Yanwen’s blog

My father joined the army when he was a teenager. He pretty much grew up in the army. His book collection consisted mainly of books by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao Zedong.

At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) there was plenty of chaos everywhere in China. In 1967, the central government decided to take over the control of local governments by the army. The policy was called 三支两军 (sān zhī liǎng jūn): army supporting the leftest masses, the industry, and agriculture, and army taking the control of local government. That's how my father started working at Tianjin mayoral government, approximately in 1968.

I noticed that our bookshelf started swelling up with many other books since then, history and other classic books like Shi-Ji, Chun-qiu-zhan-guo and plenty of other interesting books.

During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards confiscated from many innocent families untold pieces of cultural artifacts and books that were considered feudalistic or bourgeoisie or anti-revolutionary in content. 

Perhaps the Red Guards threw their loots into the local government. Perhaps my father got some of his books from his office. 

There must be plenty of other interesting artifacts and treasures but he only brought home some books. Imagine that.

We grew up in a big courtyard inhabited by army families in Tianjin. We called it Army Courtyard. 

In 1969, in the height of campaign of 知识青年上山下乡 (Zhīshì qīngnián Shàngshān xià xiāng) educated youth going to the mountains and to the countryside, there was a huge interest among children of my age to join the army. The Army Courtyard was almost empty after this.

I don't know why, especially during the Sino-Soviet border crisis. Perhaps it was a better alternative to the countryside. I only remember it was super cool to wear green army uniforms. So I couldn't wait to join the army.

During the early stage of Cultural Revolution (1966-76), there was not much learning going on in school. People were busy with making "revolution." It was widely believed at that time that it was useless to study. Intellectuals were considered 臭老九 (chòu lǎo jiǔ), a derogatory label reserved for them.

But my father was against me going to the army. He firmly believed that, this revolutionary madness would not go on forever. No matter who came to power, no matter which dynasty we would be under, the country still needed production and developing economy, for that the country would need people with skills and expertise.

So the next year, in 1970, he sent me to Tianjin Foreign Languages School to learn English, believing that learning something was better than nothing, much better than going to the countryside.

I met up with a high school friend at a Starbucks yesterday. He encouraged me to write something like a family history over three generations from my parents to mine and the next.

"Why do you waste time writing something so rudimentary now?" Like what I’m writing now. It's so easy to come up with some self-defense, which I did.

The conversation brought back the memory of my father. He enjoyed reading memoirs of famous people and politicians, like Richard Nixon's Six Crises, and biography of General de Gaulle. I know he had some dramatic experiences during the Cultural Revolution. So I once asked him about writing a memoir. He did have this plan. But he was taken away from us too soon. Also he knew perfectly well what could be published in China.

If I am totally objective and lie-free, especially about Cultural Revolution, I can't avoid exposing something negative about Chinese culture and the current system. I'm not ready for that yet.

Most importantly, it won't be an easy journey back when I try to trace back the past five decades. That journey could be dark and depressing and spirit-draining.

Perhaps, the exciting way is to always have something to look forward in the future, as the Chinese saying goes, 展望未来 (zhǎn wàng wèi lái), which literally means: look forward to a bright future!

March 8th is International Women's Day (IWD), celebrated in China and many other countries outside the United States. There are plenty of celebrations today in China, like giving women the day off. A day worth celebrating.

There are different explanations of the genesis of IWD. Some say the women's liberation movement goes back to 1909 New York with the focus on women's rights, including suffrage. Some traced back to a protest by women garment workers in New York City in 1857. It is definitely linked to the First World War and the women’s movements during the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Among western voting countries, New Zealand was the first country that granted women the legal right to vote in 1893, Australia did it in 1902, Finland 1906, Norway 1913.

The U.S., Johnny-come-lately, did it through 19th Amendment in 1919, taking advantage of the urge of women's liberation movement following WW I, and still is behind many developed countries in terms of political power.

At my previous work place, nearly all of my American colleagues had never heard of IWD. Not a few of them believe that women can work outside but should not mess up in politics like Clinton's wife.

In Chinese, 妇女能顶半边天 (fù nǚ néng dǐng bàn biān tiān), meaning: Woman can hold up half the sky. The implied meaning is women are an equal part in society, not subordinate to men.

Women's subordinate position is still deeply rooted in many cultures, believes, and traditions. Such as, women are deprived of the right to education in some cultures. Believe it or not, there are still countries today that practice female genital mutilation. 

Baby, you've come a long way but still have a long journey ahead.

Yesterday I heard a Ted talk about Chinese peasants migrating to cities. It's so well-done that I feel compelled to share it.

The speaker stayed for about two years in a big city in south China, working and living with some female peasants, now assembling line workers. While we debate about globalization, we have neglected to hear the voice of the workers themselves impacted. That's what she is trying to get.

These former peasants choose to leave their villages in order to make big money, to learn new skills and to see the big world outside. She learned about their daily interests. Their living conditions were very substandard, yet were better than their village life.

She made acquaintance with an 18-year-old girl named Min, who changed jobs 5 times over the course of 2 years from an assembly line worker in an electronics factory to a lucrative job in the purchasing department of a hardware factory. Later she married a fellow migrant worker, moved to his village, gave birth to 2 daughters, and saved enough money to buy a second-hand Buick for herself and an apartment her parents in the village. Later Min moved back to the city alone taking up a new job. In an email to the speaker, she explained, "A person should have some ambition while she is young, so that in old age she can look back on her life and feel that it was not lived to no purpose." 

Life is tough for them. The speaker expected to find  them feeling depressed and miserable and full of complaints. Instead, she found these young women 聪明、有趣、勇敢、大方 (cōngmíng 、 yǒuqù 、 yǒnggǎn 、 dàfāng), smart, funny, brave and generous.

Across China, there are 150 million workers like Min, one third of them are women who have left their villages to work in factories, hotels, restaurants or construction sites in big cities. Together they make up the largest migration in modern history.

The speaker ended with this reminder: It is the globalization that begins in Chinese village like this and ends with iPhones in our pockets and Nikes on our feet. I hope people are aware of the existence of these people and think of them while using their electronics every day.