Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China in Around the World

Oct 15, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, non-fiction, memoir, 2013-around-the-world, ultimate-reading-list, history, before-i-die

Wild Swans is the story of the author's family, the "three daughters" of the subtitle representing three generations. The first, Chang's grandmother, Yu-fang, was born in 1909 into a traditional Imperial China on the brink of great changes. Two years after her birth the centuries old Manchu dynasty came to an end and China became a republic. As a toddler, she was among the last women to endure the practice of crippling footbinding and as a young teen was virtually sold by her father to become a Wild Swans is the story of the author's family, the "three daughters" of the subtitle representing three generations. The first, Chang's grandmother, Yu-fang, was born in 1909 into a traditional Imperial China on the brink of great changes. Two years after her birth the centuries old Manchu dynasty came to an end and China became a republic. As a toddler, she was among the last women to endure the practice of crippling footbinding and as a young teen was virtually sold by her father to become a warlord's concubine. Her daughter, De-hong, in her teens worked for the Red Army resisting the Japanese occupation. She married an idealistic, uncorruptible communist who'd become a high-ranking official in Mao's People's Republic. That was the world Jung Chang was born into in 1951. One where a privileged life would largely isolate her from the effects of the man-made famine caused by the "Great Leap Forward" that took tens of millions of lives--but then came the Cultural Revolution. Her account is both farcical and heart-breaking. Mao, as she put it, was a man with a "metaphysical disregard for reality" and a "deep-seated contempt for human life." The consequences for the country, that was taught to regard him as an Emperor-God, was catastrophic.

I think, when it's done well--and this is done very well--that there's probably no better way to really absorb and become engrossed in history than through biography. It's one thing to be told the bare facts and statistics--or even told isolated stories about people. It's another to learn enough about a family that they become real people in your mind, then learn the details about how such events as the Japanese Occupation, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Great Famine and Cultural Revolution affected them. What happened to her father was particularly heart-breaking. But when I was moved to tears, it wasn't the suffering that undid me--but the later happiness given all that had come before. Through the story of Chang's family she's able to tell, vividly, movingly, engrossingly, the story of China in the 20th century. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 12, 2013 Suzanne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoir, biography, non-fiction, suzanne-s-chunkster-challenge, favorites, boxall-s-1001-list

Jung Chang was one of the first Chinese to be able to study in the West during the 1970′s, when China was finally opening its doors. What lay in China’s past, behind those closed doors, is what is presented in Wild Swans. It is the story of Jung Chang’s life as well as the life of her mother and grandmother, but really it’s about what happened to China during and since World War II.

I have read many, many non-fiction and historical fiction books about China, but the scope and detail of this book, Jung Chang was one of the first Chinese to be able to study in the West during the 1970′s, when China was finally opening its doors. What lay in China’s past, behind those closed doors, is what is presented in Wild Swans. It is the story of Jung Chang’s life as well as the life of her mother and grandmother, but really it’s about what happened to China during and since World War II.

I have read many, many non-fiction and historical fiction books about China, but the scope and detail of this book, made me truly understand what happened politically as well as socially.

During the days of the Japanese occupation, Jung Chang’s grandmother had been sold as a concubine to a Warlord. Upon his death she was set free and eventually married a kindly old doctor, who adopted Jung Chang’s mother and treated her as his own. The story continues as the Kuomintang fought the Communists and the author’s parents ended up on the winning side. But really, there were no winners for China, as they soon found out. All their ideology ended up supporting was a powerful few, who used ignorance, fear and class hatred to remain in power. Eventually, during the Cultural Revolution, even Jung Chang’s parents (high-ranking Communist officials that they were) became enemies of the state.

This book is so powerful. I found myself being haunted by lines in this book:

It seemed there was no escape from the Communists’ approbation of moral principles and noble sentiments.

I wonder if people realize that the political parties in the United States currently use these same tactics? They do not allow room to discuss policy and it’s possible effects. They are dividing, claiming that love of country is on one side or caring for the poor is on the other. They pit the working class against the corporate world and claim that capitalism is evil.

What this book tells us is that history is important. It tells us that everyone must be allowed a voice, and it especially tells us that we should hold our freedoms dearly. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review