CHIN427 Springgrass

    A Great Achievement

            Throughout Spring Grass are depictions of Spring Grass’s sexual activity. Up to chapter 21 of the novel, she has sexual encounters with four individuals— her Uncle, Rivers Ho, Robbie, and Brother Lowe. Each of these build upon Spring Grass’s understanding of her own sexuality. Particularly insightful is her extramarital affair with Brother Lowe, of which Spring Grass and Brother Lowe’s understanding show a stark contrast. This essay examines the manner in which Spring Grass views her own sexual activities and how she relates her own sexual desirability to her self-worth. This essay then analyzes what aspects of Spring Grass match or deviate from her prescribed gender role based on a close reading of the text.

            The first description of a sexual scene in the novel is when Spring Grass is merely 15 years old, lending a hand at her Uncle’s household to care for their children. She is sexually harassed by her alcoholic Uncle, which confuses Spring Grass— she does not know how to respond. She has not had any sexual education or experience, so she does not know what her Uncle groping her means, yet she still picks up enough contextual clues from her Uncle’s hesitance and guilt and her Aunt’s reproach to figure out that something is very wrong. However, she does not realize that it is her Uncle’s behavior that is inappropriate, but rather draws the wrong conclusion that she herself is the problem. As a result, she tries to hide her most “offending” feature that prompted her Uncle seemed to be interested in: “She no longer held her chest straight and her head high as she walked, trying her best to conceal that chest that looked as though it did not belong to a fifteen-year old girl.” (Ch5, p.5) When her Uncle approaches her again, this time in her room, she is rightly terrified. Having been saved by the timely cry of the two infants she was taking care of, she is again lost in confusion as she tries to make sense of the events: “Was it that fifteen-year-old girls shouldn’t have chests like hers? Did being touched like that by her Uncle mean that she wasn’t a girl anymore but a woman?” (Ch5, p.6) Ultimately, she arrives at the conclusion that it was indeed her Uncle’s fault and not her own: “She could not permit him to take advantage of her. Didn’t mother often push away the hands of other women’s men?” (Ch5, p.6) Even though Spring Grass correctly decides that this event was her Uncle’s fault and not her own, it is likely that this event had a very negative effect on Spring Grass’s perception of her sexuality. Her unpleasant experience reinforced the cultural norm that a woman should hide her sexuality. When her sexual side had been seen, bad things had happened to her. Her Uncle’s hand had taught her this. Her Uncle’s hand was the hand of those in power. It was the hand of men, it was the hand of a patriarchal society. It was the same hand that had shaped her entire life, from the day she was born.

            At this point, we must acknowledge that Spring Grass, although of rural origin, manages to migrate to the city. Women who migrate to the city are more selective and autonomous in choosing a spouse than their nonmigrant peers (Gaetano 2015, 100). In the case of Spring Grass, this autonomy in being able to choose a spouse is one of the core motivating factors for her migration to the city. The experience of labor migration empowers rural women to assert themselves in the matter of marriage and take charge of their own futures. Yet, their greater agency in their own lives do not free them of all constraints of gender and class (Gaetano 2015, 100). Although Spring Grass finds Rivers Ho and manages to marry for love, this marriage turns out to be another indoctrination process in which Spring Grass is further entrenched into a Confucian understanding of her sexuality that is shaped by the patriarchy.

            The description of her sexual relationship with Rivers Ho is interesting. They are married, yet Spring Grass tends to be unenthusiastic about sex: “Spring Grass impatiently pushed him away, saying, ‘How are you still not finished? You really need such a blasted long time?’ ” (Ch13, p.10) While outbursts such as this implies that Spring Grass does not derive pleasure from sex and is also insensitive to her husband’s desires, she soon realizes her callousness and makes amends: “This time, with nothing to distract her, she strove to meet her husband’s enthusiasm.” (Ch13, p.10) Yet still, it is unclear whether Spring Grass derives pleasure from sex itself. More evidence from the text again points to the couple’s sexual relationship as being rather one-sided: “Thoroughly exhausted from the day’s work, Spring Grass let him at it.” (Ch20, p.3) Spring Grass’s behavior fits neatly into the traditional Confucian Chinese concept of sex. A Confucian model of marriage does not stop at the bedroom. A woman is forever locked in servitude. This sex is a service, from wife to husband, a duty to be performed for the enjoyment of the husband. As it is a duty, the concept that a woman can also enjoy sex is foreign. Rivers Ho’s constant need of her sexual services further reinforces in Spring Grass’s mind of this idea that sex is a duty she must perfrom to appease men.

            Her sexual encounters with Robbie and Brother Lowe are rather similar in that both men are of a higher economic status than Spring Grass herself, and they both have a position of power over her. Also, these events all describe extramarital sexual affairs. It is no secret that Robbie has had feelings for Spring Grass, having proposed to her (which Spring Grass declined). Robbie gropes her inappropriately which Spring Grass promptly rebuffs, knowing that it was wrong. Robbie again expresses his feelings for Spring Grass, and Spring Grass seems to find validation in his affection: “It looked like Robbie really did like her… This gave Spring Grass a different sense of satisfaction than what she felt with Riv.” (Ch17, p.5) However, she later comes to her senses, remarking that “Although Robbie’s behavior in the moment had excited her, had made her happy, she found it preposterous afterwards when she thought about it.” (Ch17, p.5) Yet she still admits that “Rivers had never made her feel the same happiness she had felt that evening with Robbie.” (Ch.17, p.5) This theme, her equating her self-worth with her sexual desirability is again seen with Brother Lowe. Being wanted by men, those with money and therefore power, is validating to her own worth and gives her happiness.

            Spring Grass goes to Robbie’s house the very next morning, making up her mind to ask for financial support after she learns that her husband Rivers Ho has gotten himself swindled in the city, leaving the family bankrupt and chased after by debt-collectors. To her surprise, Robbie who had liked her so much refuses to help her, which leaves Spring Grass feeling betrayed. She ponders to herself, “Could he have stopped liking her just because she hadn’t responded to his advances that evening… Were all men like that?” (Ch.17, p.7) This conclusion that Spring Grass draws goes on to influence her later actions with Brother Lowe.

            Most importantly, now we arrive at Spring Grass’s affair with Brother Lowe. One might say that Spring Grass deviates from her prescribed gender roles here by being assertive with Brother Lowe. However, her assertiveness in her affair with Brother Lowe speaks more strongly of her confinement in these gender roles because she was so willing to accept that her sexuality was a commodity— the only thing of value she could offer to Brother Lowe as a form of repayment. Brother Lowe was an angel sent down from heaven in Spring Grass’s eyes. He came when he was most needed, and aided her with a gesture of true altruism and empathy. Brother Lowe’s actions truly stemmed from the goodness of his heart, yet Spring Grass, being her stubborn, headstrong yet honest self, could not bear to stay indebted to anyone. She however has no real way to repay him, so in the moment, she comes to the conclusion that Brother Lowe must want her sexual services.

            The fact that Spring Grass thinks this way is an indication of the very framework which she views the world with. She is unable to understand that Brother Lowe’s act of kindness is an act of true altruism— attempting to repay it in this way is demeaning of Brother Lowe’s good intentions. He did not help her for his gain, yet she cannot fathom that he would act so irrationally. She does not understand that offering Brother Lowe a sexual favor is also extremely inappropriate. Of course, as they are both married, there is the issue of infidelity. But even looking past that huge issue, asking Spring Grass for a sexual favor degrades her worth as an individual from Brother Lowe’s perspective. Brother Lowe was one of the first people willing to recognize Spring Grass for the incredibly hard-working, honest, and kind individual that she was, and not degrade her identity to her gender or reproductive utility. It is ironic yet realistic that Spring Grass would be so eager to sexually commodify herself for him. This irony was lost to her, however, as she led her life in a patriarchal world and her mind was confined to its ways.

            Spring Grass, throughout her life, has internalized in herself a sense of inferiority. She was mistreated by her mother because she was a daughter. This led to her not being able to attend school, which in turn rendered her illiterate and uneducated. In the city, she was perpetually ashamed of her own rural origin and illiteracy. While she mourns her horribly unlucky plight all the time, she seems to more or less accept that due to her circumstances, she is simply “worse” than other people. This is evidently portrayed in many scenes in the novel, but perhaps none better than her “great sense of accomplishment” at “That a city man like big brother Lowe, a man who had gone to college, would take a fancy to her…” (Ch.21, p.13) Spring Grass’s inherent perception that she is of inferior standing and therefore less desirable, less deserving of love speaks to the fact that her patriarchal society has made her accept her plight.

            In conclusion, while Spring Grass deviates from her prescribed gender role in a few minor ways, she is still very much entrenched in the roles that her society has designated her. She feels wronged by society yet she cannot blame it, because everyone else lives in it. It would be absurd to blame something so normal, even if that normal was incredibly absurd. Instead of blaming the patriarchal society, she chooses to blame her own bad luck.

Works Cited

Gaetano, Arianne. (2015). Out to Work: Migration, Gender, and the Changing Lives of Rural Women in Contemporary China. Hong Kong University Press.

            This piece is the prologue of a hypothetical novella that follows Meilin, a young woman from the outskirts of Henan, through her experience as a migrant worker at Yue Yuen in Dongguan. This prologue contextualizes why Meilin wants to go to the city to find work.

Citybound: a short story

A small town in the outskirts of Henan province, Summer of 2005

            Meilin was both excited and nervous as she sat waiting for her friend to arrive. Xue had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember. Living next door in such a small town, they had stuck to each other like glue through elementary school. Both of them dropped out of middle school to work at a local traditional medicine business. However, when Xue turned 19, she had left their hometown to find work in the city. This would be the first time they saw each other in two years.

            Xue came riding a rusty red bicycle that made worrisome noises as it went. She was wearing a chic pink shirt and denim shorts, a nondescript black purse casually swung over her shoulder, waving as she got off the bike. After a brief embrace, Meilin pulled away and declared, “Wow, you look so different. You even smell different.”

            “Well, I’m wearing perfume. You look exactly the same, Meilin.” Xue replied, “Let’s go sit down somewhere, I have so much to tell you!”

            Meilin spent the next three hours listening to Xue’s adventures in the city. She had landed a job at Yue Yuen, a massive shoe factory in Dongguan, with the help of a distant relative who had settled in the city. Xue was a stitcher—making use of the fine motor skills that she developed during her years of working with dried Chinese medicine. The work was grueling and repetitive, she said, but the hours weren’t as bad as some other factories. However, her eyes really shone when she talked about life in the city: the bright lights at night, the people, the shops. The freedom. This was what the city meant to her. Freedom from prying eyes of neighbors. Freedom from endless chores. Freedom from household responsibility. Listening to this, a pang of jealousy shot through Meilin.

