He Liyi, the author, belongs to a minority group in China called the Bai. He lived in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, which is remote and arguably marginalized. He had great passion and zeal to learn English since it was the most popular international language. His ambition was to write a story that would inspire the current generation and many others to come. By learning English while in college, he got an assurance of drawing interests of individuals beyond Chinese borders. He spent extra jiffy listening to radio channels such as the BBC and VOA to improve his command in the language. Liyi wrote his book in English. The book, Mr. China’s Son, is a direct and personal autobiography of Liyi himself (He, 2003).
Plenty of richly descriptive images coupled with phrases from his native language dominated his memoirs. During his graduation, the government and majority of Chinese perceived English as the language of imperialists. Consequently, the authorities assigned him a job that did not require any academic qualification. His passion for the foreign language created friction between him and authorities, and regarded as belonging to contradictions between the people and the enemy (He, 2003). Mr. He was determined to explore Communist victory over the Nationalists in 1949, Cultural Revolution, the labor camps, and economic and social challenges facing China. He further focuses on hardship and poverty the people of China are going through, including him in a country dominated by communist ideologies. The system of rule, according to Mr. He, seems not doing remarkable job towards improving the living standards of ordinary Chinese who still grapple with high cost of living. His autobiography is perhaps the most authentic and comprehensible account of life in remote areas of China, written in English.
The Communist Party influenced immensely, the spheres of marriage, work, and education. Mr. He’s love for English language cost him his marriage. He had to spend several years in the labor camp and upon release remained on authority’s radar. Traditionally, women in China had limited choices of a husband. They traded like merchandise with parents promising their daughters to only men who had the means. Parents did not invest much in their daughters since the latter belonged to the family of the future potential husband. Some of the girls would get married to men in their thirties while in tender age. Since prosperity of a man determined the number of women he is entitled to marry, a handful of rich men ended up marrying three women or beyond (He, 2003).
Marriage institution
According to Mr. He, polygamous nature of wealthy men sparked competition among women. Females destined for marriage scrambled so that they could finally secure place inside the mansion of a well-to-do chap. Polygamy ignited stiff competition among women married to particular man. Some of those wrangles ended in fierce battle. Although the Western culture advocated for women rights, the revolutionaries of China seized such opportunity. Although ancient system in China violated women rights grossly, the Chinese Communist Party overturned the trend by improving status of women. Today, marriage is a matter of individual choice. The current policy that advocates for one-child per household has recorded remarkable outcome and in the end boosted fair treatment of singleton daughters just like the sons. Communist Party advocated for Patrilocal for of marriage. Such arrangement dictates that the female leaves her family and moves to the male partner’s home. The couple would then stay with or near parents of the chap. This form of marriage was predominant in all families since it was an essential part of Chinese culture (He, 2003).
The female would then become completely isolated from her own family hence she relied upon her husband for daily upkeep, clothing, emotional support, and guidance in decision-making. The family of the wife would only meet their in-laws during special occasions organized by the two families or during holidays. Overdependence of the wife on the man and his family lowered the wife’s status considerably. The family unit considered the wife belonging to one of its sons as a relative outsider. In essence, the father of newly married son literally run the household, and the entire family viewed him as the head of the household that comprises sons, their wives and unmarried children. He discharges his mandate of ensuring future goals, tasks, punishments, and arranged marriages accomplish remarkable progress. The old man studied the married sons closely while all young married men took the initiative upon themselves to control the women (He, 2003).
China’s Son shows Combination of patrilocal and patrilineal gives rise to patriarchy. Male dominance characterizes Patrilineal. All male members of the man’s extended family work extremely hard to meet day-to-day obligations. Besides, male members of the extended family play a vital role of proving social, economic and political assurance to the rest of the family (He, 2003).
Education
Mr. He Liyi made a comprehensible observation regarding the position of women in the world of academia. A considerable number of women got the opportunity to obtain institutionalized form of learning, thanks to Communist revolution in China. This move did not bring any change to the societal setting, which already dominated by men. Upon completing their studies, a section of the female elite ascended to positions of leadership initially a reserve for their male counterparts (He, 2003). Consequently, majority of these executives ended up with atypical marriages that allowed them to live in villages of their birth. However, such trend seems to violate the much laid down rules that guide marriages since it was against the norms for women to remain single for the rest of their lives. Interestingly, the emerging tendency characterized by an influx of single female executives has changed Chinese society’s perception pertaining to roles of women.
Work/Employment
Educated women could compete with men for various job opportunities sin different fields depending on their qualifications and integrity backgrounds. Women could secure jobs outside their homes despite continued dominance of opposite sex. The mode of production as well as labor changed. Women would then join members of the patrilineage to become a work team on the collective farm. The local women who managed to proceed to become local leaders ended receiving another blow since they ended up sacrificing their marriages by going back to villages of their birth. Communists have come up with policies regarding sexuality of women in China prohibits women from engaging in premarital or exmarital sex. They further block any chances of a woman effecting permission for divorce (He, 2003).
The Communist Party had a series of lucid differences between it and federal system the federal government liberalized acquisition of knowledge for education. While the Communist Party championed for patrilieanage, the federal system liberalized the institution of marriage, education, and work. Work no longer based in gender but academic qualifications of the applicant (He, 2003).
Reference
He, Liyi. Mr. China’s Son: A Villager’s Life. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993.
