A Herdsman's Story Summary

The ghosts of revolution both haunt and propel Zhang Xianliang’s 1981 short story “A Herdsman’s Story,” a quiet bildungsroman that depicts a man’s journey toward identity in an upended society. Three discrete revolutionary processes underlie Xu Lingjun’s development: the revolution of 1949; Mao’s efforts to achieve state socialism during the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the Cultural Revolution; and the moderating forces of Deng Xiaoping’s China. Each of these revolutions advances Xu’s transformation into an adult who embraces a socially-defined identity. The revolution of 1949 instigates Xu’s journey toward self-discovery. Prior to this revolution, as the son of affluent but separated and unloving parents, Xu endures his childhood …show more content…
The text references Deng’s reforms just once, noting that Xu believes that the new regime’s “four modernizations” are “marvelous deeds accomplished […] by heroes,” but they bear a far greater significance for Xu. Deng’s reforms, by permitting Xu’s formal rehabilitation, allow him to regain a teaching position and thus assume a more satisfactory social role, as he proves an excellent teacher who gains the respect of his former comrades (Zhang 254). The text directly correlates Xu’s advancement to Deng’s reforms, referencing a “correction in the political life of the country” that enabled the rehabilitation of a man once deemed a “Rightist” (Zhang 253). Furthermore, Deng’s liberalizing policies create the conditions necessary to test the strength of Xu’s identity: Eager for his son to join him overseas, Xu’s industrialist father returns to China (Zhang 254, 257). Forced to determine whether he has truly embraced his rustic life and familial obligations, Xu exhibits the degree to which he has accepted this identity. For example, while visiting his father, Xu finds himself horrified by the luxurious trappings of urban life, even though these surroundings resemble those he experienced as a child (Zhang 241). After reconciling with his father, Xu decides to return to his country life, providing the simple explanation that “the school’s preparing the mid-term examination” (Zhang 268). This simple statement conveys the integrity of Xu’s identity as a country teacher in Communist China: He is no longer a youth caught between uncaring parents, and has been transformed by his society’s revolutions into a man with a sense of purpose and a sense of self. By the time Xu returns to his village, he recognizes fully that “he hadn’t wasted all of those hard years” of transformation through suffering, and he embraces the “meaning” his