            “Oh, I need to show you something! Look what I got,” Xue said, pulling out a metallic object from her purse. The glossy red piece of metal was marked by a silver logo on the back, in the shape of an apple. Meilin stared in awe at the tiny device. “Is that…”

            “It’s a music player. It cost me three months of savings, but now I can’t live without it,” she explained gleefully.

            “That’s expensive! You convinced your parents to let you buy that?” asked Meilin.

            Xue grinned mischievously in response. “Of course I didn’t tell them, dummy. It’s my money anyway, why would I ask for their permission?”

            “Put these in your ears,” said Xue, handing her a pair of earbuds. Meilin gingerly lifted the tiny speakers and inserted them into her ears. Xue pressed a button, and music started flowing.

            Meilin spent the next five minutes with her eyes closed, lying down in the grass. In those five minutes, there was nothing in the world except for her and the music. She had never realized that music was something she needed in her life. Every vibration of the speaker in her ear was larger-than-life, sending shivers down her spine. Voices sang of love and of heartbreak, they told stories of places she had never been, sights she had never seen. When Xue finally stopped the music, Meilin was in a euphoric daze.

            “Well, how was it?” Xue looked at her expectantly. “Isn’t that the most amazing thing you’ve ever experienced?”

            Meilin did not like how proud Xue was of her new toy, so she pretended not to be too impressed. “It’s nice,” she replied halfheartedly. “Still expensive.”

            “Well, I bought it with my money,” said Xue. “It’s really nice to have your own money. Because in this world, everything is money,” Xue gestured at nothing in particular. “Clothes, food, and even the houses we live in. Money changes everything in your life, even who your friends and lovers are. I’ve seen men in the city pay girls—girls just like you and me—they can literally buy love.”

            Two years in the city had changed her best friend. Even the way she talked had changed slightly, the characteristic intonation of the city folk mingling with the more crude Henan dialect. Meilin wondered if she really knew this girl who was sitting next to her anymore.

            “I want to be rich,” Xue continued, “Because rich people can do whatever they want. See, Meilin, having money is having the power to do what you want. Poor people like us, we have to work hard everyday and we have no time to do anything else. If you’re rich though, you can do anything. This is what I learned in the city. That’s why we need to make money.”

            The Sun was slowly setting, bathing the endless wheat fields a golden yellow. The wheat swayed to and fro in the wind, creating a mesmerizing pattern that was pleasant to watch. “Can I borrow your music player for tonight?” asked Meilin, as Xue was about to leave. She eagerly obliged, saying that she’d be back tomorrow, and rode off, put-puttering away on her bike.

            Meilin watched her grow smaller and smaller, and something about her silhouette outlined by the glow of the setting sun made her seem like some ethereal, otherworldly figure that had just visited her with knowledge of a mysterious land. The figure riding away from her was so other, so different from the best friend she knew, that it made her shudder with an emotion she couldn’t quite seem to pin down. Grief? Excitement? Awe? She really had no clue.

            She pressed a button on the music player, and a song began to play. It was a very famous pop ballad that was all the rage with the kids these days, yet Meilin did not know this. All she knew was that this little machine was singing into her ear.

♫ I remember someone who will forever be in my heart ♫

            Her parents had always wanted her to go to college. Ever since she was little, her mother had drilled into her: “You need to go to college if you don’t want to end up like me.” Her mother and father had left behind Meilin and her older sister at home to work in the city. Why would she listen to someone who had never even spent a full year with her? Studying had never been for her anyways. She never felt compelled to stay in school. She had even convinced Xue to drop out with her.

            ♫ I miss you, missing you, no matter how hard it is ♫

            Her parents would not approve of her leaving home to find work. They had made that clear when Xue left two years ago. She remembered her mother saying to her father, “That stupid girl Xue, she would be better off just getting married quickly to someone in town. Going to the city alone as a girl is just asking for trouble.”

            ♫ As long as you’re happy, I will do anything, to love you like this ♫

            She thought back to her earlier conversation with Xue. Xue was clearly happier in the city than in their hometown. While Meilin never had any grand plans for her own life, hearing Xue talk about the city had changed things. It had lit something within her, and now it was a fire that burned slowly but surely. She wanted to be with other people her age, she wanted to find love. She wanted to be in the city, make money, and spend it as she pleased.

            ♫ I love you, loving you, as a mouse loves rice ♫

            Meilin lay down on her bed, yet she could not fall asleep because her heart was racing. She lay awake, music flowing through her ears, imagining a new future unfolding before her.

References

Chang, Leslie T. “Factory Girls.” Factory Girls, From Village to City in a Changing China, New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2008, pp.98–119.

春草准备把万万留在母亲家。《春草》，第十七集，场景七，0:39.

1990的小寒到1991的正月是春草人生的一个低谷。由于她在这几个月中遭到的各种厄运，她乐观的态度消失了，她的自信心枯萎了，连她幸福的家庭也在弹指之间消失了。我们可以把这一系列极为残酷的事件看成分析春草的机会，以便能更深入地理解春草内心的动机与极限。发生了什么样的事件才算是春草受不了的灾难？春草面对这种惨事如何反应？全部希望都失去了的时候，四面楚歌、无路可走的时候，她是如何生活下去的？春草在这几个月中的行为表明，虽然她的韧性是有限的，但是她的人生原则几乎没变，不管她的生活有多么悲惨，她都会继续艰苦奋斗。作为一位母亲，保护孩子的福祉是春草内心最基本的原则，在她人生的低谷，好好照顾孩子的欲望成为了她全部力量的源泉。

春草这三十年以来已经吃过好多苦，她的性格早就变得非常坚韧。到了她三十岁的时候，只有非常不同寻常的事件才会让她觉得生活是不堪忍受的。最后让她绝望的不是单一的一个灾难，而是许多令她难受的事情交汇在一起。首先，春草得知何水远欠债的事情以前，她养家的负担已经非常沉重。她不但得抚养一对双胞胎，而且得赡养公公婆婆，与此同时，她得悄悄地攒下一笔钱寄给自己娘家。天气越冷，孩子的咳嗽越重，婆婆的病也越重，这样的压力已经令人难以忍受。其次，虽然她一向很能干，但此时春草觉得无能为力。因为她不能跟何水远一起做生意，连丝绸被面最近卖得怎么样都不知道，所以她无法发挥自己的才能，只能天天呆在家担忧何水远出了什么事。这种无可奈何的感觉加重了她心理上的压力：“现在比不得从前了，从前等不住了还可以出门去找，现在上有老下有小，被栓得死死的，只能在家等了。”[1]  最后，她还得承受何水远借债不还的后果，这件事给她带来的压力值得我们更深入的分析。

何水远躲债这件事在春草生活中产生了一系列严重的实质性后果，例如她被迫卖掉了丝绸店、抵押了房子、把年幼的儿子留在娘家等等。不过，从春草的角度来看，欠债这件事还产生了一个抽象性的后果，就是这揭示出了春草能力的限度。春草得知欠债的消息之后，她第一个反应是自己一个人出去想方设法还债，她以为只要自己能干，就一定能克服任何困难。但是她出门找办法还债的时候，一次又一次试图让身边的人同情她、帮助她，却一次又一次地被拒绝。春草去阿明家借钱以前充满了希望，她相信阿明因为曾经喜欢过她肯定会帮助她。被阿明拒绝了之后，春草不仅没有解决还债的问题，而且整个世界观变得悲观了一点：“她遇到那么大的困难他不肯帮帮她？男人是这样的吗？喜欢和不喜欢一眨眼儿功夫会掉个个儿？”[2]  被阿明拒绝并没有让她失去自信心，反而使她克服困难的意志变得更加坚定了：“我一定会渡过这个难关的，我要做给他看。我就是为了争口气，也要挺过去这个关口。”[3]  不过，她的自信心不是没有极限的。她跟债主协商的时候，显然没有以前那么相信自己的能力，但她还是打起精神尽力而为。“春草忍着内心的焦虑愤怒和痛苦，继续陪笑脸说：‘人都有触霉头的时候，你们发发善心吧 . . . . . 我上有老，下有小，还不知道往哪儿去呢。”[4]  再次被拒绝之后，她几乎崩溃掉了，自己又失败了，这好像是春草从来没想象过的一种情况：“春草在贴了封条的楼前呆呆地站着，晃如梦中。怎么会在突然之间，她就失去了一切？”[5]  在此刻，春草本来所持有的乐观心态被打破了，从这时候开始，她变成了一个完全不一样的人物，比以前脆弱得多、忧郁得多。

春草超过了自己能力的限度以后，她的行为发生了什么样的变化？她好几年前发过誓说永远不会到母亲那边寻求帮助。不过，为了照顾孩子，她最后竟然失信了，不得不回娘家请母亲替她抚养儿子万万。更令人震撼的是，在巨大的生活压力之下，春草变得越来越像姆妈了。这个变化最明显的时候，就是春草和女儿元元在城里买面条的时候，春草一发现钱包被偷了时，就开始骂让她付钱的伙计：“你个该死的贼！你个千刀万剐的贼！你要遭报应！你已经生在城里了，为什么还要欺负我们？你不得好死！你要被车撞死！被雷霹死！吃饭噎死！”[6]

这跟春草以前的样子截然不同，她上次来城市时的习惯是尽量得到身边人的同情与友谊，大骂陌生人本来是她姆妈的做法，不是她的。具有讽刺意义的是，春草好好照顾元元的决心越来越大，她的脾气也越来越大，因此她越来越像姆妈，而这正是她从小一直想避免的事情。春草和姆妈的相同之处不仅限于骂陌生人，春草对待女儿的口气也仿佛是了她自己小时候受到的待遇。元元说肚子饿了，春草就突然变得像自己的姆妈一样：“她不耐烦地骂道，‘你饿死鬼投胎啊？！’ 骂完心里咯噔一下，怎么那么像姆妈啊？”[7]  这可能是春草失去自信心之后最大的变化。她从小一直承诺不会像姆妈那样对待自己的孩子，她最后还是骂了元元就证明了这一系列的创伤对她的负面影响有多么深远。

