Red Sorghum and Yellow River

I just finished Red Sorghum and I all I can say is I feel like I was impalled by a bayonet myself.  There was so much bloodshed (I bet that is what it was like during the Japanese War) that in many instances I had a hard time reading it.  However, quite a few things caught my attention in the book.  There is a scene in which Commander Yu is speaking to Five Troubles, a member of the Iron Society, about which the Nationalists and the Communists.  Both men believe that neither political group is a good one.  In fact, Five Troubles wants to reinstate an emperor because he believed that China continually flourished under one.  As a writer from the Fifth Generation, I believe Mo Yan is speaking after the Cultural Revolution.  Considering the nationalist party was not successful in their attempts at controlling China and had to flee to Taiwan, and the immense failure of the Communist party during the Cultural Revolution, the author is showing that many people did not care about either party.  The War over Japan was a uniting factor for many people, and Mao used it in his “Talks at Yan’an” as a uniting factor that artists should represent when making their art.  

Another interesting scene is at the very end, when the Communist Party is in control, I believe at some point during The Great Leap Foward, and one of the War veterans survived being bayoneted 18 times, but dies of hunger because he was not allowed to receive any more rations of grain.   

Yellow River appears to be more blatant in its attempt in showing the goodness of the communist party, especially for women.  The daughter wants to escape her marriage by joining the army.  She believes that she will be of especially good help because she can sing and therefore, motivate the army in continuing their tasks. 

I am glad that I have a few ideas to run with for paper number 1 though!

Economic Connection between Prostitutes and Other Chinese Groups

Through additional research, I have found that prostitutes are often linked with other groups; each in pursuit of economic prosperity.  Prostitutes would often work with gangs in China.  Gang members would select girls to work in Hong Kong for low wages to appeal to the locals, and when they returned back into the PRC, the gang members would take their money and then turn them into the authorities.  Gangs never had an issue finding new women to send to Hong Kong, because many females were interested in earning a quick dollar. 

In addition, I read a source about a college student who worked as a prostitute to make it through school.  She made more money as a prostitute than in any other job.  However, she worked in a hotel, in which her manager knew her other job, and would offer her out to clients.  She was often ranked as a number one because of her education.

My primary source also talks about working as a prostitute in a bowling alley.  It appears that many other businesses do not care about prostitution, especially if it provides them with further income.   Economic pursuit appears to be the main goal of many chinese, and they often do not care how they achieve their goals.  One source discussed the advantage of legalizing prostitution in China.  If prostitution was legal then the government would be able to not only regulate the amount of STDs spreading throughout the country, but also be able to control the amount of women doing it. 

Primary Source: “Time as Money: A Shenzhen Hooker”

The primary source tells me a lot about prostitutes in China.  Shenzhen was one of the original “special economic zones” in China.  It recounts a women who uses the movie theatre as her avenue to get men for business.  She is from the countryside therefore not worth as much as the women from Shanghai.  The women from Shanghai get better business because they can speak different languages, therefore, be able to work with a wider clientele. 

She discusses the different prices that she charges for different sexual activities.  Working as a prostitute is not her main job, she works in a factory as well, but does not get enough money working there to save anything.  When she first arrived she learned early about what to do and how to do it.  She discusses her worries about returning to the Hengyang countryside because no one will want her as a wife.  The longer she is a prostitute the less amount of money she will make because people will not believe that she does not have an STD.  In addition, prostitution is the type of job where you need your body to be young to make good money.  She describes it as “If your selling ginger, the older the better; if your trading *******, sell it young.  However, she does not want to stay in Shenzhen forever, she does eventually want to go home and settle down and get married.  According to her, she can become a virgin again for 500 yuan. 

 This narrative is not for the faint of heart.  It goes into graphic detail of the life of a hooker.  She, however, discusses the dangers in being a prostitute.  You can’t trust anyone, even your female friends because you can always be turned into the cops.  The woman knows that a hotel is a dangerous place to go, which is why she stays at the cinema in the booths.  If men decide they want to pay her for sex, then there are places they can go.  However, it is important for her to maintain her body image because it is her capital.  Her using the term capital to describe her body shows the changing economic system in China.  The idea of capital is related to capitalism, which during the Cultural Revolution was the enemy of Communism.

Barme, Gereme, “Time as Money: A Shenzhen Hooker” in China Candid: The People on the People’s Republic of China (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006).

Mao poster for Class 2/2

This photo came from http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/exhib/poster/PictPow2.html website.  I think that this poster encompasses the belief behind the cultural revolution.  Mao is in the forefront of this photo and looks very approving of the progress of the peasant farmers.  He is working alongside the peasant farmers as well showing that he believes that they are essential to the progress of the revolution.  However, this photo makes it appear that Mao spends a lot of time going into the countryside meeting with revolutionaries.  As we learned in class the other day, most revolutionaries never saw or heard Mao speak.  In addition, the poster shows the progress of the Cultural Revolution, because in the background there are, what appears to be, tractors which would mechanize the countryside.