Introduction
Close readings of the short stories “Xiaoxiao,” by Shen Congwen and “The Wounded,” by Lu Xinhua reveal interesting insights into the lives of Chinese women in rural China before the Communist Revolution (“Xiaoxiao” was published in 1929) and in village life post Cultural Revolution (“the Wounded” takes place in 1978). The main characters, Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiaohua, are both young women (Xiaoxiao is truly a girl) rubbing up against but not overtly questioning the cultural and political roles assigned to them. Confucian values come into conflict with the principles of Chairman Mao; and women’s roles are reinvented. In both stories we see these protagonists take brief but meaningful glimpses into mirrors in quests for self-identity.
Xiaoxiao is a decidedly country girl. At one point in the story she peers into a pond while passing by (no mirrors being available in her rural household) to consider how she might look without her long braid. The “coeds,” female scholars on holiday in her village, have made a fashion of being braid less. Xiaoxiao looks to see who she might have been if circumstances were different, or who she might become.
Wang Xiaohua in “The Wounded” clandestinely examines her face in a mirror while on a train home to her estranged mother. She wants to view herself as her mother will. She is curious to see who she has become in nine years away from home.
For both characters identity is a tricky, sometimes shifting, notion. Each’s angst about who she is is tied up in the binds of culture, gender, and history. As teachers in a small all-girls high school particularly welcoming to students of diverse ethnic backgrounds, we encounter many young women seeking to better know themselves as part of and apart from the ties of their various cultures. Self-identity is a uniquely fascinating topic for growing girls. Almost all genuine inquiry at this age can be traced back to the question: Who am I? We feel the quest for identity is well served by a combined study of literature and history. We read stories of others to better know ourselves; and we study history to find our roots in place and time.
We believe a pairing of history and literature is particularly beneficial in the reading of these two stories. Knowing the historical context places the reader more firmly in the minds of these two interesting characters; and once there, our students should find themselves further along their own quests for self-knowledge. This lesson plan seeks to provide a mix of relevant historical background and techniques for close reading of the stories with accompanying activities geared to fully engage the class and satisfy all learning styles. We envision a full treatment of these stories to sustain perhaps four to five class periods.
Plot Summaries
“Xiaoxiao,”
by Shen Congwen, trans. by Eugene Chen Eoyang
Raised
by her uncle in rural
“The
Wounded,” by Lu Xinhua, trans. by Kenneth J. DeWoskin
Set in the post Cultural Revolution period, “The Wounded” deals with the physical and emotional scars left on families caught up in this movement and its aftermath. Wang Xiaohua abandoned her mother nine years ago in order to shore up her own allegiance to the Communist Party. Her mother was accused of being a traitor by the Gang of Four, and her sullied name affects Wang Xiaohua’s prospects. After moving away, Wang Xiaohua finds acceptance with her Communist Youth League friends, but still faces certain limitations professionally, politically, and personally because of her mother’s situation. Learning that her mother is gravely ill, and that her name has been cleared, Wang Xiaohua takes a train back home, hoping for reconciliation. Filial piety has proven stronger that politics in the end. Alas, she is too late. Her mother dies without seeing her, and Wang Xiaohua is left with bitter regret and lingering questions about her own choices.
Discussion Questions about the
Stories, Based on Close-Reading Journals
Rather
than traditional reading-comprehension questions on the stories, this lesson
plan seeks to promote active reading and to elicit student generated questions
and comments as they carefully read. In
a smallish class, students should be seated in a circle at desks with the text
at hand. One student would begin reading
“Xiaoxiao” aloud, but could be stopped at any time by a question or comment
from the circle; or the student may care to make a comment or pose a question
herself. When this first reader is tired
of reading, she will turn the reading aloud over to another student, and so
on. This could go on for 20 – 30
minutes. In a larger class, it might be
better to structure this activity as a partnered reading—with pairs of students
sitting together and taking turns reading aloud with the same stop-and-start
method. Students would then be
instructed to finish reading “Xiaoxiao” for homework, with a pen and reading
journal at hand. Journal responses
should include questions about the text; comments on character, plot, setting,
etc; quotations from the text that seemed meaningful, striking or curious;
unknown vocabulary words and their definitions after consulting a dictionary;
recognition of themes or other literary motifs; and comments on what the reader
might do or feel if facing the circumstances encountered by the characters. All
notations should include the appropriate page reference, as they will be the
basis for class discussion the next day. These journal responses would be
quickly graded (check plus, check, or check minus) in class, based on detail
and length of responses. The same
process would be followed for the reading of the second story, “The
Wounded.” What follows are sample
questions and comments, with some answers, based on one reader’s response to
the text.