尽管如此，春草一直没有放弃她内心最基本的原则。在极为残酷的条件之下，她还是会为孩子做出牺牲，这个原则一直没有改变。万万和元元的学费的那张存单象征了这个永远要好好照顾孩子的责任，春草把它交给父亲时解释说：“这是我自己攒下的，给两个伢儿做学费用的。我发过誓，无论什么情况都不动它。你帮我藏藏好。”[8] 春草宁可抵押房子也不要付出孩子将来的学费，这意味着她没有完全绝望。几乎失去了希望的时候，她更有决心地负起照顾孩子的责任，这给我们展现出母亲的角色对春草的影响有多么深。每当生活困难到仿佛把她推到悬崖的边上时，作为母亲的责任感总是会把她拉回来。

春草到了海州之后，她把照顾元元当成自己的基本目标与动力，为了女儿的身体健康继续辛辛苦苦地维持生计。她在路上卖炒货的时候，元元又说了肚子饿了，这次春草一听就又变成了以前那个非常能干、非常有决断力的自己：“春草一听知道她是饿了，连忙塞了把花生给她。元元吃着花生，还是不断地吸着清鼻涕，‘空空空’ 地咳嗽，让春草不忍。她终于下决心喊叫起来：‘炒花生啊！香喷喷的炒花生啊！’”[9] 从这时刻起，一直到她和何水远的重逢，春草越来越像抵押房子之前的自己。她在路上卖炒花生的经历显示出了她想好好照顾孩子的欲望，她把保证孩子的福祉看成自己生活中最重要的动力。

《春草》这部小说里的第十七到第十八章给我们展示出了一个新的春草，她本来的自信心不见了，本来的决心不见了，连本来的能力也几乎无法正常发挥了。可是不管如何，她最终没有放弃自己最基本的原则，就是作为一个母亲好好照顾孩子，为他们准备美好的未来。为了保证他们的福祉，她愿意打起精神来，继续艰苦奋斗。这两章让我们得知，不管生活有多么残酷，春草都会有决心承担自己对孩子的责任。

[1] 《春草》，第十七章，181.

[2] 同上，187.

[3] 同上.

[4] 同上，190.

[5] 同上，191.

[6] 《春草》，第十八章，199.

[7] 同上，198.

[8] 同上，第十七章，194.

[9] 同上，第十八章，211.

Source: Li Min/China Daily

Dung beetles are known for their appalling work of rolling feces left behind by other animals to survive in their unbeknownst world. China’s migrant workers share a similar fate in that, instead of feces, undesirable and oftentimes dangerous employment opportunities are left behind by privileged city folks for the migrant workers to scramble for and to appreciate as a way of survivability in an increasingly capitalistic society. These migrant workers, however, are not entirely at fault for the system that has exacerbated their pre-existing economic and social inequalities to that of privileged city people, but rather they are the victims the system was designed to capitalize. This system encompasses both the policies enacted on migrant workers and the beliefs that motivated the workers to migrate in the first place. Consequently, the oppressed city lifestyles of migrant workers stem from the capitalizing of the migrant workers’ incentives and the deeply-rooted derogatory perception toward migrant workers that is shared among most city residents 

With the advent of industrialization in China, the desire to live in the city spread like wildfire because job opportunities in the city pay more than that of the average agricultural job and thus incentivized rural workers to migrate to the cities for greater prosperity. However, this reasoning creates not only an overwhelming demand for urban jobs but also stigmatizes the migrant workers to be like mice fighting for cheese from afar. In other words, well-established city folks may view the crowds of migrant workers as the rodents of society: beneath them in every way and trapped in their cage of elusive hopes. This judgement may not apply to all city folks, but the subconscious seeding of this thought has already taken root in the minds of most city folks, as indicated by the blatant job limitations and policy discriminations put in place against migrant workers. Even in the face of social and economic oppression, most migrant workers continue to work from run-down factories and poorly-maintained workspaces, whether that is because their poor financial situation precludes them from quitting their jobs or perhaps the tie between their job to the funding of their children’s education is non-negotiable. For instance, in the show adaptation of Spring Grass, Spring Grass stretches herself to the point of collapsing while working through her daily three jobs and reflects on the experience with no regret because she adamantly believes in funding her children’s education at all costs. This unwavering pursuit of work in the city defines the mindsets of countless migrant workers and highlights the desire migrant parents have for their children’s future success. At its core, migrant workers are motivated to venture into the city because city work offers better purchasing power for the migrant workers, especially if the purchase relates to the workers’ children’s well-being, than what an agricultural lifestyle could offer. Hence, modern-day incentives for migrating to the city in search of viable work rely on the financial implications of city jobs as they relate to the livelihood of the worker’s family. 

Although the economic incentive for the betterment of the family keeps migrant workers motivated in the city, the costs associated with their work pose a rather inevitable and daunting reality for those involved. For instance, in the documentary Last Train Home, Zhang Changhua and Chen Suqin reasoned their “abandonment” of their two infant children by first discussing the more livable income generated from their textile work in the city and then relating the earned income to their children’s educational prospects. This belief that success in education is the only ticket out of peasant life holds great prevalence in rural parts of China probably as a result of not only the generational emphasis on education but also the educational requirements for top-paying jobs. Unfortunately, rural children typically fail to graduate high school and thus often return to fulfilling their rural lifestyles, as illustrated by the daughter Qin who dropped out of high school out of difficulties managing her school and home lives. In addition, Qin’s resentment toward her parents for “abandoning” her for work in the city contributed to her decision to drop out of high school and pursue city work. The vicious cycle of increased migrant workers thus originates from not only the aforementioned economic rationales but also the fallacy behind the belief that education is the absolute path toward financial and social freedom. Factors such as subpar parental relationships and inherent struggles for rural households unfortunately have trapped generations of rural families like that of Qin’s in a unforgiving cycle of constant migrant worker status. Yet, despite the prevalence of such unfortunate phenomena for rural families, the amount of new migrant workers continues to grow and therefore necessitates policy-makings in this regard.

Household registration (hukou) system leads the way in creating both the initial barrier for migrant workers and the stratification between social classes thereafter. Established in the late 1950s, this policy essentially established a firm divide between city and rural residencies through the registration of each household’s status as either in the city or the countryside [1]. Negative implications, mostly against rural residents, originated from the hukou system, but the original intentions may have merely been to control the influx of migrant workers. With the surge in job opportunities in the city, impoverished rural residents flooded China’s cities for work. However, the increased supply of migrant workers was not met with the same level of city resources such as housing and food supply. This foreseeable reality spelled disaster for all who live in the city because desperation among city inhabitants for said resources could lead to criminal activities and thus the overall decline of city life into chaos. From this perspective, it seems plausible that the Chinese government was merely enforcing its duty of safekeeping the city residents from internal destruction by establishing the hukou system. However, even if the intentions were reasonable, the aftermath unfortunately casts doubts on the wholeheartedness of the policy-making and raises concerns about the far-reaching consequences thereof. 

The unfortunate implications of the hukou system fall mostly in the expense of migrant workers and their unequal livelihoods.  In the hukou system, rural residents were alienated first through both the more favorable placement of importance and care to urban residents’ hukou and restriction of rural residents from receiving city hukou. This division between the existing urban residents and potential rural migrant workers intensified the social hierarchy in which wealthier urban residents look down upon the poor workers by not only allowing there to be a physical policy like the hukou system separating their lives but also adding additional complications only onto the migrant workers. As a result, the aforementioned economic and family obligations of migrant workers were hindered. Employers would pay less to their migrant workers. Benefits such as social security and reduced cost of education for children in the city became non-existent for migrant workers [2]. This example of migration limitation policy underscores the biased outlook the Chinese government has about its rural inhabitants because, by implementing hukou, the Chinese government essentially indicated that its priority is the advancement of cities and not the livelihoods of rural residents. To make matters worse, the original push, before the Chinese government had to reel back its policy-making, for more migrant workers in the city to help “turn the wheels” of China’s rapid industrialization demonstrated the pawn-like nature of migrant workers in the eyes of the Chinese government. 

As pawns to this unfair social hierarchy and economic structure, migrant workers face immense barriers to success that could take the form of monetary deficiency in the beginning. For instance, in the novel Spring Grass, Spring Grass and Rivers Ho entered the city of Shaanxi hoping to earn a profit through the selling of their silk duvets but experienced a rude awakening that registration fee is necessary to even be legally allowed to sell in the city. The shock that transpired highlights both the lack of proper infrastructure for guiding migrant workers into city life and the potential for a vicious cycle of criminalization of migrant workers to take place as a result of such meticulous and money-driven city policies. The attitude toward migrant workers is thus again antagonistic. Given the poor educational traits and impoverished nature of rural migrant workers, perhaps the deficiency in the fundamental rights of the migrant workers is the root hindrance of substantial progress for most migrant workers with respect to their position in the city’s social ladder. 

Even with the partial dismantling of the hukou system, the issues that arose from this policy continue to not only exacerbate the dire incentives of migrant workers but also illustrate the capitalization of migrant workers as a result of unfair economic and social treatments. This limited progression for migrant workers suggests that perhaps their struggles require a more systematic approach on both the economic and social ends to effectively mitigate the repercussions of increased migrant workers. Instead of enabling the same tedious low-end city jobs for migrant workers, the Chinese government could allocate funding to establishing affordable vocational schools tailored to increasing China’s economic productivity and prioritizing migrant worker’s enrollment. With a more educated workforce, China would benefit from a more stable economic future that is resistant to job displacements caused by rapid technological innovations. The promised financial stability from city work could reach fruition for more migrant workers since most tailored job opportunities would not be deprived of meaningful financial compensations. In addition, the rotten social perception of migrant workers could decrease with more blending between the opportunities given to the city and rural children because, at its core, the perception stems greatly from the belief that the uneducated migrant workers are restricted to lower-end jobs which would resolve itself with a more collectively educated future generation. As improvements to current policies continue thereafter, the gap between the livelihoods of city and rural residents would abridge itself and offer a more hopeful outlook for the migrant workers.

Work Cited:

[1] Jiang, Wenran. “Prosperity at the Expense of Equality: Migrant Workers Are Falling Behind in Urban China’s Rise.” Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China: Chinese and Canadian Perspectives, edited by Erroi P. Mendes and Sakunthala Srighanthan, Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2009, pp. 16-29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ckpdk1.7

[2] Gaetano, Arianne M. Out to Work: Migration, Gender, and the Changing Lives of Rural Women in Contemporary China. University of Hawai’i Press, 2015. Chapter 1 “Rural Women and Migration under Market Socialism” (pp. 14-27) .

