلوتترین زوایای زندگی خصوصی مردمان رسوخ میکند؛ بدین ترتیب، «قوهای وحشی» حکایت زندگی انسانهایی است که عشق میورزند، کوشش میکنند �� رنج میکشند، اما ناخرسندی و حسرت، فضای زندگیشان را غبارآلود کرده است...؛ در سال1992میلادی، کتاب «قوهای وحشی» برنده ی «جایزه ی ان.سی.آر» و پرفروشترین کتاب شد
درباره ی این کتاب گفته اند: (1. «مری ویسلی: امکان ندارد درمورد اهمیت این کتاب بتوان گزافه گویی کرد»؛ 2. «فیتزجرالد: کتابی کاملاً استثنایی و فوق العاده؛ یانگ چانگ، داستان پردازی کلاسیک است که اثر او ورای سنجشهای معمول به نظر میرسد»؛ 3. «مایکل ایگناتیف: کتابی قوهای وحشی، یک سال تمام فکر مرا به خود مشغول داشت؛ کتابی است فراموش ناشدنی»؛ 4. «ریچارد دهلر: افسونگر و حماسه ای فوقالعاده که از حقیقتی در تاریخ معاصر و از خاطرات خانوادگی سربرآورده است؛ بینشی یکتا از ساخت چین جدید و آثار جنگ و استبداد، بر سرنوشت یک چهارم از نژاد بشر»؛ 5. «کارولین مورهد: داستانی فوق العاده، شرح زندگی یک خانواده علیه هرج و مرج و مرگ و میر؛ ما در قرن کنونی کمتر شاهد چنین بیانی بوده ایم؛ قوهای وحشی، نگرشی است درباره ی نیرد مردم باعوامل نابکار و چگونه بودن کسانی که با وجود وحشت و ترور توانستند انسان بمانند، این کتاب استثنایی است»؛ 6. «جودیث شیپرو: اگر اندکترین تردیدی دربارهی زندگی مصیبتبار مردم چین در این قرن وجود داشت، این سرگذشت بیگمان آنرا از میان میبرد»؛ 7. «هولینگ ورتز»: استثنایی! یک کتاب واقعاً باشکوه!»؛ 8. «مارتین آمیس: این کتاب، یک زندگینامه ی خانوادگی است که فراخی یک دورهی جاویدان تاریخ اجتماعی را دربرمیگیرد»؛ 9. «هوارد چوا ایوان: درد و رنج پنهانمانده در تاریخ جدید چین را این کتاب، به گونه ای ژرف، دربرابر دید قرار داده است»؛ 10. «جی جی بالارد: بسیار تکاندهنده و منقلب کننده، تصویری فراموش ناشدنی از مرگ تفکر در یک ملت»؛ 11. «کارولین سی: قوهای وحشی، کتابی است افسونگر؛ این اثر به گونه ای شگفت انگیز جذاب است...»)؛ پایان نقلها
این تاریخ آرام و سنجیده را همانگونه که همگان میگویند، پس از آغاز خوانش نمیتوان آنرا زمین گذاشت
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 21/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 12/02/1401هجری خورشسیدی؛ ا. شربیانی -
الكتاب الوحيد الذي خطفني لعالمه ورفض رفضاً قاطعاً أن يشاركه أحد غيره بي .. عبثاً حاولت أن اقرأ كتاب آخر بنفس الوقت .. كلما هممت أجد كتاب البجعات ينظر إلي بحنين يعتصر قلبي فأعود مشتاقة إليه .. مستغربة من نفسي ومن صبري على 600 صفحة قرأتها على مهل في تسعة أيام دون ليالي .. كنت أترك الليل للتفكير بما أقرأه بالنهار وأتصور حجم المأساة التي يمكن لإنسان طبيعي أن يتحملها .. وأكاد أجزم أن الصينيين ليسوا طبيعيين ليتحملوا ألماً جسدياً ونفسياً وفكرياً بهذا الحجم وبهذه البشاعة ..
لن أتحدث عن تفاصيل الرواية .. لن أتحدث عن العادات الصينية القديمة المتخلّفة "كربط الأقدام" ولا عن الكوارث والمجاعات التي عانى منها الشعب بسبب الحكم الشيوعي للبلاد .. ولا عن الحجج غير المقنعة التي تذرع بها هذا الـ ماو والتي كان يدين بها أشخاصاّ بهدف التخلص منهم .. ولا عن سحقه للقديمات الأربعة : ( الأفكار القديمة والثقافة القديمة والأعراف القديمة والعادات القديمة) .. ولا عن الثورة الثقافية التي لا تمت للثقافة بصلة .. والتي في كل مرحلة من مراحلها الأربعة كان ماو يطلق أفكاراً تهدم الأفكار السابقة وكان الشعب كقطيع غنم يطبق دون أن يفهم .. سواء في فترة الحراس الحمر المراهقين، أو فترة المتمردين حين هجموا على أنصار الطريق الرأسمالي، أو فترة حروب الأجنحة بين المتمردين، أو عند إشاعة الإرهاب ووقف صراع الأجنحة وهي آخر مرحلة من مراحل الثورة الثقافية ..
"الثورة الثقافية" وحّشت العلاقات الإنسانية، وتسببت بتغريب عوائل لا تحصى. صـ527
لا أريد الحديث أكثر .. يجب أن يقرأها كل عربي مفتون بالصناعة الشرق آسيوية .. يجب أن يعرف أن النجاح أتى من رحم المعاناة .. وصعد على جثث أناس ضحايا وأبرياء .. ولن يجد صعوبة في القراءة لأنها كُتبت على يد فتاة عاشت الفترة لحظة بلحظة .. تحدثت ابتداءاً من حياة جدتها ثم استفاضت بالحديث عن المرحلة التي عاشت فيها أمها وكان لها نصيب الأسد .. وبالأخير تحدثت عن حياتها ومعاناتها أيام الثورة الثقافية بأسلوب سهل وبسيط وغير متكلّف ومشوّق .. والترجمة خدمت النص كثيراً
تقول في المقدمة:
أعترف بأني بكيت كثيراً في أيامي الأخيرة مع البجعات .. ثلث دموعي بسببها وثلثيه لأسباب أخرى صادفت حدوثها أثناء قرائتي لهذا الكتاب المختلف نوعاً وأسلوباً عن قراءاتي السابقة .. شكراً لكل من ساهم بتشجيعي على قراءة الكتاب إبتداءاً من البائع في دار الساقي وانتهاءاً بصديقات وأصدقاء القراءة الذين تشاركت وإياهم قراءة هذا الكتاب في صالون الجمعة .. -
“Father is close, Mother is close, but neither is as close as Chairman Mao.”
A fascinating description of one family's experiences of China's political upheavals across the 20th century, focusing on Jung Chang’s grandmother, mother, and then herself.
Although the family are fairly privileged much of the time, they still experience great hardships: being a Party member, or even Party official, was no guarantee of immunity from persecution and sometimes torture.
Hard to categorise - but don’t be daunted
It's part biography/autobiography and part a historical/ political/ psychological exposition of how Communist China came into being and how it maintained its hold on its citizens, even during extreme hardship, such as famine. However, it has the readability of a novel, eschewing sheer horror and dry history - quite an achievement.
This book can seem daunting because of its size, subject matter and fame, but it's actually a riveting read and although some of the content is harrowing, the writing style is very easy going. It is a complex story, but it is not confusing.
It's subtitled "Three daughters of China", but it’s a story for everyone. Strong women are in the foreground, but one of the most powerfully drawn characters is Jung Chang's father: born poor, largely self-educated, who loved literature, was a passionate and principled Communist (putting Party before family), rising to power as an official, but who couldn't cope when he saw his beliefs being violated in the name of the Party.
Contradictions inherent in the system
“They verbally attacked each other with Mao's quotations, making cynical use of his guru-like elusiveness - it was easy to select a quotation of Mao's to suit any situation, or even both sides of the same argument.”
