Women's classics

Author: Guo Minghui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features:
Following The Male Lesson, the author presents another long-form masterpiece—a book about women, yet deeply intertwined with men. Without men, the helplessness of women cannot be fully expressed. A single book may not fully capture the essence of women, but it certainly encapsulates the inevitable burdens women endure during their growth.
Following The Male Lesson, the author presents another long-form masterpiece—a book about women, yet deeply intertwined with men. Without men, the helplessness of women cannot be fully expressed. A single book may not fully capture the essence of women, but it certainly encapsulates the inevitable burdens women endure during their growth.
This is a story about five women across three generations. They come from different eras, each carrying their own beauty and sorrow, aspirations and confusion, insecurity and pride, collectively weaving a compendium of women's experiences.
They share the same bloodline but possess distinct personalities, walking divergent paths in life. Though living under the same roof, their hearts are worlds apart, leading to frequent conflicts. Yet, when faced with the shared challenges women must confront, they achieve natural reconciliation and ignite a heart-wrenching glow of familial love.
The gentle narration of the protagonist, born in the late 1960s, conveys a truth: only when women confront the patriarchal world can they truly understand each other. A 1 My Father and My Mother
Before I talk about my father and mother, let me first introduce myself.
My name is Qin Dayang, also known as Yangyang. This name sounds a bit strange, yet it has remained so ever since. Before my two younger sisters were born, the family called me Yangyang. Later, after my two sisters were born, they started calling me Dayang, meaning my second sister is called Eryang, and my third sister is called Sanyang.
It is said that the names of my three sisters stem from my father and mother's romance. Of course, we didn’t know these things back then; we only heard about them later from our grandmother and mother.
My mother’s name is Sun Yuelian, and she was the only child of my grandparents.
My grandfather was once a very famous doctor in our county, specializing in treating high-ranking officials. After the Cultural Revolution began, the high-ranking officials in the county were “overthrown,” and my grandfather was also “overthrown.” When my grandfather was “overthrown,” my mother was still attending high school in the county. Later, my mother stopped going to school because her classmates looked down on her. Later, a male classmate who claimed to love medicine often visited her home, persuading her to continue her studies. My mother had always been stubborn since childhood and refused to go back to school. Eventually, that boyfriend also stopped going to school. The male classmate said, “Anyway, there’s nothing to learn in school; it’s just constant criticism every day. It’s better if I spend time with you and read your family’s medical books.” My mother agreed, saying, “Exactly, exactly.”
So, the male classmate started visiting my mother’s home every day to accompany her. At first, they would eat fried soybeans while reading medical books, but later, they sat together and couldn’t focus on the books anymore, only eating the fried soybeans. Eventually, even the fried soybeans lost their appeal, and they just stared at each other’s faces. Then, they couldn’t even stand to look at each other’s faces anymore and ended up hugging. My mother leaned her head on the male classmate’s shoulder, and his hands kept moving on her waist—very inappropriate. My mother got tickled, and every time he moved, she called out, “Yangyang,” and even when he moved again, she still called, “Yangyang.” From then on, the male classmate gave my mother a cute nickname, “Yangyang” (perhaps this is where my name came from). Later, one day, their actions were discovered by my grandmother. Of course, my grandmother immediately stopped them from going any further. My grandmother and grandfather had a serious talk with them, and my mother, without any shame, boldly said, “We’re in love!” The male classmate also shamelessly said, “We’re in love!”