Source: The Daily Star

Whenever I ask my mother about her past as a rural Chinese woman, she always mentions her younger brother who she describes as the “prince” of the household. Growing up, every day my mother would wake up to the rooster’s crow and work through a series of unforgiving household chores that included carrying her family’s bucket of human waste to a neighboring waste dump. In one of my mother’s stories, she recounts carrying my two-year-old uncle on her back up the stairs and placing him on the flat ground only for my uncle to trip over his own legs and fall. The cries that poured from my uncle’s fall immediately alerted my grandmother and prompted her to rush to the scene and slap my mother across the face. No questions asked. A searing red handprint marked the beating that my mother remembers as an anecdote for her inferiority as a daughter to a family of one son. My mother’s story sheds light on the upsetting reality that has plagued the lives of countless Chinese daughters.

In essence, most Chinese daughters bear either the burden of living in their brother’s shadows or the thought that their existence is not ideal, sometimes a combination of both. This prejudice against Chinese daughters is not the source of the issue but rather the outcome of Chinese sons being valued significantly more throughout China’s history. From the economic structure of Imperial China that necessitated the biological physical strength of men over that of women to the modern social and cultural implications that stemmed from patriarchal traditional beliefs, the forces guiding Chinese daughters inferiority to sons still remain today, acting as formidable shackles that locked Chinese women away from fully liberating themselves from societal expectations.

The shackles were first crafted in Imperial China through the blending of societal structure and family beliefs with respect to sons holding the greater potential to provide for society and the economic framework thereof. Most available labor back then for peasants revolved around agriculture, which is a physically demanding field. Given the widespread perception that men are fundamentally stronger both physically and mentally than women, agrarian labor opportunities thus became reserved for men only. Since such labor was vital to maintaining a family’s financial security back then, parents viewed having a son as the only way of ensuring the financial stability of the family once they retire. Daughters faced an impossibly high uphill battle in this respect because the aforementioned traditional beliefs confined them to fulfilling their societal roles as filial daughters and well-equipped mothers and not as viable sources of family income. Even the money women made then through their weaving fell short of societal recognition and became a thoughtless duty. This separation of occupations between men and women became institutionalized when the government at the time required taxes to be paid every year through sufficient amounts of grain and cloth. In addition, the demand for effective plowing for grain production reinforced the preference for sons because the association of plowing with men became a social discourse [1]. Having a son thus served a vital economic function and piece in the mobility of Chinese society’s ever-growing labor demands.

These economic rationales were compounded by the perceived intellectual superiority of men over women for the sake of job opportunities and future prosperity. Some Chinese families believe that daughters deserve no further education than sons because the contributions daughters make for society are greatly limited by their responsibilities at home. As a matter of fact, the Civil Service Examination system that bureaucratically served as China’s “test of educational merit [and connection of] dynasty and literati culture” excluded women from the process [2]. Families thus valued their sons more as only they could be eligible and capable of succeeding in this grueling exam system and bringing honor to their family. Through generations of this practice in its traditional sense, the notion of greater educational capacity for men grew and paved the way for increased educational opportunities for men and not for women, as indicated by the late opening of higher education for women in China [3]. Although Spring Grass’s mother received an adequate education growing up, her belief in this traditional construct on education preference between sons and daughters still remained. She even precludes Spring Grass from attending school because of her perceived futility in women’s pursuit of education at the backdrop of their societal standing and responsibilities. It was not until Spring Grass risked dying from starvation did Spring Grass’s mother yield and allow Spring Grass to attend school. This series of events occur while Spring Grass’s younger brothers were already in school, further emphasizing the traditional preference for a son’s education over that of a daughter’s.

Such a collectively powerful belief system generated its momentum in the Chinese society through the generational perseverance of traditional ideologies that immediately prescribe a woman’s life upon entering this world. From learning to knit clothes for her family to knowing how to behave before, during, and after marriage, Chinese daughters seemingly have their lives already planned with no consideration for their own well-being–only for their family’s and eventually their in-law’s well-being [4]. This notion appears awfully like a game of chess where Chinese daughters are essentially the pawns of the family: moving through their calculated lives in servitude. For parents, this long-rooted tradition of treating daughters as voiceless helping hands and destined marriage materials undermines the value of having a daughter. As a matter of fact, the belief that a daughter’s service to her family is ephemeral upon marriage creates concerns over the livelihood of her parents because supposedly–without a son–no one would be there to take care of them at their old age as a filial son would otherwise. With traditional beliefs limiting the lives of daughters and transforming them into moving pieces of society, any perceived benefit associated with having a daughter is quickly diminished and replaced with an increased desire for a son.

This social issue follows the cultural significance of the son carrying forward the family’s surname, and by extension bloodline or lineage, already established itself in most Chinese families as an irrefutable rationale for having a son. In Chinese culture, the continuation of bloodline through surname signifies the power dynamics of the married couple. Because this belief has been well-ingrained in most Chinese households, the passing of the father’s surname to the child has remained commonplace, especially in rural China. The fact that mothers must not only bear the change of their own last name into that of their husbands but also yield to allow the husband to pass on his family’s surname highlights the dominance men play in Chinese households. Giving birth to a son thus brings comfort to the parents since the parents can then take pride in their more dominant offspring who would carry forth the legacy of the family down the bloodline. It is important to note that the dominance factor for men is embedded traditionally in Chinese culture and blends itself into the daily beliefs and actions of Chinese households. Therefore, naming a child by the father’s surname is an assertion of dominance and a thoughtless decision that forgoes the significance of the mother’s contribution and again stresses the preference for a son who would become said husband in the next generation,

These economic and social constructs amount to a noticeable difference in parental treatment between sons and daughters. For instance, even though both my sister and I are capable of great academic and career success, my mother always places greater emphasis on me achieving said accomplishments whereas my sister is deprived of any meaningful parental attention beyond that of instructing household chores. When I asked my mother why I am granted the better end of the stick while my sister is impeded with household responsibilities, my mother would always mention that my sister will be married off whereas I am expected to take care of my parents out of filial piety. This conversation is often followed up with an assertion that the family’s hopes and dreams all rest on my shoulders, meaning that the family’s financial future and social reputation depend on my success. From this perspective, it becomes clear that having a son also paves the path for parents to confidently move forward in their life because the ideals that motivate them to work each day–wealth, reputation, and survival–could be instilled into their sons without the looming concern of a spoiled effort after marriage, as is traditionally the case with daughters.

It is unfortunate that in Chinese society daughters are viewed as greatly inferior to sons on the mere basis of pre-existing economic and social structures that blatantly disregard women’s thoughts and feelings and swiftly place men on the pedestal of societal usefulness. Even my mother who experienced prejudice herself followed through with the traditional practice, which highlights the stronghold the belief system has. Chinese families need to recognize that the merits of having a child are not dependent on the child’s gender in modern society. The past economic structure that necessitated physical labor has shifted with the advent of 21st-century technology. Women and men are both capable of earning substantial income for the family without physical strength playing much of a role. The feudal belief that women must be housewives has already been and continues to be challenged by successful independent women who could now pursue higher education like their male counterparts. In a way, the only barrier stopping sons and daughters from being born into a world of gender equality is the traditional mindset that is very much still alive. I hope I could live up to the success my mom wishes from me but, more importantly, I hope my decision in the future of whether to want a son or a daughter will be non-existent because really that is the first sign of progress.

Work Cited:

[1] Hinsch, Bret. “The Origins of Separation of the Sexes in China.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 123, no. 3, 2003, pp. 599-600. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3217752. 

[2] ELMAN, Benjamin A. “Civil Service Examinations.” Education in China: Educational History, Models, and Initiatives, edited by Qiang ZHA, by Ruth Hayhoe and Heidi Ross, 1st ed., Berkshire, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, 2013, pp. 52. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1j0pszw.14. 

 [3] Wong, Yin Lee. Women’s education in traditional and modern China. Women’s History Review 1995, 4:3, 356

[4]  Wong, Yin Lee. Women’s education in traditional and modern China. Women’s History Review 1995, 4:3, 351

《春草》，第十二集，场景一，0:06.

从五十年代开始，许多中国农民的生活条件极为艰难。他们因为没有“非农业户口”，而不能让孩子上城市里的公立学校；因为工作条件不好，而面临各种健康与人身安全的问题；因为改革开放以后管理农民工的法律很复杂，而需要申请各种各样的执照，也很容易被罚款。《春草》这部小说展示了生活的种种艰难条件对农民工的负面影响。城市里的工作条件如何影响农民工关于金钱的想法？农民工是否认为像户口这样的社会制度不公平？在城市里生活的经济压力之下，春草和何水远越来越认识到钱的重要性。他们认为只要努力势必会成功，从来不质疑社会结构是否公平。

近几十年来，农民工在城市里的生活水平有所提高。不过，小说叙述的故事发生在八十年代，这段时间在中国农民工发展史上具有较为特殊的地位。八十年代以前，中国实行计划经济。在这个制度下，政府对每个劳动者的劳动与流动都控制得非常严格。按照美国人类学家Arianne A. Gaetano的分析，在这个时代，没有非农业户口的农民在城市几乎无法生活下去：“国家政府通过单位分配基本的生活用品与服务，既有直接分派，又通过补助和配给票证来分配。因为这是唯一收到生活用品与服务的途径，所以人们在城市里如果脱离单位的话，几乎无法生存。”[1] 从1978年开始，中国从计划经济转向市场经济，这对农民移人口流动的现象产生了巨大的影响。在八十年代，许多拥有农业户口的人选择离开家乡，利用新的经济模式去城市挣钱：“市场经济在八十年代重新建立之后，国家政府不能用当地户口与基本用品服务之间的相联来限制人口流动了，这是因为农民能在市场上买到生活用品，这样即使离开了家，也能活下去。”[2] 因为农村的工作机会越来越少，他们希望在城市能够多挣钱，以便帮助留在家乡的亲戚。