Although I have read quite a few books about China, this one gets to the heart of the contradictions of The Party and how to brainwash a vast nation far better than many others. When Jung Chang subsequently wrote a biography of Mao, she'd already done much of the groundwork in Wild Swans.
Brutality and hypocrisy of various kinds are described, but it's some of the subtler hardships that were especially vivid. I find it extraordinary that strong family ties could coexist with couples not allowed to live together and an apparent casualness/resignation of children left to live with wet nurses, relatives or in boarding nurseries for years.
Image: Scene from The Red Detachment of Women, one of the Eight Model Operas of the Cultural Revolution (
Source.)
During the Cultural Revolution, which began when Jung Chan was a teenager, ignorance was glorified (even in universities) and beautiful artefacts destroyed; the family were expelled from the official compound and sent to live in rooms in an old mansion:
"Beauty was so despised that my family was sent to this lovely house as a punishment."
Unexpected levity
There is humour too: sending those studying English to a southern port to practise by talking to foreign sailors; not being able to rename a street whose sign was too high, and traffic chaos when it was decided that red was a positive colour so oughtn't to mean "stop"!
The extraordinary degree of organisation in some aspects of life and none in others aligned with my expectations, but also highlighted contradictions, such as being sent to "learn" from the peasants, with no guidance as to what was to be learnt, nor account of the peasants not wanting extra mouths attached to not very useful hands.
Flaws
The main problems are minor, but nonetheless irritating.
* Although the political history is explained very well, because it is also autobiographical, important events that didn't affect the family (such as the Long March) are barely mentioned and this is where its confused identity between biography and political text book are a weakness.
* People refer to others by relationship ("my mother", "my father's mother in law" etc), which is confusing when different characters talk about their relatives, without using names.
* Some passages sound clichéd; that is partly because I have read many other books on similar subjects, but it is also because at times the writing style actually is somewhat banal.
Nevertheless, this is an insightful, accessible, and enjoyable book.
Horror and hope
There are many horrors in this book (though generally not graphically described), but I didn't find it depressing: the indomitable spirit of many of the people, coupled with the fact I know Jung Chang is now happy and successful, give an air of hope.
Freedom?
China's people are still far from free, but having read this book and travelled round China in '92 and '08, the transformation is remarkable - and ongoing. It’s a crowded country, but also one of tranquil beauty.
Image: The calm of Shennong Stream (a tributary of the Yangtze), April 2008 -
'Cisnes salvajes' es el relato de la juventud de la autora, la historia de su madre y de su abuela, mujeres increíblemente valientes que tuvieron que pasar por el infierno de nacer en la China del siglo XX.
Creo que es uno de esos libros con los que es imposible no enfurecerse o llorar de rabia y tristeza por la crueldad e idiotez del ser humano. Por suerte el libro también está lleno de personas maravillosas.
No dejo de darle vueltas al hecho de que aún hoy la Historia de China y la dictadura de Mao siguen siendo grandes desconocidas y olvidadas por Occidente. Siempre que alguien piensa en el "gran villano" se acuerda de Hitler o Stalin pero todos olvidamos a Mao... su Revolución Cultural es una de las cosas más aterradoras que he leído en toda mi vida.
Y sí, 'Cisnes salvajes' es un libro denso al que hay que dedicarle su tiempo pero cada minuto de su lectura merece la pena... Aunque siempre me ha interesado la Historia de China, leer este libro me ha hecho comprender muchísimas cosas de ese enorme país y su cultura, y en fin, no puedo más que recomendarlo.
Y la resaca, señores, la resaca va a ser épica. -
"إذا كان لديك الحُب يكون حتى الماء العادي البارد حلو المذاق."
كلمات الجدة يو فانغ
كانت البداية في شهر مارس/آذار من عام 2013، -كان الفصل الأخير لي في الجامعة- تحديداً في مادة الأدب الفرنسي المُعاصر، طُلب منّا قراءة رواية من الأدب الفرانكوفوني لغايات الامتحانات، وهي "بلزاك والخياطة الصينية الصغيرة"للكاتب الصيني الفرنسي، داي سيجي، وأذكر وقتها بأنني تضايقت من هذا الاختيار، حيث كنت أريد رواية عصرية لسارتر مثلاً. وما أن شرعت بقرائتها، ذُهلت من الحقائق التي وقعت على رأسي كالصاعقة! وسمعت للمرة الأولى بمصطلح Réeducation، الذي يعني إعادة التأهيل أو التثقيف، ومصطلح La Révolution Culturelle الذي يعني الثورة الثقافية، وللمرة الأولى أيضاً اسمع بماو تسي تونغ، قائد الحزب الشيوعي الصيني! كنت أظن أن هذا كله من خيال الكاتب وحين بحثت ظهرت الحقائق أمامي كالصاعقة، وبدأت أدرك ملامح من تاريخ الصين الحديثة. وبعدها وقعت على ثلاثية التيار الجارف لبا جين، وهي رواية صينية أيضاً ولكن أحداثها تدور في الصين الإمبراطورية، وعادات العائلة المقدّسة وما إلى ذلك.
وظهرت أمامي بجعات برّية، هذه السيرة الروائية، التي تتناول تاريخ الصين في حياة ثلاث نساء. وكم كانت سعادتي غامرة حين استطعت للوصول لنسخة ورقية منها، ومن غير مبالغات، بقيت يوماً كاملاً -قبل أن اقرأها- حتضنها كطفلة صغيرها، وأشتم رائحة صفحاتها وأُملّي عيناي منها. ما إن بدأت بالصفحة الأولى منها حتى وقعت في أسر روعتها وسحرها، حيث البداية من الجدة يو فانغ التي ذكّرتني بجدتي الراحلة، وبسرد مفصّل لتاريخ الصين تحت الاحتلال الياباني، وعصر الجواري، واستعباد المرأة، وتقديس العائلة، والعادات الغريبة في الزواج والطعام والشراء والبيع وكل شيء تقريباً. وبعدها انتقلنا إلى الوالدة، وإلى حياة مليئة بالمغامرات والجرأة والإقدام، وإلى الصين بعد التحرر من الاحتلال الياباني، والصراع بين القوات الشيوعية والكومنتانغ، ووقعها في الحب، والانضمام إلى الحزب، والصراع من أجل الزوج والأطفال، ومن ثم إلى الابنة، الكاتبة، والحرس الأحمر، والثورة الثقافية، وعبادة ماو، وإعادة التأهيل في الجبال البعيدة، والصراع من أجل التعليم والسفر إلى الخارج.
وطوال قراءتي للسيرة، وتاريخ الحزب الشيوعي، كانت شخصية ونستون سميث من رواية 1984 لجورج أورويل، تَمثُل في مخيّلتي بشدّة وتقول لي: أنا حقيقي، ألم تريني في كل مواطن صيني تعرّض للتعذيب والقمع والاضطهاد من قبل الحزب! وشخصيات رواية مزرعة الحيوان لجورج أورويل أيضاً، تقول لي: أنظري كيف تتحوّل الثورات الشعبية إلى عبادة شخص معيّن فيصبح هو الإله المقدّس وتصبح كلماته دستوراً سماوياً وكل من يقول له لا يموت!
سيرة مليئة بالألم والموت والتضحيات! ملايين الموتى! ملايين المُعَذَّبين! الملايين من الأرواح البريئة التي قُتلت ظلماً! أنهار من الدموع والدماء! كيف تقرأ عن موت الدكتور شيا ولا بتكي! كيف ترى الجدة يو فانغ ولا تبكي! كيف ترى الأب تشانغ يذوي حتى الموت ولا يبكي! كيف يمكنك أن تقرأ هذا الكتاب ولا تبكي! إنّه باعتقادي لشيء مُحال!
