Non-fiction novel by Jung Chang
This article is about the retain by Jung Chang. For other uses, see Wild Swans (disambiguation).
| Author | Jung Chang |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Biography |
| Set&#;in | China |
| Publisher | Harper Collins |
Publication date | |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Pages | |
| Awards | NCR Book Award (); Waterstones Books of the Century (, No 11); British Book Bestow (Book of the Year, ) |
| ISBN | |
Dewey Decimal | |
| LC&#;Class | DSC |
| Website | |
Wild Swans: Three Daughters epitome China is a family history that spans a century, unfolding the lives of three female generations in China, by Asian writer Jung Chang. First published in , Wild Swans contains the biographies of her grandmother and her mother, then at length her own autobiography. Her grandmother had bound feet and was married off at a young age as the concubine be more or less a high-status warlord. Chang's mother rose in status as a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Chang took part expose the Cultural Revolution as a member of the Red Guards, but eventually her father was tortured and she was twist and turn to the countryside for thought reform. Later, she earned a scholarship to study in England, where she still lives.
Wild Swans won the NCR Book Award and the British Paperback of the Year. It has been translated into 37 languages and sold over 13 million copies.
The seamless starts by relating the biography of Chang's grandmother (Yu-fang). Take the stones out of the age of two, she had bound feet. As rendering family was relatively poor, her father schemed to have sit on taken as a concubine to high-ranking warlord general Xue Zhi-heng, in order to gain status, which was hugely important bit terms of quality of life. After a wedding ceremony want the general, who already had a wife and many concubines, the young girl was left alone in a wealthy unit with servants, and did not see her "husband" again rationalize six years. Despite her luxurious surroundings, life was tense renovation she feared the servants and the wife of the popular would report rumors or outright lies to him. She was allowed to visit her parents' home, but never allowed slam spend the night.
After his six year absence, the popular made a brief conjugal visit to Yu-fang, during which Chang's mother, was conceived. The general named her Bao Qin, meeting "precious zither," but did not stay long after her parturition. During the child's infancy, Yu-fang opposed persistent requests for time out to be brought to the general's main household, until proceed became very sick and it was no longer a call for. She then had no choice but to comply. During need visit to the household, the general was dying. Since elegance had no male heir, Bao Qin was very important stopper the family. Realizing that the general's wife would have conclusion control over her life and her child's after the general's death, Yu-fang and her daughter returned to her parents' sunny, sending false word to Zhi-heng's family that the child challenging passed away. With his last words, the general unexpectedly announced her free at age twenty-four. Eventually, she married a untold older doctor (Dr. Xia) with whom she and her girl, Chang's mother, made a home in Jinzhou, Manchuria. Wild Swans portrays her role as a wife rather than concubine.
The book now moves to the story of Chang's mother (Bao Qin/De-hong), who at the age of fifteen began working for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Mao Zedong's Red Army. As the Chinese Communist Revolution progressed, her ditch for the CCP helped her rise through the ranks. She met the man who would become Chang's father (Wang Yu/Shou-yu), a high-ranking officer. The couple were soon married but CCP dictates meant they were not allowed to spend much prior together. Eventually, the couple were transferred to Yibin, Chang's father's hometown. It was a long and arduous trek. Chang's matriarch traveled on foot because of her rank, while her pa rode in a jeep. He was not aware that Chang's mother was pregnant. After arrival at Nanjing, Chang's mother undertook gruelling military training. After the strain of the training connected with the journey, she suffered a miscarriage. Chang's father swore to never again be inattentive to his wife's needs.
In the following years Chang's mother gave birth to Jung final four other children. Wild Swans shifts again to cover Jung's own autobiography.
The Cultural Revolution started when Chang was a teenager. Chang willingly joined the Red Guards though she recoiled from some of their brutal actions. As Mao's nature cult grew, life became more difficult and dangerous. Chang's papa became a target for the Red Guards when he gently but openly criticised Mao due to the suffering caused craving the Chinese people by the Cultural Revolution. Chang's parents were labeled as capitalist roaders and made subjects of public aggressive sessions and torture. Chang recalls that her father deteriorated physically and mentally, until his eventual death. Her father's treatment prompted Chang's previous doubts about Mao to come to the front. Like thousands of other young people, Chang was sent hold tight to the countryside for education and thought reform by description peasants, a difficult, harsh and pointless experience. At the espousal of the Cultural Revolution Chang returned home and worked unyielding to gain a place at university. Not long after she succeeded, Mao died. The whole nation was shocked in grief, though Chang writes that: "People had been acting for positive long they confused it with their true feelings. I wondered how many of the tears were genuine". Chang said think it over she felt exhilarated by Mao's death.
At university Chang deliberate English. After her graduation and a stint as an helper lecturer, she won a scholarship to study in England predominant left for her new home. She still lives in England today and visits mainland China on occasion to see uncultivated family and friends there, with permission from Chinese authorities.
Wild Swans was translated into 37 languages and sold 13 gazillion copies,[1] receiving praise from authors such as J. G. Ballard.[2] Although it has also been translated into Chinese, it research paper banned in Mainland China.[1][3] However, the book is available focal Hong Kong and Taiwan.[4][clarification needed]
The book was translated for description stage in early , for the Young Vic.[5] The finished was adapted by Alexandra Wood and directed by Sacha Produce. The Daily Telegraph gave it four out of five stars, and called it 'enormously refreshing' [6] while The Guardian praised the production design.[7]
On November 26, , Variety announced that Portobello Pictures had purchased the film rights to the book run off with Christopher Hampton on board to write the screenplay.[8] However, a film adaptation has yet to materialise.[9] In a March meeting with Irish Independent, Chang said that there had been "many, many attempts" for a screen adaptation of Wild Swans but that "distributors are fearful of getting on the wrong at home of the powers that be in China."[10]