不过，在城市里维持生计并没有很多农民工本来想象的那么简单。到了城市之后，农民工面临各种阻碍，从非常低的工资到非常高的生活费用再到雇佣者对农民工的歧视行为。城市里的居住许可和营业执照不但很复杂而且比较贵，从而很多农民工不免受到处罚，更不免遭到老板和腐败官员的欺骗。按照Gaetano的研究，女农民工尤其弱势，她们不仅需要付钱买 “婚育证”，而且打工的时候很有可能会遭受到歧视或者骚扰：“因为她们较为年轻，而且离亲戚较远，所以更依靠雇佣者，这让她们更容易遭到歧视和性骚扰。”[3] 大多数农民工没有工作合同，也没有保险，遭受了不公平的待遇也不能向政府报告。正如有些研究所指出的，被欺骗的农民工很少能通过正式的途径收回被克扣的工资：“虽然有不少政府机构可以为打工者提供帮助，但是由于机构的责任分工不清、中央规则和地方规则之间出现冲突、因文书处理、收回工资的费用高昂等原因，所以连特别有决心的人有时候也无法收回工资。”[4] 正因如此，如果一个农民工失业了，或者怀孕了，或者在工作地点受伤了，或者遭到了欺骗，她很有可能在城市无法生活下去，而不得不两手空空地回归家乡。

小说《春草》中的春草与何水远的人物形象象征了历史上八十年代的这一批农民工。烧毁了他们家乡房子的大火固然是他们流动到陕西省的理由之一，但事实上，吸引他们到城市去的工作机会早就存在，何水远早在大火之前已经想说服春草跟他去城市里卖被面，只有当家庭经受的经济压力变得实在难以忍受时，她才同意了。春草与何水远第一次坐火车的时候感到的是交融在一起的恐惧和兴奋，这个感觉应该非常现实，而且他们到了城市看到拥挤的马路，听到几乎听不懂的当地方言，就觉得晕头转向，这也是许多农民工亲身经历过的感觉。他们不懂管理营业的法律，一开业就忽然被警察抓住，要交罚款。他们天天努力，挣的钱仍然不多，到了晚上累得不能开口：“他叹息说，出师不利。要是以往，春草准会问，这四个字什么意思啊？现在她连口都懒得张了。”[5] 显而易见，在城市里，春草和何水远变成了那种水土不服、精疲力尽的农民工，工作条件很艰苦，得依靠别人的善意，一点经济保障都没有。

在这个情况下，春草对钱的看法是什么？她竟然还是认为钱能解决生活中的任何问题，她好像比以前对赚钱更加痴迷。春草住在孟家村时，在她的心目中，钱代表了她逃离家乡的欲望，赚钱是她唯一表示自己的独立性的方法，也是她唯一反抗母亲的方法。到了城市，春草的座右铭仍没有改变——只要能干一定能挣钱，只要挣钱一定能解决任何问题。除了她的能干和她的钱之外，春草什么都没有：“我一个字不认识，只认识钱嘛。”[6] 她的确有挣钱的才能，她很快就学会了贿赂经理、吸引顾客等等，她对此感到自豪。最令人吃惊的是，她以后有了孩子想叫他们 “何万元” 和 “何千金”， 这反映出她深深地相信钱是世界上最有价值的东西，钱是万能的。至于何水远，他没有春草那么沉迷于挣钱，他毕竟强烈地反对春草提出的名字：“俗不可耐，俗不可耐 ….. 我不能让我的孩子叫这样的名字。”[7] 而且，何水远很怕为了挣钱冒风险。他虽然劝春草搬到北方买被子，也提出了开始个体户的计划，但面对风险的时候，他其实变得比较脆弱。比如住在表舅家时，他曾试图说服春草跟他一起回家乡，放弃卖被面的计划，这意味着他了解农民工面临的风险有多么大，对此感到恐惧。尽管如此，何水远也喜欢白日做梦，想象他赚钱以后的理想生活：“我们一定能赚好多好多的钱，两千算什么？我们要做万元户的，我们还要盖楼房，买电视机…..”[8] 在巨大的经济压力之下，春草和何水远并没有质疑钱的价值与作用，他们也没有质疑为什么这个社会让像他们这样的人那么难赚到钱，反而好像变得越来越倾向于消费主义。

何水远愿意买电视机。《春草》，第十二集，场景五，0:29.

春草和何水远这么重视挣钱，这种拼命要赚钱的心态对他们的生活到底产生了什么样的影响？其实，在春草的生活中，只顾赚钱并不完全是一件好事。何家的房子之所以被大火烧掉是因为春草一个人彻夜编织竹篮，她为了多挣点钱，把自己累坏了，造成了不堪设想的后果。在陕西，她不注意表舅的警告，因为急于开始挣钱，所以随便在路上开始卖被面，结果受到处罚。在城市里作农民工已经特别冒风险，如果春草不顾一切地为了挣钱而挣钱，她很有可能会承受比罚款更严重的后果。

在城市里赚钱的风险这么大，而且金钱对春草的生活有了这么大的负面影响，她怎么还能把挣钱当成自己生活中最大的目标？其实，她挣钱的欲望根深蒂固，跟农村的经济条件有密切的关系。在春草贫穷的家乡，人们之所以拼命挣钱是为了维持生活而已，而不是因为他们希望发大财。春草小时候，她家里的钱很少，母亲总是说因为钱不够，所以她不能去上学，这是她渴望赚钱的根源：“钱！又是钱！我长大了一定要挣钱！春草咬着嘴唇，在心里发誓。”[9] 对童年的春草来说，只要能赚钱，什么都可以做。从农村搬到城市之后，她的本心并没有改变，而是她挣钱的能力改变了。她突然发现了自己是赚钱的天才，也发现了钱可以用来买各种消费品，因此，维持生活的希望自然地变成了发财的欲望。因为春草从小一直认为有钱的人什么都可以做，她一点也没有质疑社会结构公平不公平。对她来说，她是不是生活在不公平的社会制度之下并不重要，只要能赚钱就好。

在八十年代，城市里的农民面临了巨大的风险与压力。农民工当时面临的生活条件不但很艰难，而且很不公平，他们不能享有市民的经济保障和稳定生活。尽管如此，很多像春草这样的农民工还是决定到城市来工作，他们并没有认为自己的艰难生活条件不公平，反而在这个情况下更加相信了金钱是万能的，更加梦想发大财。《春草》这部小说向我们展示了在巨大的经济压力之下，金钱的诱惑会变得越来越强烈，而具有讽刺意义的是，这种“金钱之上”的理念所造成的社会制度与结构可能会让他们的生活变得更糟。

[1] Gaetano, Arianne M. Out to Work: Migration, Gender, and the Changing Lives of Rural Women in Contemporary China. University of Hawai’i Press, 2015. Chapter 1, “Rural Women and Migration under Market Socialism,” 17. “With the state, through the work units, the sole distributor of basic goods and services, whether directly or through allocation of subsidies and ration tickets, it was nearly impossible to exist outside the work-unit system in urban areas.”

[2] Ibid., 18-19. “The reestablishment of a market economy in the 1980s  meant the state could no longer control migration by linking basic goods and services, especially food staples and housing, to local hukou registration, because peasants could manage to survive away from their villages by purchasing goods on the market.”

[3] Ibid., 23. “Moreover, their relative youth and inexperience and their distance from kin reinforce their dependence on employers and make them highly vulnerable to discrimination and sexual harassment.”

[4] Jiang, Wenran. “Prosperity at the Expense of Equality: Migrant Workers Are Falling Behind in Urban China’s Rise.” Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China: Chinese and Canadian Perspectives, edited by Erroi P. Mendes and Sakunthala Srighanthan, Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2009, 24. “While there are numerous government agencies that workers may approach for assistance, overlapping responsibilities, conflicting central and provincial regulations, procedural hassles, and high recovery costs often bar even the most determined from successfully claiming their wages.”

[5] 裘山山，《春草》，第十三章， 134.

[6] 裘山山，《春草》，第十三章， 135.

[7] 裘山山，《春草》，第十三章， 142.

[8] 裘山山，《春草》，第十三章， 141.

[9] 裘山山，《春草》，第三章，31.

春草在山上喊出来。《春草》，第四集，场景八，0:59.

在《春草》这部小说中，春草在堂伯家打工时遭受到堂伯的性骚扰。虽然这个场景是小说里最令人震撼的一个部分，但春草回家后压抑了自己的痛苦，关于受到骚扰的经历她一句话都没说。她为何没有把这件事告诉堂婶，也没有告知父母或者向村长报告？父亲问她怎么提前回家了，她为何一直保持沉默？这几个问题涉及到多种社会现象，比如女子教育、传统儒家思想与男尊女卑的社会结构。在这几种力量的多重压迫下，春草无法开口，更无法保护自己，而只能默默地忍受自己的怨恨与委屈。这种保护自己的本能与社会要求个人忍受痛苦的需求之间发生了冲突，这个矛盾影响到了春草人生的各个阶段。

在二十世纪，基于儒家思想的观念仍然对普通人产生巨大的影响。这种传统思想轻视妇女的道德与才能，儒家经典作品中不乏这样的例子。比如儒家思想规定女子必须 “三从四德“，女人一辈子应该服从男人的命令。不管是父亲的、丈夫的还是儿子的话，她们都必须听从：“未嫁从父，既嫁从夫，夫死从子。”[1] 更加令人吃惊的是这句俗话，“女子无才便是德。”[2] 换句话说，没有才能的女子才是有品德的女性。这种观念是父权社会压迫妇女的主要方法。无论是性格直爽还是有志向的女人在这个制度下都不得不嫁给男人，所以她们只能压抑自己的性格，服从男人的意愿。不管一个女人在心里有多么委屈，她都不能公然表示自己的不满。从这方面来看，儒家思想最重要的作用是逼迫妇女保持沉默，这正是父权制的基础。

从小说的开头开始，儒家思想对春草身边人的影响极为明显，春草的姑妈是最典型的一个例子。虽然她的丈夫好几年前就去世了，但因为儒家思想说女人得“从一而终”，就是说她们一生一世得忠于一个丈夫，所以她一直没有再婚。全村人都像春草的姑妈一样遵从儒家思想。人们对女子教育的看法固然在1949年以后有所开放，但村里女人仍然得扮演 “贤妻良母” 的传统角色[3]，这意味着小说里的性别角色和古代社会的性别角色没有很大的区别。女人仍然得服从男人，如果受到男人的虐待或其他暴力行为，她们仍不能公然求助。要是一个女人没有受过教育，或者父母比一般的父母严格，她就尤其容易甘于传统的性别角色，这就是春草去堂伯家时的情况。