ولكن يبقى الأمل حيّاً بحياة أفضل، وبالحُب الذي لا نحيا إلّا به، ولا بُدّ في النهاية أن يزول ليل الظلم وتشرق شمس الحُرّية والعدالة والإنسانية. ولتظهر هذه الشمس علينا أن نعمل ونناضل، وأن نتمسّك بكل ما لدينا من قوة، بالحُب الذي في قلوبنا، وفي الفكر السليم في عقولنا.
يا إلهي، كم أشعر بالعجز عن كتابة شيء يليق بهذه السيرة! ولكم وددت أن تستمر إلى ما لا نهاية، حيث شعرت فعلاً وكأنني في الصين، أجوب سهولها وأتسلّق جبالها الشاهقة، وأعبر أنهارها العظيمة.
أكتب كلماتي هذه الآن، والدموع تتساقط من عينيّ على الأوراق! وأشعر وكأني ودّعت طفلةً تعيش في أعماق روحي!
... -
ملحوظة: لا تحوي المراجعة أى حرق للأحداث،
فهذه الملحمة لا يمكن أن تختصر ولا حتى أن يشار لحدثٍ منها دون أن يترتب عليه ذكر الكثير من الأحداث المتعاقبة بعد الأول
قرأت هذه الرواية بعد 1984 لجورج أورويل، والآن فقط لا أتعجب وأندهش من قريحة أورويل التى جادت بمثلها رواية،
فإن الوضع الشيوعىّ فى ذلك الوقت لو استمر,,
ما كان ليفضى إلا لما كتبه أورويل
الكتابان أو الروايتان كلاهما وجهٌ للعملة نفسها؛ يُعكس فى أحدهما ما غُفل ذكره فى الآخر
****
لنفكر سويًا ماهى الصين؟؟ ومدى معلوماتى عنها؟
هى دولة كبرى فى جنوب شرق آسيا، يربو عدد سكانها على المليار نسمة
لهم شكل مميز لا تكاد تفرق أحدهم عن الآخر
كما انتشرت صناعاتهم الصينية على المدى الواسع جدًا، وتمتاز برخص ثمنها مقترنة بجودة أقل
هل نسيتُ شيئًا؟
نعم سور الصين العظيم
ماذا بعد؟
لا شىء أكثر
إذن اقرأي هذا الكتاب
هذه الملحمة الروائية التاريخية السياسية لكى تعرفي أكثر
من الصفحة الأولى يجذبك الكتاب يضعك فى الأحداث مباشرة
هامش صغير:
1.
أثار دهشتي قدرة الكاتبة على سرد وقائع مرت بها جدتها وأمها قبل أن تأتى للحياة ، وكذلك سردها لحياة أفراد عائلتها بالتزامن طوال الرواية كان مثار إعجاب، فهو سرد حيادى تمامًا لا تستدر الكاتبة فيه عطفك هى فقط تفرغ ذاكرتها، فلا يزورك إملال حتى فى تلك الفقرات التى تصف الوضع السياسى
2.
بما أنى لم أكن أعلم أى شىء عن الصين ، فحين تأتي القراءة الأولى عنها فى هذا الكتاب الحيادى فلأحمد الله كثيرًا ، لا مجال هنا للتزوير التاريخي أو حتى الساسى
3.
أيقنت أن الشعوب التى تثور هى أغبى الشعوب على مر التاريخ، وما أصاب قوم قط ذل وامتهان مبتذل فيهما إلّا أنهم ثاروا فملّكوا أمورهم من ليسوا على قدرها
4.
سؤال يفرض نفسه، ماذا لو أخفت حاشية ماو خبر موته كما أخفت نفرتيتي قديمًا خبر موت أمونحتب؟؟
يصعب التفكير فى مدى المأساة التى كانت ستستمر الصين فى معاناتها جراء هذا الموقف
5.
فليأخذ الله كل الطغاة أخذ عزيز مقتدر -
على الرغم من أن النصيب قذف بي مستنقع هذا العصر حيث انتمي لأمة مهزومة تعادي نفسها، إلا أن الحظ ترفق بي فلم يلق بي في غياهب دولة بوليسية، تحصي أنفاسي، وتتلصص على دخيلة نفسي ثم تتفنن في تحليل النوايا كي تبقيني عدوا محتملا طوال عمري. ولا تكتفي بذلك بل تفرض علي نمط مأكلي ومظهري وطريقتي في الحديث. وتمعن في كل ذلك حتى لا يبقى من حريتي وخصوصيتي شئ يستحق مشقة البقاء على قيد الحياة.
في هذا المجلد الضخم، تروي المتعصبة الماوية سابقا المهاجرة حاليا قصة الصين منذ الاحتلال الياباني حتى وفاة الزعيم الشيوعي ماو تسي تونج. من الجدة محظية الجنرال العسكري، مرورا بالأم الشيوعية الصميمة حتى الحفيدة الممزقة بين الولاء الأعمى والتأمل في الواقع، هنالك العديد من المآسي، بعض الانتصارات وكم هائل من العبر. ولأن الكتاب زاخر ولأن المحتوى قيم, فقد ارتأيت أن أسرد انطباعات عامة كونتها عن العمل وعن الأحداث التي يتضمنها.
حذرٌ أنا في قضية المصداقية والتحيز, لكنني وجدت نفسي منسجماً مع ماترويه يونغ تشانغ, أولاً لأنها وأهلها كانوا من مناضلي الشيوعية, والتحول الذي مرت به له خطواته المنطقية. أضف إلى ذلك أنها لم تهاجم المنظومة الشيوعية من أساسها وإنما بعض قياداتها وعلى رأسهم ماو. كما لم تنكر الإنجازات الجيدة التي حققها الشيوعيون في عهود الإنفتاح النسبي. لا يخفى على القارئ بغض الكاتبة لماو وسياسته وأفكاره, لكن من يلومها بعد قرائته لهذا الكتاب؟
ليس هناك شعب أحمق وشعب حاذق, الشعب يسير حيث توجهه, وينضح بما يُضخ فيه منذ مولده. فهؤلاء الصينيون, كانوا في حقبة ليست بالبعيدة, قطيعا من الفلاحين, يحكمهم أمراء الحرب, يستغلهم اليابانيون, ينهبم الكومنتانغ ثم تأتي حكومة ماو لتستعبدهم فكرياً. أما اليوم, فالعالم ينظر إليهم بعين الإحترام والإعجاب, وباعتراف الجميع باتت الأرض (تتكلم صيني). لذا لا تلق اللوم على شعبٍ, بل عليك بقياداته وإعلامه.
سواء في الصين أو في الروسيا, في اليمن الجنوبي أو عمان, يعيد التاريخ نفسه. تنشأ حركة شبابية ذات طابع نضالي يعطف على الفقراء, ويجتز أعناق الجشعين, يرنو إلى المساواة, ويعد الجماهير بالعدل. ما أن تنحسر الموجة الثورية ويستتب الحكم للشيوعيين/الاشتراكيين حتى تنشب بينهم الخلافات, تتناسل المجازر وتنشط الاعتقالات. هذا غير توسع الهوة بين الطبقة الحاكمة والشعب بعد أن كانت الهوة بين الأغنياء والفقراء. ترى هل تكمن المشكلة في المبدأ نفسه, أم في بعض من ينتمون إليه؟ لست أدري.
فترة المجاعة الكبرى للصين, أو (مجاعة ماو) كما يروق لبعض المؤرخين تسميتها, دامت قرابة الأربع سنوات, هلك فيها مايقارب الثلاثين مليون إنسان. خصصت الكاتبة قسماً لهذه الكارثة التي تعد من أفظع المجاعات في تاريخ البشرية. هناك وصف دقيق لأحوال البشر بالإضافة إلى توثيق أحداث مؤلمة. بينما كانت يونغ تمشي م�� أبيها وهي طفلة إذ لمحت هيكلاً بشرياً على هيئة فلاح مقبلاً نحوهم, وعندما أوشكوا على بلوغ موضعه سقط صريغ السغب أمام أعينهم. هناك آباء اعترفوا بالتهام أطفالهم, كما تم القبض على زوجين امتهنا خطف الأطفال ثم بيع لحومهم مقطعة على أنها لحم أرانب. لا يمكن تصديقه؟ أعتقد أن الجوع يفعل أكثر من ذلك.