Sample Journal Response to
“Xiaoxiao”
p. 97
Vocab: palanquin:
A covered litter carried on poles on the shoulders of two to four
men.
Obviously arranged marriages are the cultural norm.
“For her, marriage meant simply a
transfer from one family to another.” Quote
shows how Xiaoxiao feels like a possession of these families, that the decision
is out of her hands, and that she is essentially accepting of her situation of
being married at age 11.
That she is to have a 2-year-old husband is a bit of a surprise.
p. 98
Xiaoxiao seems to be more a babysitter than a wife.
“Those who do nothing at all but
play / Wind up with bad dreams at end of day.”
Quote is an indication of cultural values—productivity is valued; all
else is considered nonsense. Xx is
considered a dreamer.
p. 99
“That was a real treat.” Quote describes Xiaoxiao’s first look at
sunflowers in the a.m., a simple luxury.
Xx seems to notice beauty and care about pleasure—in this way she is
counter-cultural.
“To speak of summer nights is to
dream.” Quote hints that narrator is
like Xx, a dreamer.
Vocab: mugwort:
cannot find word in dictionary, must be an herb (like
Coeds are different. They wear their hair differently. “Well, in a word, everything seemed out of
place with them.” Quote indicates
that this difference is viewed negatively.
p. 100
Xiaoxiao is said to be like a coed—she doesn’t fit in.
“Actually, Xiaoxiao had no idea
what was wrong with being a coed.” Quote
shows that Xx relates to the coeds and doesn’t share all the values of her
community.
Coeds are educated city-dweller, come to country for vacation.
Vocab: innocuous: harmless
In the country cars are known as motorized boxes, an apt description.
“They don’t tend cattle themselves,
but they’ll drink cow’s milk and sheep’s milk like a little calves and little
lambs; the milk they buy is canned.” Shows
how the farmer feels about the coeds, who live off the land but don’t work
it. The products they consume come from
the land, but seem not to, as they are canned.
p. 101
“In a word, everything about them
is weird, totally different from the lives of farmers, and some of their
goings-on are not to be believed.” Expresses
disdain, disapproval and shock at the coeds.
p. 102
Summer means pleasure and relaxation for “city sophisticates,” but it means hard work for country folk. This goes a long way in explaining resentment toward the coeds.
pp. 103-104
Motley Mutt makes sexual innuendos that Xiaoxiao doesn’t grasp.
“When Xiaoxiao was fourteen, she
had the figure of an adult, but her heart was still as unschooled as that of a
child.” Quote seems to apply to many
fourteen-year-olds today, as well.
p. 105
Xiaoxiao looks at her reflection in a pond to judge how she’d look w/o a braid—like the coeds.
“But what is a man compared with a
mountain?” Quote refers to how nature
wins out in the end—seems culturally significant to me.
p. 106
Xiaoxiao begins sexual relationship with Motley Mutt, becomes pregnant.
Re. Motley Mutt: “A big physique gets you into trouble easily,
but small courage puts you at a loss as to how to work your way out.” Funny and true.
p. 107
Motley Mutt leaves.
p. 108
Who are the Bodhisattvas she prays
to? A type of Buddha? Historical background section will answer
this question.
p. 109
“By rights, she should have been
drowned, but only heads of families who have read their Confucius would do such
a stupid thing to save their family’s honor.”
Obviously narrator takes a dim view of Confucian values.
“Lately, if one asked who was
making up the rules and customs, whether the patriarch or matriarch, no one
could rightly say.” A
burgeoning feminism? Shows confusion of the time and, perhaps, openness to change.
But Xiaoxiao is really only saved by fact that her baby is a boy.
p. 110
Xiaoxiao has the last word. In the story’s last lines, she dreams of a coed in the family, not her but as a wife for her son.
Sample Journal Response to “The
Wounded”
p. 592
Wang Xiaohua wears a long, black braid, like Xiaoxiao.
Like Xiaoxiao looking at her reflection in a pond, she looks in a mirror.
WX seems deeply ashamed to be crying—doesn’t want anyone to see.
Everyone else on the train seems able to sleep, but not WX. She is not at peace.
p. 593
Need more detail on the Red
Guard. Historical Background section
will cover this.
Wang Xiaohua experiences inner
conflict. “She was obliged to listen to
both the voices within and without her, criticize her own petit-bourgeois
thoughts and feelings, and draw a clear boundary between herself and her
mama.” Separation from mother is
difficult for her.