虽然小说里叙述的性骚扰与电视剧里的情节有一定的区别，但我们还是能从传统性别角色的角度来分析这两个不同的版本。在小说里，春草第一次受到堂伯的骚扰，她害怕得不能说话。堂伯第二次靠近她，企图进行性侵犯，她仍然害怕得只能说出四个字：“堂伯，我怕。”[4] 从这两个场景不难看出，害怕是她不把这件事告诉别人的原因之一。不过，还有两个更深刻、更隐性的原因。其一，春草一开始不懂犯错的是堂伯，她毕竟没有受到性教育，甚至以为遭受骚扰是她自己的错。她想，“她只是吓着了，有些委屈，又有些莫名的兴奋。她很想问问谁，出了这样的事是她不对还是堂伯不对？是不是十五岁的女伢儿不该长这样的胸脯？是不是被堂伯这样摸过就不是姑娘了？” 她这样把这件事情归咎于自己身上也反映出父权社会对遭受性侵犯的女人的态度，受害者常常会受到社会的批判，春草好像也害怕受到村里人的批评。其二，在男尊女卑的社会里，春草的地位低于堂伯，以至于堂伯把春草的身体看成自己的财产。因为堂婶的地位比春草的高一些，她能替春草批评堂伯的行为，不过堂伯还是滥用自己的权力，他高声骂她：“你再胡乱讲讲看！”[5] 堂伯跟春草说的最后一句既是求情，又是威胁：“不要跟你姆妈讲。”[6] 堂伯以自己的性别地位作为武器，逼迫堂婶和春草保持沉默，这导致春草回家之后变得非常寡言，仿佛堂伯的那个隐形的武器还在威胁她。

在电视剧里，犯罪的不是堂伯，而是他儿子，也就是春草的堂哥。电视剧里的两次骚扰和小说里的比较相似，但是两个版本有三个值得讨论的不同之处。首先，春草高声地反对堂哥的侵犯，她甚至试图叫家里别人来帮她，虽然她没有成功，但她还是很明显知道堂哥在犯错，她一定知道这件事绝对不是她自己的错。其次，堂伯替儿子真诚地道歉。

堂伯替儿子为春草道歉。“我替那混账东西赔罪！” 《春草》，第三集，场景八，3:56.

这好像意味着社会上最有权力的那些人与人为善，虽说有的是“坏蛋”，但他们只是少数而已，整个社会制度没有任何问题。再次，春草回家后，她姆妈马上猜出在堂伯家发生了什么，毫不犹豫地跑到堂伯家对质。电视剧里的姆妈比堂伯强大得多，这意味着女人只要勇敢而自信，就能与父权制抗衡。总的来说，电视剧没有对社会进行真正的批评，在这一点上与小说截然不同。

春草在这两个故事版本里都陷入了一种进退两难的困境。如果她服从父权社会的潜规则的话，她就无法保护自己，也无法发挥自己的才能。然而，如果她追求一种特立独行的生活，把自己忍住的心里话说出来，却会遭到社会的谴责，村里的父母都不会接受她嫁给自己的儿子。为了得到身边人的认可，春草只得不断地压抑自己，这当然会伤害她的心理健康，“一般情况下春草是不会生气的，她怕心口痛，那滋味儿太难受了。她学会了忍。实在不能忍了，还有喊。“[7] 显而易见，春草不能一辈子压制自己的感情。但不管春草花多少精力压抑自己的内心，村里人还是认为她不符合理想的性别角色。按照 “女子无才便是德“ 这种观念，只有那些跟 “贤妻良母 有直接关系的才能才算是 有“德”，任何其他的才能跟道德绝不相容。因此，春草身边的村民把她的独立看作是一件坏事。有的用生理上的歧视来解释春草不符合传统角色的行为，“这应该算是春草的第四个特点了：不懂风情。村里人这么说的。当然有的甚者，说她是个石女。春草不懂石女是什么意思，听了当没听。”[8] 还有的人认为春草独立的生活方式很可疑，“总之在大家心目中，春草这个姑娘是有点不寻常的，直截了当地说，是古怪的。”[9] 叫她 “石女” 或  “古怪”的人好像不能想象女人可以独立自主，她们认为要是春草最大的目标不是找丈夫，要是她不甘于自己的性别角色，就不算是一个正常女子了。

春草不知道怎么改变自己的生活处境，她毕竟无法反抗整个社会男尊女卑的结构。喊出来是她唯一发泄怒气的方法，她这样喊就代表她反抗父权社会的欲望。不过，她还能想象另一种改善生活的策略——逃离姆妈，搬到离老家越远越好的地方，嫁给一位外地的老师。在春草心目中，她母亲是压迫的化身。她并不理解姆妈本来也是被压迫的女人，母亲之所以让春草符合传统性别角色是因为母亲已把男尊女卑的思想内化为自己的思想，而不是因为她想故意压迫女儿。春草逃离母亲的愿望反映出她逃离传统性别角色的梦想，她希望逃走之后能直接说出自己的心里话，不用再默默地经受性骚扰、承受委屈。她只有停止自我压抑才会感到真正的快乐。她能否在小说的结尾之前得到这种自由而幸福的生存方式呢？我们拭目以待。

[1] Wong, Yin Lee. Women’s education in traditional and modern China. Women’s History Review 1995, 4:3, 347.

[2] Wong, 353.

[3] Wong, 345.

[4] 裘山山，《春草》，第五章，48。

[5] 裘山山，《春草》，第五章，48。

[6] 裘山山，《春草》，第五章，50。

[7] 裘山山，《春草》，第六章，57。

[8] 裘山山，《春草》，第六章，59。

[9] 裘山山，《春草》，第六章，63。

From my cultural experiences as an American and the readings for this tutorial, it is clear that there are many cultural differences between China and America. As more Western ideals gain global traction with the increase of globalization, some traditional Chinese ideals have withstood the test of time. Filial piety is one of these ideals. Filial piety, a duty to care for and listen to one’s parents in their old age as repayment for all they’ve done for you, stands in contrast to the more individualistic Western ideals that seep into family care. The complex mesh of cultures in America prevents me from coming to one universal ideal about parental care but the emphasis on parental care is not as seriously stressed in a more individualistic society. On a spectrum of China’s collectivist attitude to America’s individualistic attitude towards parental care, my parent’s attitude is closer to the collectivist ideal. I’d argue that that’s because of my grandparent’s immigrant values and that this is likely the case for many families that immigrated to America. This essay examines the differences between Chinese ideals, American ideals, and my mom’s ideals which are a mix of American values and her immigrant parent’s values.

Filial piety has served as a pillar in society and the Chinese family structure since its introduction via Confucianism. Simply put, filial piety is an obligation to care for one’s parents after all they’ve done for you but it’s much more complicated than this. Confucianism is centered around the family, loyalty, harmony, and self-discipline. Confucianism and ideals like filial piety provide a structure and a model for harmonious relationships within a family. The relationship between child and parent is one of the Five Cardinal Relationships of Confucianism and filial piety is necessary to maintain this stable relationship. Without filial piety and a harmonious relationship between child and parent, Confucianism assumes that the stability and order of society would crumble. Filial piety is required by society and not solely the morally right thing to do. Filial piety is also not contingent on parents successfully caring for their child. Through some stories read to the youth like The Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety, even if a parent mistreated their child or wasn’t able to provide the necessary resources for them, the child respected and cared for the needs of the parent first. Because this relationship was so important to Confucian society, the collective interest and the societal pressure to maintain this relationship came before the individual interest of the child. While I focus on the emphasis in filial piety for the child to care for the parent, it is important to recognize the obligation for the parent to care for the child. Filial piety also manifests itself in various other ways that I won’t focus on but are still important to address like the exchange of food or the burial services for family members. I will be using the general context I provided above to examine Spring Grass’ relationship with her parents and my mom’s relationship with hers.

Spring Grass’ sense of filial piety is complicated but she does still feel an obligation to care for her mother. The reader witnesses Spring Grass’ tough upbringing and her original dislike for her mother but we also hear her inner thoughts and how often her mother and father wander into her mind. Spring Grass’ decision to pay for her mother’s surgery shows the role that filial piety likely played in her making that choice. Spring Grass states even before finally deciding to pay for the surgery in full that if her mother had just asked she would pay for the surgery. Rivers Ho or their financial situations are concerns but her obligation to her mother is more important than her obligation to her husband and money. This becomes even more important when taking into account how much of Spring Grass’ motivation throughout the book is to make money. No matter how complicated her relationship with her mother, her duty as a daughter surpasses her personal desires to make and keep money. This choice also puts her and Rivers Ho in a more difficult situation when considering how they will pay for their children’s education. This further illustrates how significant Spring Grass’ sense of filial piety as a daughter is because she’s willing to risk more work and harder times trying to finance her children’s education. Spring Grass’ duty to take care of her parents, particularly her mother, surpasses all her other responsibilities as a wife, mother, individual, and worker. This is also surprising because typically in Confucian society, the sons and not the daughters would be expected to help the parents financially. While I think Spring Grass’ filial piety played a large role in her decision to financially help her mother, I also believe her moral character among other factors contributed to this decision. Spring Grass’ family staying as a whole unit at any cost is the most important thing for her and this conflicts with the Western ideals for parental care.

While in the media and in the culture, family structure and harmony are very important in America it is not as culturally significant as it is in Chinese culture expressed in the book. I can not think of an American ideal that comes as close to the importance and significance of filial piety. In America, as in most places globally, parental care is the morally right thing to do but it is not a requirement like filial piety. It is important to take care of the elderly and one’s parents but having your parents cared for by a caretaker or in a nursing home is just as fine as caring for them yourself. A less hands-on approach is normalized which makes sense because American culture is not centered around the family but the individual. Individual work schedules and responsibilities complicate the amount of time left to spend with family and the prioritization of that family time. This stands in contrast to a more collectivist culture like China that still encourages individual success and working hard but also prioritizes family and the collective first. While the Chinese attitude towards societal balance places the collective first, the American attitude places the individual first. Parental care is usually done out of love or moral obligation but in America there is a certain transactional element. If parents mistreat their children, the child has no obligation to care for them in their old age or keep in contact with them once they’re an adult. A certain quality of care for the child is necessary for the parents to eventually reap the benefits of that quality care in their old age. Some of these values have affected the way my mom views parental care but my grandparent’s immigrant cultural beliefs and more collectivist values have more strongly impacted my mom.

My mom’s parents both immigrated from Jamaica when they were teenagers or young adults and thus raised her with Jamaican ideals when caring for your family. Jamaican ideals for familial care seem closer to Chinese collectivism than the more lax American ideal. Jamaica, and many Caribbean countries, tend to be more collectivist. This makes sense given the great deal of history and struggle that has happened on these islands. Jamaica gained independence from Britain in 1962. After all the tragedy pre-emancipation and the upward climb to reshape their society and become economically competitive post-emancipation, collectivism was necessary to ensure the survival and the growth of the nation. They did not have the resources to afford to put the individual first as many Western countries did around that same time. This is similar in many countries that also have high immigration rates to more Western countries: “Collectivist cultures are associated with less wealth and thus with higher rates of emigration. As a result, most immigrant families are more collectivist than the societies to which they are immigrating” (Hynie). This collectivist culture seeps into the Jamaican views on parental care.