اسوأ الديكتاتوريات هي تلك التي تودي بالعامة إلى عبادة الفرد, طاعته دون نقاش, تمجيد تفاهاته, تلميع اخطائه والخوف منه حتى بين المرء ونفسه. أذكر أحد الأخوة العرب أخبرني أنه تحدى زميلا له بالجامعة أن يشتم الرئيس (المفدى) داخل مبنى معين. كان ذلك المبنى مقفرا، نائيا لا يقطنه أحد ولما يتم الانتهاء من بنائه بعد. رفض زميله التحدي مهما كانت المكافئة، وهو يرتعش من مجرد الفكرة. تخيل أن تعيش في دولة عليك أن تؤدي فيها رقصات ولاء لحاكمها, ويطلب منك الاستشهاد بأقواله في كل حين, وأن تنبذ أمك وأباك إن اتضح أنهم ممن لا يكنون له الولاء.
ما إن تسلم وعيك حصرياً لإعلام بعينه, فأبشر بكمية السخف والإنحطاط الذي ستبلغه عقليتك. الأمر أشبه بأن تربط حبلاً حول مخك وتسلمه لطفل أخرق كي يلهو به. مثلاً, نشأ الأطفال الصينيون في عهد ماو على أن (وطنهم الاشتراكي جنة), وأن عليهم أن يحمدوا الله لأنهم أكثر حظاً من الأطفال في الدول الرأسمالية الذين لا يسعهم الذهاب إلى المدرسة بل يعملون في مهن وضيعة لإعالة أهاليهم. لن أبحر أكثر في هذا الجانب، ففي إعلامنا العربي من الأمثلة ما يفي بالغرض.
اكتفي بهذا القدر من الانطباعات, وهذا غيض من فيض. البجعات البرية عمل أدبي وتاريخي عظيم يبدو لي أنهم لم يكتب كدعاية سياسية. لم أجد فيه التعمق الكافي في الشخصيات لكن يمكن إغفال هذا الجانب فمن الصعب سبر غور الشخصيات مع كل هذا الكم من المعلومات التاريخية. راقت لي شخصية والد يونغ تشانغ كثيراً, هو أكثر من أعجبت به, وأشد من حزنت عليه. هو ذلك النوع من الرجال الذي لا ينحني للعواصف, ولا ينثني مع المغريات, هو الخاسر في النهاية دوماً لكنه الرابح الأك��ر. فخسارة اللعبة خير من خسارة المرء نفسه. -
Cisnes salvajes es una de esas historias épicas cuyo viaje no deja de sorprenderte. Es de esos libros que te enseñan muchas cosas y te educan en otras tantas. Y son esos libros los más importantes de leer. Siento que he aprendido mucho más de lo que ya sabía de la historia de la China moderna, de los últmo 100 años. Todas esas etapas de inestabilidad política, que se solapaban una tras otra, explicadas maravillosamente bien.
La historia se va a centrar en la vida de tres mujeres, una abuela nacida en 1909, una hija nacida en 1931 y una nieta, autora del relato, que nació en 1952. Un historia de tres grandes y poderosas mujeres a lo largo de tres generaciones, que tuvieron que sobrevivir a épocas de guerras constantes. La fortaleza de las tres me ha calado completamente.
Yu fan, la abuela, nace en una familia humilde, que vive con la expectativa de poder conseguir un buen matrimonio para su hija. El padre maltrata a su madre y es una cosa que apena a Yu fan desde su más tierna infancia. Logrará casarse con un gran general de Kuomintag, el general Xue. Aunque realmente solo se convertirá en una de sus concubinas. Condenada a pasar gran parte de su matrimonio sola, tendrá que luchar para mantener a su hija con ella. Enviudará, huirá, se enamorará y volverá a casarse, salvará a su madre del maltrato de su padre... Un sin fin de situaciones que la convierten en una mujer luchadora y adelantada a la época en la que vivió.
De hong, la madre, fruto de la primera relación de Yu fan, acabará siendo adoptada por el segundo marido de esta, un bondadoso médico llamado Xia. Poco a poco irá interesándose por el comunismo, hasta convertirse en una espía secreta. Esto le llevará a conocer a Shou yu, y ambos caerán rápidamente enamorados. Siendo ambos agentes, viviran muchas experiencias a lo largo de toda China, en nombre del comunismo. Juntos tendrán cinco hijos, y vivirán una de las peores épocas de la China moderna.
Por último, Jung, la hija y autora de la historia, nace como segunda hija y rápidamente desarrolla un amor por los libros. Con un caracter mucho más tranquilo que su abuela o su madre, no le quedará más remedio que luchar por conseguir manterner la vida de sus seres queridos. Además de ser la gran protagonista de uno de los eventos más interesantes ocurridos en China, la Revolución cultural.
Estas tres mujeres nos van a llevar de la mano a conocer todos los cambios políticos que se dieron en China en el último siglo. Comenzando con la invasión japonesa de China, la cual se extendió muchos años y acabó con el fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. El Kuomintang (el partido conservador) y el partido comunista de Mao, unieron fuerzas para lograr expulsar a los japoneses. Una vez esto conseguido, tuvo lugar la guerra civil entre ambas fuerzas para quedarse con el poder. Después de los destrozos provocados por los japoneses, el país tuvo que dividirse en dos para seguir batallando.
Aunque el Kuomintang resultó ganador inicialmente, ya que disponía de una mayor fuerza en número de personas, el comunismo aprendió a moverse en la sombra y logrando hacerse poco a poco con el apoyo de los campesinos, que en la mayoría de casos eran analfabetos. Finalmente los comunistas lograron expulsar de China al lider del partido conservador e implantar el Comunismo. Pero los años de felicidad donde todo parecía ir bien pronto caerán en el olvido, y es que Mao no es más que un niño jugando a ser Dios. Valiéndose de las denuncias entre propios vecinos, amigos o familiares, Mao convirtió a todos en enemigos. Nadie estaba a salvo, ya que cualquiera podía convertirse en víctima o verdugo. Años después, ante el miedo de perder poder, Mao dará comienzo a la Revolución Cultural.
Me han parecido muy interesantes muchas cosas, pero una de las que más ha destacado es la valentía de estas tres mujeres. Especialmente, la fortaleza de la madre en una época donde la individualidad de la persona no valía nada y si eras mujer, menos aún. Ella se movía para luchar por sus hijos, por su marido y por su madre, y no paraba hasta mantenerlos a salvo. ¡Vaya mujer!
También es muy interesante ver el comunismo desde los ojos de personajes que participaron activamente en él, que creían en él y como fueron cayendo en la decepción al descubrir lo que realmente era. Un caso muy obvio es el padre de la autora, un hombre de grandes valores, que anteponía esto a todo, y que finalmente cae en una profunda depresión al asumir el engaño.
Es una historia dura, pero espectacular. No es fácil de leer, porque es densa, pero te deja una sensación tan buena al acabarlo, que merece la pena el esfuerzo. Tengo la sensación de que he aprendido mucho, no solo históricamente hablando, también en cuanto a sentimientos humanos. Es muy interesante ver como actúan, y porque lo hacen así. Por ejemplo, Jung, explica muchas veces que pese a ir descubriendo poco a poco la mentira del comunismo, no conseguía tener un pensamiento que pusiera en duda a Mao, ya que este era considerado casi un Dios y su palabra no podía ni tan siquiera ponerse en duda. Los colegios solo educaban a sus alumnos en la enseñanza de Mao. Nada más era importante.
