Beth Marsh August 8, 2018
The reading selections for the week dealt with the New Culture Movement of China in the 1910s and 1920s, including Diary of a Madman by Lu Xun, Sealed Off by Zhang Ailing, and Man of La Mancha by Chu Tlen-Hsin. If you would like to read the stories, click here. The underlying theme of the stories is the new culture movement with social and political unrest, revolt against norms, and the birthing pains of the new republic reoccurring throughout, being the most prominent theme.
The New Culture Movement occurred during a time when China became a republic. The Chinese people had become disillusioned with the traditional culture, moral and social ideals of Confucius. Sealed Off by Zhang Ailing is a story about two strangers that meet on a tram that is sealed off during an air raid by the Japanese on the city of Shanghai. Zongzhen is a middle-aged accountant with simple intellect that is unhappy in life, while Cuiyaun is a young educated woman teaching at a university in her early twenties. Zongzhen moves to sit beside Cuiyaun while trying to escape the notice of his social climbing nephew. He and Cuiyaun begin to talk and fantasize together how life could be if their traditional Confucian ideals no longer held merit. They plan to somehow work out a romantic affair, however, after the air raid is over and the tram begins to move, Zongzhen moves back to his place and ignores Cuiyaun as if they were complete strangers again.
The story of Sealed Off emphasizes the theme of birthing pains of the new republic because the characters in the story express disillusionment with traditional Confucianism, however, they do not yet feel comfortable enough to step away from tradition as you can see when Zongzhen deserts Cuiyaun at the end of the story. The thoughts and actions of both main characters show their discontent with social norms as well. High school literature teachers that are teaching about the New Culture Movement of China should discuss some similarities in the short stories of the movement with modern western short stories. Include aspects of the birthing pains of a new era in both cultures, such as the gender equality movement of the west which has been progressing for over 50 years. Play a game with the students that includes social movements and rights which has them guess when things became legal or socially acceptable. You can also create a timeline of acceptable women’s attire throughout the last hundred years in both China and the w
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