The death of woman Wang Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The death of woman Wang - Essay Example There were also published texts in 1673, 1763, and 1810 on the local history of the county (Cass and Spence 550). Additionally, Spence utilizes P’u Sung-ling’s text entitled â€Å"Strange Stories from the Liao Studio† in creative and unconventional ways. The data are all used to depict common superstitions and values and to draw the picture of â€Å"loneliness, sensuality, and dreams† (Spence xiv). The first part, â€Å"The Observers,† talks about the catastrophes that struck the region, focusing on the earthquake in 1668 that wiped out a big part of the population. Additionally, people were stricken with the White Lotus revolt in 1622, plagues in 1640, Machu invasion in 1643, coupled with famine, floods, and raids in the 1650s. In a matter of fifty years, the region’s population of 200,000 dropped to merely 60,000. It is obvious here that the T’an-ch’eng people faced survival crisis, misery, and demoralization during that perio d. Suicide was so common that a proclamation has to be issued to dissuade it. In Huang’s text, he mentions that when he was serving in T’an-ch’eng, he observed that people view themselves worthless due to the poverty, hunger, and several other sufferings they go through. He added that people then do not have any idea of a happy life and the joys of living (Spence 14). The moral situation of the people hit an all-time low, causing conflicts to erupt within the family units, breaking down of social orders, and abandonment of moral restraints (Cass and Spence 551).... The second part, â€Å"The Land,† explores the situation of the tax payments, quotas, and labor system. As the population fell, these established systems became more burdensome for the people, particularly the quota system. Registered lands dropped, showing the abuses in tax collections and the measures used by land owners to avoid paying the exorbitant taxes. Obviously, the established system in the land pushes the poor people more into poverty, giving them lesser and lesser hope --- which was not much to start with --- to be alleviated from their circumstances (Entenmann and Spence 269-70). The third part, â€Å"The Widow,† begins to explore the situation of the women in that region during that time. Historically, China’s view on women has been that of oppression, and they are merely treated with respect if they follow the conventional societal rules on the roles of women in the society (Cass and Spence 550). Spence here describes the burdens placed on widows, particularly by the legal code discouraging remarriage after the husband’s death. Remarriage would cause the widow to lose any inheritance from the husband to the husband’s family. However, instead of achieving the desired effect of proving the wife’s loyalty to the late husband, it merely prompted the husband’s family to put pressure on the widow to remarry. Spence however relates the story of a woman who resisted this pressure, which unfortunately resulted in the murder of her only son by her late husband’s family. The murdered was punished, but a part of the late husband’s family became the widow’s heir (Entenmann and Spence 270). In the fourth part, â€Å"The Feud,† Spence talks about a local family who runs a group of