En fin, que podría estar meses hablando de este libro, porque es una joya enorme. Recomiendo muchísimo que todo el mundo lo lea. Especialmente a los que estén interesados en conocer la historia de China y quien disfrute de personajes femeninos que dejan huella. Sin duda, es de lo mejor que he leído este año. -
Please read this before you decide to review this book. And pardon me for my crappy English. I'll try my best to explain.
Now, you've read her side of the story. Here's my family side of the story.
I read this book couple years ago for my Contemporary Chinese History class, and it wasn't until recently when I skyped with my father and we came across a short discussion about this book, and I was able to make the connection. The Chinese version of this book holds a very different title, so my father and I had to compare the details to make sure that we were talking about the same book.
If you have finished the book, you'd remember in the Chapter where she talks about the red guards raided her classmate AI LING's home.
She wrote that Ai ling's father was a famous economist and the family lived in a nice house with a nice garden. In the chapter, if I remember this correctly, she talks about how the red guards had beaten Ai Ling's father, and Ai Ling, too. How she remembers that the family owns set of very exquisite snuff bottles and how they got taken by the red guards.
In the chapter, Chang describes herself as this innocent bystander, she heard the whole event couple days later from Ai ling and she was sad to see Ai ling hurt.
Well, only some of these were true.
Ai Ling's real name is Ai Lei, she's my great aunt, my father's big sister, the author's classmate when they were students at No'4 middle school of Chengdu when this all happened.
Jung Chang wasn't an innocent bystander, she didn't hear the raid about my family's house from my aunt. She was, in fact, one of the red guards who raided my family. She was there to announce the "big letter report" against my family and locked my family in the woodshed while the red guards raided the house. The snuff bottles are a set contains 400 different bottles made out of rare gems and metals. Those belong to my great grandfather and those were not the only thing got taken away that day. My grandfather, great aunt, and my father were beaten senselessly with belts and fists by the red guards before they locked them in the woodshed with the rest of the family.
I feel extremely uncomfortable about how she portrayed herself as the witness and the victim of the Cultural Revolution when the truth is that she had a very active role in it. It is sad to see the rest of the world sees this book as the most valuable document to study the Cultural Revolution when the author lied about such a crucial detail. It puts the reliability of the whole book in question.
Also, I am extremely angry as the descendant of the real victims of the Cultural Revolution. We, the real victims, the "black kind", lost everything in the so-called revolution when the author continued on studying in a prestigious school in Beijing and ended up in the UK. Now since she's outside the system, she writes a book about the system and deliberately left out the parts about herself. This is just not right.
If you question the reliability of my statement, I can assure that the story can be verified by numbers of her old middle school classmates, and also, my father. My family still lives in the house with a garden. Yes, it still exists, and it is over a hundred years old.
May the voice of the real victims of this revolution be heard.
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یک کتاب از هر کشور:۳. چین
چین برای من در چند کلمه ی ساده خلاصه میشد: جمعیت زیاد، تاریخ غنی، رشد اقتصادی، کمونیزم. این موضوعات کلی تمام اطلاعات من در مورد این قسمت وسیع از آسیا و مردمش بود. لحظهای که این کتاب رو تمام کردم می تونستم شاید پنج خط سر تیتر به اینها اضافه کنم و این نشانهی واضح تاثیر عمیق این کتابه. نشر این کتاب در ۱۹۹۱ برای اولین بار درهای بسته چین رو برای جهان باز کرد و در خود چین این کتاب همچنان ممنوعه به حساب میاد
کتاب در مورد چیه؟
یانگ چانگ نویسندهی کتاب سالها پس از ترک چین، یک تحقیق ده ساله انجام میده و حدود ۶۰ سال از تاریخ چین رو در قالب خاطرات سه نسل یعنی مادربزرگش، مادرش و خودش بازنویسی میکنه. از همین جا میتونید گستردگی و جالبی داستان رو متوجه بشید
مادربزرگی که در دنیای کاملا سنتی چین به دنیا میاد و به اجبار همخوابهی رسمی یک جنگسالار میشه. دخترش یک کمونیسته و با یک مقام رده بالای کمونیست ازدواج میکنه و در دوران مائو به کمپ کار اجباری فرستاده میشه. اما نوهاش در چین کمونیستی به دنیا میاد، در دیکتاتوری مائو بزرگ میشه، در کارخانه و مزرعه و به عنوان پزشک کار می کنه و در نهایت در لندن ساکن میشه
اوج داستان مربوط به زندگی خود نویسنده و مخصوصا سالهای پس از کودکیشه که در دوران انقلاب فرهنگی چین می گذره و روایتی عجیب از سالها دیکتاتوری در چین هست
چرا خواندنش مهمه؟
شباهت ها. اهمیت تاریخ خواندن یک طرف و اهمیت خواندن تاریخ دیکتاتوریای که به یک قدرت جهانی تبدیل میشه طرف دیگر. برای ما که با زندگی کردن در دیکتاتوریای که پشت پردهی اعتقاد مخفی شده آشناییم، بسیاری از تحولات چین در دورهای که کتاب بهش پرداخته، به طرز آزار دهندهای آشناست. وقتی این کتاب رو در تلخترین روزهای دی ماه ۹۸ میخواندم، انگار این درد بیش از حد مشترک بود و استراتژی مائو به عنوان یک رهبر دیکتاتور، انگار از کتاب مشترک دیکتاتورها برداشته شده بود. گاهی اوقات از شدت تشابه، اگر اسمها رو تغییر میدادم، انگار قسمتی از تاریخ معاصر ایران رو میخواندم
نقطه قوتش چیه؟
روایتروایت تاریخ توسط کسانی که تجربهش کردن. حسی که انگار به هر داستان تزریق میشه و باعث میشه که نتونی فراموشش کنی. تاریخی که فقط یک داستان دراز پر از اتفاقات مختلف نیست، بلکه تجربهی گروهی انسانهای واقعیایه که انقلاب میکنند، گرسنگی میکشند، افتخار میکنند، درد میکشند و زندگی میکنند.
نقطه ضعفش چیه؟
روایت تاریخ توسط کسانی که تجربه اش کردن. گاهی اوقات بین خاطره های مختلف گم میشی و خیلی از بخش ها داستان پراکنده به نظر میاد و به جای اینکه روال خطیش رو طی کنه، عقب و جلو میشه. در نهایت هم با وجود اینکه برای نوشتن کتاب تحقیق زیادی شده و توسط خیلی افراد تایید شده، باید این نکته رو در ذهنمون داشته باشیم که با تجربه و حافظه طرفیم
این کتاب برای کی خوبه؟
هرکسی که به تاریخ چین علاقمنده و حوصله داره! چون کتاب واقعاً طولانیه و همیشه هم سریع پیش نمیره. ولی اطلاعاتی که این کتاب میده، باید با یک تاریخ نسبتا معاصرتر یعنی از ۱۹۷۰ به بعد تکمیل بشه تا تصویر واضحتری از چین شکل بگیره و مخصوصاً درک کرد که چطور به نقطهای که الان هست رسیده
۹۸/۱۰/۲۵
کانال تلگرام ریویوها و دانلود کتابها
Maede's Books -
How far could Chinese patriarchy go in the early twentieth century to make the lives of women sheer humiliation and misery? Here in Wild Swans we have that question tidily answered. This is a tale of the lives of three generations of Chinese women: the author, her mother and her grandmother. Author Jung Chang's grandmother had her feet bound—a hideously painful process undertaken solely so that some man might one day find her lustworthy enough to take as a concubine. The years-long process of
foot binding—of smashing the toes with a rock and binding them under the sole of the foot—is thoroughly explained.
Author Chang's grandmother was thus encrippled and eventually traded off to a general of one of the factions vying for control of the country in 1920. All this so her wretch of a great-grandfather—Yang—could raise his own material status, buy land and accumulate concubines. I have read of stories purdah, the seraglio and Morman four-wiving, but never have I come across such a harrowing description of the degradation of women that I have found here.