Not only are Jamaican children obligated by a sense of responsibility to care for their parents, it’s the law. Under Section 10 of the Maintenance Act, it reads: “Every person who is not a minor has an obligation, to the extent that the person is capable of doing so, to maintain the person’s parents and grandparents who are in need of such maintenance by reason of age, physical or mental infirmity or disability” (Jamaica, 2005, 9). While both of my grandparents are relatively young, in their early 60s, and still care for themselves, she still does play an active role in their lives. They text and call frequently, my grandma visits our apartment monthly and exchanges meals and groceries with my mom, and my grandpa drove me to my boarding school every break for my four years in high school. This close, intergenerational interaction will likely result in my mom and her sister taking up a lot of the responsibility of caring for her parents once they can no longer care for themselves. During my childhood, my great grandfather who was also from Jamaica lived with us until his death. We had a caretaker there while my mom was at work and my sister and I were at school but as soon as we returned, we cared for him. Sending him to a nursing home was never considered an option. He spent his last days in a hospital only because of the severity of his health issues or else we would have cared for him at home. My mom’s cultural ideas about caring for one’s parents reflect a sense of duty to be directly involved in caring for older family members and keeping them close is a must.

China’s collectivist culture makes caring for one’s parents a requirement for societal harmony no matter how they may have treated you growing up. This is exemplified through Spring Grass’ complicated relationship with her mother in her youth but her instant willingness to help her mother when needed. America’s individualistic culture treats parental care as the morally right thing to do but it is partially dependent on how they raised you. My mom has shown an obligation to care for her parents in their old age as hands-on as she can and I expect that I will do the same. Given how diverse America is, individual familial cultures and the country from which your family immigrated have a stronger impact on parental care than general Western ideals. The more individualistic the culture, the more lax the attitudes towards parental care. The more collectivist the culture, the more parental care becomes a requirement and the larger the societal significance of parental care becomes. Cultural attitudes towards parental care are shaped by the intersections between many factors as their society takes shape. While the circumstances were different in America, China, and Jamaica, America is in an interesting position given how large the immigrant population is. The more collectivist values of immigrant cultures clash with the more individualistic values of American culture. While this culture clash has been ongoing for years, as globalization and capitalism gain more traction, this clash becomes more significant and it complicates how I and many kids of my generation may view parental care in the future.

Citations:

1. Jamaica, Ministry of Justice, 2005, The Maintenance Act. Ministry of Justice. https://moj.gov.jm/sites/default/files/laws/Maintenance%20Act.pdf
2. Hynie, Michaela. “5.0. FROM CONFLICT TO COMPROMISE: IMMIGRANT FAMILIES AND THE PROCESSES OF ACCULTURATION.” McGill University. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10977692.pdf
3. Teon, Aris. (2016, March 14). “Filial Piety (孝) in Chinese Culture”, The Greater China Journal. https://china-journal.org/2016/03/14/filial-piety-in-chinese-culture/

       Spring Grass came into the world small like a blade of grass but unexpectedly loud. Her cries overpowered the rainfall outside as her parents marvelled at the noise coming from a baby her size. They joked that she split the clouds open with her cries that morning but this would be the last time for a while that Spring Grass tried to defy the rain. When she was little, she became quiet as her mother berated her while requiring her help for tasks around the home. Like grass, she was not the most important plant but she was necessary for her ecosystem. Her mother could not do all of the household tasks by herself and Spring Grass was the only help she had. Despite doing all of this, Spring Grass was still overlooked in her home considering all the work she did. And that’s how it went for many days in Spring Grass’ young life, but she was resilient despite her odds. 

        Spring Grass’ day started before dawn. In the comfort of the night, she helped her mother with house chores before she went to school. Even though the sun had not risen while she worked, the skies were often cloudy in the morning. If Spring Grass was a blade of grass, her mother was these clouds and the rain. She vocalized her emotions towards Spring Grass loudly and without care like how a storm does not think of the grass and the plants below. The clouds of her mother’s anger often concealed the warmth that her father made her feel. Spring Grass looked up to him so fondly and felt so understood like grass basking in the warmth of the sun. Her mother’s emotions also came in waves. Spring Grass’ was used to the little remarks or glares her mother would give her daily. These moments came often like seasonal rainfall and Spring Grass knew when rain would come. She had grown up with these storms and had bared her mother’s critique since she was little. Her mother’s moments of sincerity are what threw Spring Grass for a loop. Like a soft drizzle, her mother’s sincere words fell on Spring Grass’ ears. Rain this gentle rarely came. Spring Grass enjoyed the rain on these gentle days but almost wished for the normal rain because she didn’t trust the calm before the storm.

        Other times, her mother seemed like a thunderstorm. The sky would turn gray and the sun would disappear as the rain poured heavily. But no matter how hard the rain poured down, Spring Grass never completely gave up. Just as a strong blade of grass could only be weighed down by so much water before it dripped off, Spring Grass was not weighed down by these words. She would make her mother understand the lengths she was willing to go to get what she desired. Spring Grass did not eat when she felt she had no other option to express how badly she wanted to go to school. Though the conditions were harsh, Spring Grass was born during a storm and had a determined spirit to find more gentle weather somewhere else eventually.  

        But one day there was no rain. Spring Grass always knew something was wrong when she couldn’t hear her mother complaining and this was the case in the winter of 1971. Spring Grass had achieved her goal of attending school after her hunger strike. Like a blade of grass bearing the harsh winter conditions, she held out for spring and the new possibilities that brought for her. Spring Grass wanted to get the top score in her final exams. But she went home one day and her mother was silent and in bed. No rain and no yelling. Her mother had fallen and her father explained that she’d have to quit school to help out with the responsibilities at home. Her duties as a daughter came first, and her desire to be a student came second. Her hopes had been trampled on as grass gets stepped on without any thought of how the grass might feel. This was almost worse than the rain. It was like the sun and the clouds were reflecting on each other and had created a glare that Spring Grass couldn’t stand to look at. She had to leave. 

        Her father, the sun, knew how much this meant to her. He was just as proud as she hoped when she got the highest mark on her exams. He also knew exactly how she felt when she saw her mother injured on the bed. Her father made her feel warm and understood like the sun. Though he was not as aggressive of a force as her mother, his presence could still be felt like the sun’s rays on the plants below. After a storm sometimes the clouds would part a bit and the sun would peak out. Her father often didn’t know what to do to stop their arguments but his presence alone meant that she felt truly seen and understood. The clouds of her mother’s anger almost felt suffocating and she wondered why her dad was so passive with her mom. Once, the sun remained out while it rained and refused to get covered by the clouds. When Spring Grass went on her hunger strike to join her brothers in school, her father raised his voice at her mother for the first time she had ever heard. She did not know he was capable of making such loud noises and learned that the strength of the sun is no less than the force of the rain. But today she did not want to see the force of the sun, not in this way. She knew he didn’t want to have to do this, but it still hurt. Spring Grass ran. She ran away from home, past the village, up the hilltop. She tried to outrun the sun, it’s brightness dimming the longer she ran. She ran until the wind felt sharp rushing past her face like she was flying. 

        Her brothers, Spring Rain, Spring Wind, and Spring Sun, reminded her of this wind. Their lives were completely different than hers. They did not have to do any of the tasks Spring Grass’ mother gave her. They got to attend school while she had to leave. Like the wind, her brothers moved and acted freely in a way that she never could. They seemed unaware of what she went through as a blade of grass and she understood that she could not live like them. She was a girl and they were boys. 

        But Spring Rain was different. He is still a gust of wind but he sympathized with Spring Grass. Spring Rain brought her hope of cities and a life far away just like how a pleasant scent can be carried a long distance by the wind. While her older brothers and their new wives served as reminders of her inevitable fate, Spring Rain was a gentle breeze of fresh air. He wanted to bring her with him into the city when he went to university and she desperately wanted to be as far away from her village as possible. Though the wind will never know what it’s like to be a blade of grass and vice versa, the wind blows softly on the grass which is grateful for the foreign scents the wind carries. 

         They also had the ability to act on others in a way that she could not. Spring Rain, Spring Wind, and Spring Sun are names that bring up strong forces that act on nature.They have mobility to choose what they’d like to do growing up or who they’d like to be. A name like Spring Grass does not bring up a strong force but a plant that those forces are acted upon. Grass can not act upon the rain, the wind, or the sun and can only react. Spring Grass didn’t get to choose to stay in school, she had no option but to leave. Spring Grass is rooted into their home with her mother until she is married when she will be uprooted and live elsewhere. The future of a blade of grass, no matter how strong, is a bit dim compared to the possibilities the wind holds. 

        By the time Spring Grass caught her breath on the hilltop, the wind felt more gentle as the sun began to set and she yelled. She yelled to her heart’s content and got no answers in return. The sun had set by now and the moon was slowly rising. As she looked up at, tears streaming down her face after losing her dream, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the stories of her aunt. When her aunt had been around, she argued with Spring Grass’ mother often. They refused to be outdone by each other but her mother couldn’t do much because her aunt had money. Her aunt held her head high like how the brightness of the moon never manages to be covered no matter how cloudy the sky at night. 

        Her aunt was also harsh on her before but after her death she thought of her a bit more fondly. She used to tell Spring Grass stories from her past before she went to bed and she often missed that now. Her aunt told stories about how skilled a young woman she was, her adventures, and more. These stories gave Spring Grass hope for the future. She also gave Spring Grass all of her savings when she died. As her aunt fondly looked down at her during her time on earth, the moon shone brightly down on Spring Grass. While Spring Grass was preoccupied with her mom during the day, at night her aunt talked to her and she felt like they were talking now. Spring Grass was still upset having to quit school but watching the moon on the hilltop gave her a small bit of reassurance. Though the odds weren’t in her favor, she’d still find a way to get what she wanted eventually. 

