Yashna Bowen
A98024314
HIEA 131- Daughter of Han Analysis
A Daughter of Han: Perspective of One, Perspective of Many
The text, “A Daughter of Han, An Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman”, shows us much about the ideals and customs upheld by Ning Liao TaiTai, one of the many ethnically Han Chinese woman living through the later Qing period and the so called Republican Period of China spanning the breakdown of the empires to the formation of the People’s Republic of China.
Ning Liao Taitai, in describing her life and conditions in detail to Ida Pruitt can be said to present a valuable and informative insight into the life of a Chinese woman who was born into a wealthy family, lived through acute poverty being reduced to a beggar and also through being a household worker switching through many local and foreign family masters. There are various Confucian principles, traditions handed down and important cultural elements brought to light through her descriptions of her family, the raising of her children and also seen …show more content…
To someone dependent on women’s beliefs upheld over time, Ning’s story may suffice but as a source of Chinese history, the text may present an incompleteness not on purpose but through sheer lack of the situation and environment of Ning’s life. Therefore, although I can admire “A Daughter of Han” as an invaluable source of insight to a Han Chinese woman’s family, into her beliefs and into traditions and customs observed through that time period, in order to assess a broader view of the nation of China as a whole, the insights of a much more diverse population would be
A98024314
HIEA 131- Daughter of Han Analysis
A Daughter of Han: Perspective of One, Perspective of Many
The text, “A Daughter of Han, An Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman”, shows us much about the ideals and customs upheld by Ning Liao TaiTai, one of the many ethnically Han Chinese woman living through the later Qing period and the so called Republican Period of China spanning the breakdown of the empires to the formation of the People’s Republic of China.
Ning Liao Taitai, in describing her life and conditions in detail to Ida Pruitt can be said to present a valuable and informative insight into the life of a Chinese woman who was born into a wealthy family, lived through acute poverty being reduced to a beggar and also through being a household worker switching through many local and foreign family masters. There are various Confucian principles, traditions handed down and important cultural elements brought to light through her descriptions of her family, the raising of her children and also seen …show more content…
To someone dependent on women’s beliefs upheld over time, Ning’s story may suffice but as a source of Chinese history, the text may present an incompleteness not on purpose but through sheer lack of the situation and environment of Ning’s life. Therefore, although I can admire “A Daughter of Han” as an invaluable source of insight to a Han Chinese woman’s family, into her beliefs and into traditions and customs observed through that time period, in order to assess a broader view of the nation of China as a whole, the insights of a much more diverse population would be