Mind-numbing are the cruel stratagems of the concubines back at the family home to degrade Yang's first wife (Chang's great-grandmother) and freeze her out of her own home. I was aware of this social structure before through works by the writers
Jonathan Spence,
Anchee Min,
Nien Cheng,
Harry Wu and others, but never have I had such a vivid picture of how the first wife/concubine pecking order played out in the daily life of a Chinese family as I've had here. It is beyond belief.
Then in 1930, released from her bond of concubinage on the death of the general, the grandmother—whose name Yu fang translates as jade fragrant flowers—falls in love with a Manchu doctor, who is determined to marry her as his wife. This sends his large family into conniptions since it means Jade will have to be accorded reverence in line with the doctor 's strict Manchu standards of filial respect. And at 65 he is almost three times her age. Perhaps if it weren't for his wealth there would be less of a fuss, but a new wife has implications for the eventual distribution of his estate's assets. In protest one of his sons shoots himself dead. This act of greed—for the family is worried only about its own dispossession, nothing more—drives Dr Xia to divide his possessions among his sons and move to a shack on the outskirts of Jinzhou which is a cholera epidemic waiting to happen. Yet there, he and Jade and the author's mother find some happiness despite the fact that the doctor is penniless and must start at the bottom. And all of the above in the book's first 44 pages!
Next we learn of the horrors committed during the
Second Sino-Japanese War—the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, in which Jinzhou is located. Dr & Mrs Xia are able to save a friend from the Japanese by befriending the prison garroter, Dong, who promises them not to strangle the man fatally, only partially, so he'll look dead enough to be transported to the foul-smelling communal grave at the end of town. There, the Xias extract him from a tangle of bodies—he's still breathing—take him home and nurse him back to health. This man, Han-Chen, later goes to work for
Kuomintang intelligence where he procures a membership ID for Mrs Xia's son which allows him to avoid military service and keep working in the doctor's medicine shop where he's most needed. He even gets Dong a job. After the war there were so many saved by Dong from the Japanese reaper in this way that survivors pooled their monies and bought the former executioner a little house for his retirement. Heroism takes strange forms.
The Japanese were defeated in 1945 and the second and concluding portion of the
Chinese Civil War resumed. The author's mother now turns out to be this capable community organizer on the Communist side. She distributes propaganda. The Nationalist bigwigs are seen as corrupt and lacking discipline. The Communists were promising the populace things they would never deliver on, such as the retention of personal property. In Jinzhou, the author says, the Communists were perceived as innovators who would make the lives of the people better. Another sneaky thing the Communists did, while the Nationalists were busy fighting the Japanese, they intensified their propaganda and brought the people over to their side. Anyway, as you may know, neither side comes out smelling like a rose.
Need to finish -
At a conference dinner some time in the mid-90s, I found myself sitting next to this extremely impressive Chinese woman researcher - bunch of frequently cited publications, well-read in three languages, manages to look gorgeous as well. I cast around for something to say.
"I liked that Wild Swans book," I hazarded. "Do you know it?"
She looked at me scornfully. "Any Chinese woman could have written that!" she replied. "There are a hundred million stories just like it."
I must admit I had a little trouble believing her. But would Professor Fung have lied to me? That seems even less plausible. -
Wild Swans presents the story of three generations in the life of the author's family, which covers most of the 20th century, as well as the amazing social, political and economic changes occurring in China as a whole. We move from the portrait of a concubine with bound feet to a woman who worked alongside her Communist Party husband to bring Party ideals to fruition, then on to the granddaughter who is among the first of her generation to be allowed to leave the country to study.
Along the way, there are the classics of any family story,love and hate, birth and death, marriage with unimaginable struggles, and gradual worsening of life on a regular basis. The details should be read. Most of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s have some memory of hardships in China. We really didn't know and it is important to know about the history of China, from pre-Communist times to the present as it explains so much.
Highly recommended as a big step in education about China in the 20th century through a personal history.
Addendum: I plan to read the introduction to the 2003 edition as I've heard it adds some valuable insights to the intro and epilogue available in the original 1991 edition I own. -
اعتقد ان هذا المولف لايعد عملا روائيا اكثر منه عملا تشخيصيا لحالة سياسيه مر بها تاريخ الصين خلال القرن العشرين ، العمل يحكي قصة 3 اجيال تعاقبت على تاربخ الصين ، جيل الجدة الذي عاصر حقبة الامبرطورية الآيله الى السقوط آنذاك ، وبداية حكم الوطنيين ، وجيل الأم الذي عاصر نشأة وسقوط الجمهوريه الوطنيه وكذلك نشأة الحكومة الشيوعيه ، واخيرا جيل المؤلفه الذي عاصر جزءا من الحرب الاهليه بين الوطنيين والشيوعيين وبداية الحكم الشيوعي للصين وقصة الانتكاسات التي رافقت سياستي الطفره الى الامام والثوره الثقافيه ، ما ميز العمل ايضا هو توثيق تاريخ الصين سياسيا واجتماعيا حتى فترة الانفتاح على العالم الخارجي اي عام 1979 وهو العام الذي غادرت فيه الكاتبه بلادها نهائيا بعد حياة مريرة قضتها داخل الصين في ظل الحكم المزاجي لباني الصين الشيوعية الحديثة الزعيم ماو تسي تونج .
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One of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Not only do I feel I got an honest history of communist China, its story plays out like a novel - I never wanted to put it down. Chang excels at pulling it together for you - showing you the differences between her Grandmother's life, her mother's life and her own, moving chronologically in a manner that makes such good sense. I completely followed it despite my absolute dearth of knowledge on the subject of China. I wept with her and felt an almost physical pain at the loss of such an ancient culture during the Maoist regime. I live in such an "easy" world, with freedoms I don't even consider being thankful for. Reading her family's story makes me look with a different perspective at my own life and the community and culture in which I was raised. I want to tell everyone about it.”
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If you read only one book about twentieth century China, let this be the one. A mish-mash of personal memoir, family saga, history, feminist literature, and global and Chinese politics, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China covers it all vividly. The book covers the life of Jung Chang's grandmother, her mother, and herself over the course of a China that was constantly changing in response to the changing times and the challenges it was facing.
Chang starts off with her grandmother's story: a concubine to a feudal lord, she managed to escape to freedom with her daughter, Chang's mother, who, in turn, became a rebel and supported the communists. Chang herself appears to be the least rebellious of these three women, but that doesn't detract from her strength in facing the daily challenges of living in Communist China under Madman Mao.
One of the most interesting things I found about this book was how it seamlessly depicted the enormous changes that took place in within a hundred years. While the grandmother was fully immersed in traditional ways and superstitions, this gradually changed over the years. Another thing I really loved about this book is how Chang kept challenging the practice of Maoism by demanding why the status of women had not changed and why they were still subject to the old ideas and customs, despite the communist revolution. I loved how Chang managed to put her finger on the right places and ask the right questions.
While this book is a memoir of one single family, Chang makes the attempt to weave in the broader political and historical issues of the times wherever appropriate. This gives Wild Swans a much broader scope than most memoirs and provides a comprehensive understanding of Chinese history and politics over the last century. I really appreciated this as Chang has obviously taken the time to research many things and has managed to keep a distance between her own experiences and historical facts.
One last question that does remain to be answered: Why has China not eschewed Mao yet? It has been more than forty years since he died, and yet the official stance is one of reverence and deification. The idea apparently is that it would hurt the image of the Communist Party, but I genuinely fail to understand why. The best thing anyone can do is to show Mao in his full idiocy to the masses. But as it stands today, his body is preserved and revered. It's an insult to the entire country. I am not surprised Wild Swans is banned in China, as well as all of the other books by Chang.