        As Spring Grass walked back home in the dark, she couldn’t help but still be mad at her mother. She hated her mother and thinks her mother hates her but rain is necessary for growth along with sunlight. An excess or shortage of either is detrimental to the growth of a blade of grass. The warmth and patience of her father balances the quick tongue and temper of her mother. It rains often but the rain is followed by the sun. And the moon provides her with comfort and protection from the weather during the day. Spring Grass also knows that the wind is affected by these natural forces in a different way than they affect her. All three forces can act on her in powerful ways and she manages to react in clever ways that make up for her lack of power. Though Spring Grass may often feel like a small blade of grass, she is tougher than she looks and full of hope. She can bear harsh conditions no matter what forces are at play. And like how spring is a time of new beginnings and hope, Spring Grass’ day ends and tomorrow morning holds new possibilities. 

        Spring Grass’ experience as a migrant worker in a busy city in chapters 11 through 13 of Spring Grass, details an experience that was both familiar and unfamiliar for the time. She leads her husband into the shop that helps them sell pillow cases which was unconventional in that era. However, her nerves and lack of knowledge traveling into the unknown territory of the city mirrored the experiences of workers before her. Where her story pauses with her and River Ho largely in control of where they sell and the profit they make, many migrant workers have no control of how much they make or when they get paid. Migrant workers have been subject to suboptimal treatment socially and economically as globalization and a more westernized capitalist economic approach have gained traction in China. This essay will examine the various ways in which migrant workers have been disadvantaged in the past by the Chinese government, economic, and social structures. Then, the essay will discuss the complications that reframing migrant’s status could have on China due to globalization.

        The disadvantages migrant workers face fall into two overarching categories: social and economic. Social disadvantages refer to the disadvantages that affect their social status or mobility in society, their interpersonal interactions with family, and their access to similar benefits afforded to urban citizens. Economic disadvantages refers to the disadvantages that affect their pay, their ability to find less taxing work, and require large fees from migrant workers in cities. These two types of disadvantages are interconnected and affect the daily lives of migrant workers. I will first focus on the economic disadvantages and the history behind the systems that have led to this point.

        China’s economic structure over the past few decades has catapulted them into the spotlight because of their fast economic growth. This period of market success stemmed from economic reform policies put in place by Deng Xiaoping in 1979. Prior to these reforms, China had an economic system where prices and profit were controlled by the government and had limits on foreign trade. After 1979, China’s potential for economic growth exploded. “Since then, the Chinese economy has achieved an average annual growth rate of about 10%. This growth is unprecedented in world history, with the exception of small, diamond-rich Botswana” (Wu, 2000, 279). These reforms gradually opened up their closed economy and increased profits leading to the more capitalistic economic approach China has today. China is in an economically desirable position but that has come at a cost to an often overlooked population: migrant workers. In this capitalistic system, migrant workers are at the bottom of the hierarchy and receive the brunt of the disadvantages this system can bring.

        Since migrant workers typically lack higher than a middle school education and are often referred to jobs in cities not by employers but by fellow village members, they are more susceptible to being taken advantage of. In cities, they know little about their environment with even less knowledge on how to negotiate with an employer or demand ethical working conditions before starting their jobs. River Ho and Spring Grass experience similar difficulties in chapters 12 and 13 of Spring Grass. Spring Grass, riding on a foreign train into a city where she knows one person and nothing else, is terrified. Her fear and River Ho’s optimism as they venture into the city to sell their wares mirrors the emotions likely felt by other migrant workers. They’re hopeful that they’ll make more money than they could in the village but overwhelmed by the unfamiliarity of everything around them. This unease makes them weary of job contracts and their employers which ultimately hurts them more economically than it helps them. Employers can go months at a time without paying migrant workers and they have no legal way to fight back. Multiple surveys conducted in big cities found that “migrant workers’ work time is twice that of their urban counterparts. But at the same time they only receive 60 percent of urban workers’ average salary” (Jiang, 2009, 23). Though the government has recognized and implemented policies to help for over two decades, profit is more important in a capitalist system. The employer is merely the middleman to get the products the migrant workers make to the international brands looking to make a large profit. Everyone in this hierarchy shares the common goal of wanting to make enough money to live comfortably but migrant workers are disproportionately negatively affected.

        Another economic factor that adds further stress on these workers are the fees and formal paperwork necessary to move from village to city. The fees range anywhere from 500-1000 RMB with the average salary from a factory job being 539 RMB (Jiang, 2009, 25). These fees symbolize a conflict between tradition and modernity. Cities are the epicenters of globalization and commerce and these expensive fees serve as a deterrent to keep villagers out. In attempting to increase the urban population and the notability of Chinese cities globally, a certain image of economic class and youthfulness is important. A city filled with young college-educated adults seeking rewarding jobs and ways to spend their money is economically preferred to a city filled with older inhabitants who have never had these luxuries and work menial jobs in the eyes of some. This conflict also serves as a symbol of the hukou system’s legacy in China. The system was initially used to tightly control migration from villages into cities to improve conditions where one is born. Under the hukou system, the identity and benefits an individual receives is tied to whether they’re from a city or a village and individuals in cities were afforded more benefits. This created a subtle negative stigma that villagers don’t belong in cities that seeped into the employment market in big cities. Even though urbanization and migration are now openly encouraged, village workers have not been able to shake off the stigma that the hukou system placed on them. The system was never meant to hurt migrant workers but through China’s modernization they were unintentionally hurt. This constant conflict between tradition and modernity seeps into the social disadvantages migrant workers face.

        Migrant workers’ complicated access to social mobility is another reflection of China’s complex relationship between tradition and modernity. Migrant workers social mobility is often stagnant because the potential to improve your mobility within a village doesn’t compare to the potential within a city. Cities are densely-populated economic centers with plenty of opportunities if you have the money or resources. Villages and villagers symbolize China’s past. The systems that once were the backbone of a nation are no longer as beneficial or as profitable as they once were.

        Despite these disadvantages, there is an expectation that the children of migrant workers will overcome these trials and improve their social status. If migrant workers are making the bridge from tradition to modernity, their kids are expected to cross that bridge at a young age and use their parent’s sacrifices to make a better life for themselves and their future family. In the documentary Last Train Home, the couple the documentary follows put a lot of pressure on their daughter, Qin, and her brother to do well in school. They often further this argument by saying that it’ll benefit them in the future and that they don’t want to end up like how their parents did. This hounding at times and the absence of the parents to work in the city, creates a disconnect and resentment in their daughter. In Qin and her mother’s relationship I see a mirror to Spring Grass and her mother. Both mothers are trying to help their daughters in the best ways that they know how but that is often unclear to the daughters who misinterpret their tough love. Neither party is at fault but there is a disconnect between the parent’s dream of status for their daughter and the daughter’s dreams for herself. The social disadvantages of their villager status complicate their familial relationships. It also furthers the belief that the blame for lower status is on the individual and not on the system. Though agency plays a big role in this, “inequality now appears as the result of each individual’s different ability to exercise rational choice and succeed (or fail) at accruing wealth and status” (Gaetano, 2015, 15). More pressure is put on themselves and their family to work harder and as a result more money should come. This ideology does not acknowledge the role that a more capitalistic society plays.

        In a capitalist society, hard work does not always equate to more money and status but that is the message that is sold to the public. In the early 2000s in China, the Chinese Dream emerged. The belief that you could work hard into a comfortable, ideal lifestyle regardless of your background spread like wildfire. Making individuals directly responsible for their economic circumstances takes the blame off of the systems that created these circumstances. There is only so much one person can do to improve their status if there’s an obstacle at every step of the way preventing them from moving upwards. The disadvantages migrant workers face does not stem from a place of malice or a genuine desire to see these workers fail. These disadvantages likely stem from two sources: a lack of effective structures put in place to protect these workers and the exacerbation of the problem by globalization.

        The globalization of China occurred when they entered the World Trade Organization in 2001. Their addition to this organization was preceded by many economic changes in the 1990s to better prepare the country for the global market. These changes proved worthwhile as China has seen a significant amount of economic growth. China is currently seen by many as “the world’s largest economy (on a purchasing power parity basis) manufacturer, merchandise exporter and importer, and holder of foreign exchange reserves” (Hang, 2017, 48). Their economic rise does not seem to show any signs of stopping and migrant workers significantly contribute to their economy. These workers produce products for foreign and domestic brands at incredibly low prices so large amounts of profit can be made by the brands these products are for. In America, we enjoy the benefits of this profit without truly thinking about the needs of the people who make that profit possible. China is in a more complicated situation. The profit from these exports and manufacturing greatly helps the economy but increases the wealth gap. As China’s economy is increasingly influenced by Western capitalism, serious thought needs to be given to the social repercussions of this.

        At its core, globalization is about the flow of capital and capitalism can’t benefit everyone. The country that can find the cheapest labor and have the greatest profit margins has more global power and more effectively utilizes capitalism. China has currently set itself up to be a leading provider of cheap labor. The people who do not greatly benefit from these systems are migrant workers but reforming the systems that disadvantage them affects more than just China. “For the first time in history, emerging economies are counterparts in more than half of global trade flows, and trade between these countries is the fastest-growing type of connection” (Woetzel, 2017, 2). If China reinforced stricter guidelines to better serve migrant workers, the global export and manufacturing industry would also change for better or for worse. Globalization is a double-edged sword and China has entered a grey area in which globalization must be looked at more critically for its advantages and disadvantages. It promises potential economic benefits and global power but at the expense of Chinese citizens. The social and economic wellbeing of all citizens is a priority in most countries but serious and effective reforms are necessary in China in order to improve the lifestyles of migrant workers.

Citations:

1. Wu, Yanrui. “Is China’s Economic Growth Sustainable? A Productivity Analysis.” China Economic Review, Vol. 11, Issue 3, 2000, pp. 278-296.
2. Gaetano, Arianne M. “Rural Women and Migration under Market Socialism.” Out to Work: Migration, Gender, and the Changing Lives of Rural Women in Contemporary China, University of Hawai’i Press, 2015, pp. 14–27.
3. Jiang, Wenran. “Prosperity at the Expense of Equality: Migrant Workers Are Falling Behind in Urban China’s Rise.” Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China: Chinese and Canadian Perspectives, edited by Erroi P. Mendes and Sakunthala Srighanthan, University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa, 2009, pp. 16–29.
4. Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy. “The Rise of China: Challenges, Implications, and Options for the United States.” Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, vol. 30, no. 1/2, 2017, pp. 47–64. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26465816. Accessed 13 Mar. 2021.
5. Woetzel, Jonathan at al. “CHINA’S ROLE IN THE NEXT PHASE OF GLOBALIZATION.” McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey & Company, 2017, pp. 1-21.