WX is not much older than Xiaoxiao she leaves her family; and for her it is a more painful rift.
p. 594
Meets Su Xiadem on train.
p. 595
“In the embrace of warm, communal
living, Xiaohua gradually forgot the family life that had made her suffer
so.” This seems almost a typically
adolescent experience—the preference for friends over family.
p. 598
Vocab: Laconic: terse or concise.
p. 600
It is 9 yrs. Since she cut ties with her mother. Now she is bound for home.
p.603
Vocab: bund: a
political association.
p. 604
Wang Xiaohua is still loyal to the party.
WX is less developed as a character than Xiaoxiao—less complex, more a representative (of misguided party loyalty and subsequent suffering) than a full-fledged person.
Themes, Symbols, and other
Literary Techniques and Related Activities
Obviously, from the title of our lesson plan, we believe that mirrors (or ponds) function as symbols of the character’s quests for identity in the stories. An activity to focus on this symbol follows:
Magic Mirror
Ask students to “hold a magic mirror up to Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiaohua.” This mirror reveals who the subject was in her past, who she is currently, and who she will become beyond the end of the story. Student should write a brief essay on what each character sees in this magic mirror. In keeping with theme of furthering students’ own quests for identity, ask students to now hold the same magic mirror up to themselves and write a brief personal essay.
Long, black braids are worn by both characters and seem to function as symbols of tradition and conservative values. Ask students to consider inward feelings versus outward appearances. To what extent is a long braid reflective of each character’s inner self?
One theme common to both stories is the obligations of family. Another is the clash of traditional values with more modern approaches to living. Motherhood is a theme in both stories. Wang Xiaohua is haunted by her abandonment of her mother. Xiaoxiao serves as a mother figure to her young husband before becoming an actual mother. As mother to her husband, she has somewhat of an opportunity to rear him in a way beneficial to herself. Students in our all-girl’s school might enjoy writing about or discussing how they would wish to shape their future life partners if they had the same opportunity.
Aphorisms feature strongly in the story “Xiaoxiao.” The following activity should help students learn to recognize this literary technique and see its benefit to storytelling.
Finding Aphorisms in “Xiaoxiao.”
Explain to students that an aphorism is a short statement of truth or opinion; an adage. Ask them to form small groups and hunt for aphorisms in “Xiaoxiao.” One group member reports back at the end of the allotted time, and aphorisms and their page references are listed on board or on an overhead. Then the whole class considers each aphorism in turn and jots down what it means in terms of the story and how it might apply today to our modern lives. After each silent writing time, their findings are discussed.
Aphorisms in “Xiaoxiao.”
1.
“Those who do nothing at all but
play / Wind up with bad dreams at end of day.” (p.98)
2.
“To speak of summer nights is to
dream.” (p. 99)
3.
“In the country, one day is like
any other day in the world: they change
only with the season.” (p. 102)
4.
“But what is a man compared to a
mountain?” (p. 105)
5.
“A big physique gets you into
trouble easily, but small courage puts you at a loss as to how to work your way
out.” (p. 106)
Activity
The following quotes are taken from The Book of Filial Piety for Women, attributed to Nee Zheng (ca. 730), trans. by Patricia Buckley Ebrey, and written as an instructive text for girls and a companion to Confucius’s Book of Filial Piety. Divide class into thirds and have each third focus on one particular quote. Quotes should be mounted on large paper scrolls on walls of class. In turns, students should jot down their thought on what the quote means, how it applies to the stories “Xiaoxiao” and “The Wounded”, and how, if at all, it applies to contemporary life. “Conversations” about the quotes can take place on paper. Once everyone has had a turn to write on the scroll, the teacher can review key points from each scroll with the class at large.
The quotes:
Source: Under Confucian Eyes; Writings on Gender
in Chinese History, ed. By Susan
Mann and Yu-Yin Cheng,
Other Literary Works
Works from a variety of genres fit well into this lesson plan’s focus on women’s roles and identity. Here are some good matches:
· “Who’s Irish?,” short story by Gish Jen in Who’s Irish?, Vintage Books, 1999.
· The Awakening, novel by Kate Chopin.
· Medea, drama by Euripedes.
· No More Masks; An Anthology of Poems by Women, ed. By Florence Howe and Ellen Bass, Anchor Books, 1973 (many poems in this anthology would work well).
Glimpses in the Mirror; Women’s Identity in the Modern Chinese Stories
“Xiaoxiao” and “The Wounded.”
Eileen Frawley
Jaclyn Brilliant
Notre Dame School
327
N.Y., NY 10014
212-620-5575
nydamehs@adnyschools.org