If you have even a remote interest in China, Chinese people, Chinese history, or Chinese politics, this book is a must-read! -
Simply put, “Wild Swans” is a poor man’s
Life and Death in Shanghai.
Reason being that that while the initial chapters about
Jung Chang’s grandmother are informative and interesting as it gives us a peek into the life of people in Pre-Communist China; as the book progresses, Chang’s ignorance (as she was a little girl at that time) about the events happening around her becomes a permanent annoyance.
I am not saying that Chang was still ignorant about what happened in China during the “Great Leap Forward” and “The Cultural Revolution” after she grew up; she definitely knows her history, but it seems that she has tried her level best to hide that in her book.
She would write something like, "My dad was very sad about the things that were happening in China but for me it was very difficult to understand it at that time.” And then she would start talking about something else without even clarifying her point. Even with the benefit of hindsight, it seems that she never really wanted to write in detail about the causes, reactions and outcomes of the events like “The Cultural Revolution”.
Her book is what the title itself suggests, about three daughters of China, but it is only and only about the three daughters of China and I was expecting it to be a little more than that. Chang took her time to tell her story, 700 odd pages in all, so it’s only fair to expect her to write more about China’s history, but instead she chose to write about the flowers in the garden of the hospital where her father was being treated during the “Cultural Revolution”.
Even Mme Mao and her “Gang of Four”, the main perpetrators of “The Cultural Revolution”, gets only a passing mention.
As a biography, Wild Swans is a good book. But if you want to read a detailed history of “The Cultural Revolution” and of China at that time, read
Life and Death in Shanghai by
Nien Cheng instead of this book. In my opinion, ���Life and Death in Shanghai” is the best book written on “The Cultural Revolution” and also one of the best autobiographies ever written.
If you are going to read both the books (which I did), I suggest you start with “Wild Swans” first (which I didn’t), because if you read “Life and Death in Shanghai” before reading this book, chances are that you might end up appreciating “Wild Swans” much less than what you might have been predicting at the start. -
بجعات برية...رواية لا تقرأ مثلها كل يوم...
في الصين يطلق على أدب السيرة الذاتية ''شانخ خن ون شيو'' وترجمتها الحرفية ''أدب الجروح''...وفي هذه الرواية تجلت الجروح بكل آلامها...
بعد أن تحاشت التفكير في الصين التي خلفتها وراءها لعشر سنوات...و بعد أن أمسى الماضي أقل إيلاما...قررت يونغ شانغ أن تروي...
ولا عجب من حاجتها لتلك السنوات حتى تندفع ذاكرتها خارجة ...فبعد قراءة الرواية ألجمت كل حروفي عن التعبير عن كل ذلك الألم الذي تخللها...فكيف بمن عاش الحدث وكان جزءا منه؟؟!!
لست صينية بالتأكيد...ولكنني مع ذلك ممتنة لتلك الكاتبة التي وثقت التاريخ بتلك الموضوعية والجرأة والسلاسة ...رغم أنها كانت تحكي عن حيوات مرتبطة بها وبأسرتها في أصعب ظروف عاشتها الصين...
فمعها تعرفت للمرة ��لأولى على حقبة مهمة من تاريخ الصين... من عصر الجواري وتعدد الطبقات والنظام الاجتماعي الجائر إلى الشيوعية التي لم يسلم فيها المجتمع في بحثه عن الحرية من ظلم جديد...
وتعرفت على ماو وأحلامه غير الناضجة... والذي كان جنون العظمة والإرادة يتشابكان بسهولة في عقله...وعلى الثورة الثقافية التي ابتدعها...والتي دعا من خلالها لــ (سحق القديمات الأربع) ...الأفكار القديمة و الثقافة القديمة والأعراف القديمة و العادات القديمة...وباسمها تم تمزيق اللوحات الفنية...وحرقت الكتب...وضرب العديد من الكتاب والفنانين بمنتهى القسوة...وكل ما هو"قديم" تعرض للنهب...
وتعرفت من خلالها على الإنسان الصيني تحت كل تلك الضغوط التي شكلت منه إنسان الحاضر...والذي استطاع مع كل المعاناة أن ينظر للمستقبل...وبخطوات واسعة وإرادة عظيمة استطاع أن يشكّل صينا أكثر انفتاحا وإنصافا...
الصفحات الأخيرة جعلت وتيرة أنفاسي تعلو وتهبط مع إحساسي بانعتاق روح الكاتبة وانطلاقها نحو معانقة العالم...بعيدا عن ذلك الخوف الذي قيّدها لسنوات...وقيّدني مع كل حرف منها.
أخيرا...شكرا لصالون الجمعة...الذي جعل قراءة هذه الرواية أكثر متعة.
وشكرا لبنى... مراجعتك الجميلة للرواية صعّبت عليّ كتابة مراجعة ترقى لكلماتك!! -
Wild Swans is a candid and harrowing account of three remarkable Chinese women -grandmother, mother and daughter- but also gives us a very good picture of what China was like from the turn of the Century to the 1980's
We learn about the ancient culture of the Chinese which included much that was beautiful and some that seems cruel. We learn of the hope of so many Chinese that the overthrow of the Kuomintang would lead to a' just social order' but how it soon became clear that the worst excesses of the Kuomintang and those of Imperial China before that paled into insignificance compared to the hell on earth created by Mao's Chinese Communist Party
One is left aghast that a system can destroy even the most basic human instincts of decency and compassion while turning people into inhumane monsters totally possessed -as if by a demon - by a cruel and totally destructive system
It sends shivers down one's spine to realise that 'The Great Helmsman' Mao Ze Dong -who ranks with Hitler and Stalin as among the most evil men of the 20th century-had his image worn on T-shirts by 'progressive' students and youth in the west and these same young 'champions of equality' hung large pictures of Mao in their dormitory rooms .This at the same time as millions of Chinese were being slaughtered and physically and psychologically maimed on the orders of Mao and his Chinese Communist Party -as described in this book.
Today many in the West laud the economic 'reforms' towards a type of totalitarian 'capitalist' system but fail to remember that human rights have not improved at all and China is still a hideous and inhuman hell for hundreds of millions of its inhabitants. And the world turns a blind eye While we a re left asking how much longer the people of China will remain enslaved by their inhumane Communist masters. How Long?
But the book is also about the strength of the human spirit , about wonderful people-especially the three remarkable women who are the central characters of this book- as well as the cruel ones
It is a story of love and hate, strength and weakness , the beautiful and the ugly
But more than anything it is about how the human spirit can never in the end be crushed by cruelty, evil and tyranny -
Libro interesante, pero denso, donde proliferan personajes, fechas y lugares de China.
Una visión, desde el punto de vista de nuestra protagonista, de como vivió su familia todo este periodo histórico que arranca previo a la ascensión al poder de Mao.
A través de sus páginas, veremos el cambio -y la destrucción- de una cultura tradicional, basada en la familia y un sistema feudal, previo a la invasión de los japoneses, a un sistema completamente rígido y despersolalizado como el que implantó Mao, donde lo que prima es el partido y el culto a su persona. Una crítica feroz a una revolución comunista, que comenzó con loables principios para pasar a ser la "revolución -dictadura- de Mao", al control total, a la desinformación y manipulación con sus campañas de propaganda, a la destrucción de la cultura y defensa de la ignorancia con su "Revolución cultural", a sus grandes desaciertos político-económicos como el "Gran Salto Adelante" que llevaron a la muerte por inanición de decenas de millones de chinos a principios de los años 60. Una época oscura de grandes enfrentamientos, en la que el pueblo se convirtió en juez y verdugo de sus propios vecinos y compañeros, siempre bajo el temor y la presión de saber que los actos de uno/a tenían consecuencias sobre toda la familia.
Solo por todo lo que he aprendido de la historia de China me parece que ha valido la pena su lectura. Aunque sea la historia personal de Jung Chang y su famila, el trasfondo histórico está presente en el libro.
También tengo que decir que el primer cuarto de libro me costó mucho leerlo, no avanzaba, solo conseguía leer un par de capítulos al día. No sé si por el bombardeo constante de datos que intentaba asimilar, por el estilo de redacción o por la manía que acabé cogiendo a su abuelo y a su padre. En cuanto superé esa fase, no voy a decir que las páginas volaban, pero sí que te terminas de adaptar a la historia, se hace más interesante y se agiliza el ritmo de lectura.
Por todo ello:
Valoración: 7,25/10
Lectura: abril 2021 -
A family memoir that is both educating and moving. Wild Swans is quite successful in mixing personal history with national one. That being said, I have to say that it was the personal history that interested me the most. Getting to know a bit more about the more recent history of China was certainly welcome, but what really moved me were the personal stories of the three generation of women from the Swan family.
This is definitely one of those books that are hard to forget. The writing style is simple, straightforward and elegant. The narrative follows the lives of three Chinese women in chronological order and it is written by the youngest of them. I loved getting to know each one of them, but perhaps the grandmother the most. As I said, their life stories are written down in a chronological way starting with the grandmother, moving onto the daughter and finishing with the granddaughter. There is so much going on in this book, that I have a feeling it would be difficult to follow if the narrative wasn't chronological.
For me personally, Wild Swans was a page-turner but one of a touching and profound kind. One of the most amazing thing about this book for me is that it is a non-fiction. It is hard to believe at times that so much can happen. Yet, life is said to be stranger than fiction. Reading it, I kept thinking " Oh, this really happened!". Perhaps some aspects of this book are what could be called stylized autobiography and perhaps some parts were left out, but I personally don't care. I was quite happy with the book as it is and feel no need to question the author about the petty details or wonder if she perhaps changed some event to make it more favorable to her family. I know some readers expressed their doubts over her parents keeping out of communist purges but you know what? Memory is partly subjective and this is a memoir not a history book. I think we shouldn't question author so much. I truly believe that Jung Chang told her story (and those of two other generations of her family) in a truthful and honest way.
This is a memoir and a very personal one. Having read it, I felt as if I had established some kind of personal relationship with the narrator of the book. Perhaps it is because of the way the story is told, in a very simple way, very similar to the way friends tell their stories between themselves. I guess that the photographs play a role too. Being able to see the female protagonists of this memoir makes them seem even more real. This is certainly one of the most intimate memoirs I have ever read, perhaps even the most intimate one. There is something so honest about the narrative voice, one feels this authors doesn't want to hide anything. She writers about the good and the bad. To me it makes this book seem quite honest and objective.
The connection between female family members is at the center of the book and I like how the author focused on those family ties. You can feel the connection between family members and the love "the wild swans" feel for each other. The special and sometimes complex connection between a mother and a daughter is described honestly but warmly.
“When he asked my grandmother if she would mind being poor, she said she would be happy just to have her daughter and himself: 'If you have love, even plain water is sweet.”
Personally, this was one of the most emotionally engaging reading experiences. The range of emotions was great, at times I feared for the heroins of this book and at times I laughed at their ingenious actions. I felt bewildered, surprised, sad, melancholic, fascinated, amused and happy while I read this novel. I actually can't think of an emotion that I didn't experience.
There is a lot of historical and cultural information in this book. It would be an interesting read for anyone interested in Asian culture. If you enjoy reading this book, you'll found out a way to learn about modern history of China. The author is very critical towards some political figures (Mao) and towards the dark side of communism. Although I found this part of her writing interesting, it was the human aspect of the book that impressed me the most. I would go so far as to call this book an ode to women's spirit. -
I enjoyed this a lot. Okay, maybe "enjoyed" isn't the right word seeing as there is death, torture, misery and a lot of general unfairness... but it was a compulsively readable book that made me grateful that I was born in the time and place I was. And it was an interesting education on Chinese history, politics and culture.
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Η σύγχρονη ιστορία της Κίνας δοσμένη από ένα αυτοβιογραφικό πόνημα. Τρομερή η εξουσία του κατά τύπο κουμουνιστή Μάο (δικτάτορας επί της ουσίας) και ακόμα πιο τρομερή η νοοτροπία του σωστού Κινέζου κουμουνιστή. Εξαιρετικό και το πως άρχισαν σαν λαός να αλλάζουν αντιλήψεις απέναντι στον ηγέτη τους και τον τρόπο ζωής.
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This is a very rare book which has convinced thousands of its readers here at goodreads to give it the highest rating possible solely on the strength of the story in it. Those who look for unique writing styles, or breathtaking passages, memorable quotes, wordplays, or interesting new words will not find anything here. The author, who was born and who grew up in China, learned the rudiments of the English language when she was already a young adult. So she wrote this in an English which is just enough to communicate. No fanciful prose here.
For that, and only for that, one might say that this is not perfect and should therefore receive a less than perfect rating. After all, how can something like this be considered on par with those which are considered masterpieces both in content and style? And yet!
Compare, for instance, the starting phrase of this great classic "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens--
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair..."
with that of this family memoir by Jung Chang which simply goes--
"At the age of fifteen my grandmother became the concubine of a warlord general..."
and the vast difference can easily be felt: Dickens hints of trouble ahead, perhaps some deliberate, confusing ambiguities in the plot which would make his reader perplex and unsure whether it was the best or worst of times, yatata yatata; whereas Jung Chang hits the ground running, already telling a story in a fairy tale-like manner. The formerwarns you to proceed carefully and at your own risk, the latter invites you to sit on your mother's lap, a young child once more, so you may listen to a wonderful story about a once upon a time, about a warlord general and a very young girl who had bound feet, who became the warlord general's concubine, who had a daughter by him who, in turn, became an ardent communist later and was the mother of the author who had written this stupendous bestseller read by millions who finished reading it crying or at least misty-eyed.
This is also a living and breathing history. Chinese history seen from the ground where ordinary Chinese lived, from the pre-civil war years, the Japanese occupation, the birth of communist China, the years of the harebrained ideas of Mao Tse-tung where millions suffered and died, up to the early post-Mao era. Anyone who finishes reading this with even the barest minimum of attention can easily pretend to be an expert sinologist and could better appreciate that other 1001 memoir, Zhang Xianling's "Half of Man is Woman" and avoid the mistake of calling the Chinese camps then as "gulags." -
Όλη η σύγχρονη ιστορία της Κίνας μέσα από τις αναμνήσεις της συγγραφέως και της οικογένειάς της. Δεν μπορώ να χαρακτηρίσω επ' ουδενί το βιβλίο ως μυθιστόρημα, είναι καθαρά βιογραφικό. Ξεκινάει από τα ήθη και έθιμα που επικρατούσαν στις αρχές του αιώνα περιγράφοντας βασικά στοιχεία της ζωής της γιαγιάς της (μακάρι να ήταν πιο μεγάλο αυτό το κομμάτι) και συνεχίζει με την ιστορία των γονιών της και τη δική της περιγράφοντας τη ζωή τους κατά τη διάρκεια του κομμουνισμού στην Κίνα.
Αν και έχει πολλά ιστορικά γεγονότα μέσα καταφέρνει να είναι σε πολλά σημεία αρκετά συναισθηματικό. Επίσης μου άρεσε που με κάποιο τρόπο κατάφερε να με κάνει να καταλάβω τον τρόπο που "σκεφτόταν" και ενεργούσε ο Κινέζικος λαός τα χρόνια του Κομμουνισμού και την απόλυτη λατρεία προς τον ηγέτη τους, και το πώς σιγά- σιγά άρχισε να σκέφτεται διαφορετικά.
Είναι όμως δύσκολο βιβλίο και θέλει χρόνο και προσοχή- μου πήρε σχεδόν δύο βδομάδες να το τελειώσω, σχεδόν σε κάθε παράγραφο υπήρχαν προτάσεις που τις διάβαζα δύο και τρεις φορές.
