China in Ten Words

by Yu Hua

When I first came to China, I read a book called Dreaming in Chinese.  It was the recollections of a foreign woman who lived in both Beijing and Shanghai, explaining how her study of language helped her better understand Chinese culture.  I read it at a good time--being in China gave me a real idea of what she described, but it was also able to teach me some useful things about culture, not to mention helpful words and grammar points.  Last week, I found the Chinese equivalent.
     China in Ten Words ties the author's experiences growing up during the Cultural Revolution to the China of today.  Yu Hua is a masterful author, carefully choosing metaphors and stories to share.  In many cases, he just tells stories, allowing the events to speak for themselves.  He has more commentary on modern China.
     During a book club discussion, people talked about how the theme of the book seemed to be that there is hope, that humans can be good even in the face of awful events, like during the Cultural Revolution.  I prefer to look to the author's explanation in the introduction.  He gave the story of how he was in charge of vaccinating factory workers and children.  The needles were cleaned, but needed to be re-used, making them barbed.  Each vaccination resulted in the loss of a small piece of flesh.  He didn't really think much of it with the factory workers, but after seeing the children, who weren't afraid to express their pain, he realized how painful it actually was.  He then meticulously sharpened the needles.  He regretted that he had vaccinated them without feeling the needle himself.  He then explains that in the book, he describes a lot of pain, and he describes it without superiority or detachment.  China's pain is his pain.
     The first chapter hooked me.  I was startled to see that he started with a story about Tiananmen, partly because I'd been sent this book, over WeChat, by a Chinese friend.  I was on my guard, since the choice to start with Tiananmen betrays a certain viewpoint.  The word for the chapter was "RenMin," "The People."  Yet he won me over with the last story.  He described a scene, a few days before Tiananmen, that he said was more about the people than Tiananmen.  The people gathered in intersections, thousands of people, blocking tanks.  He was biking, and he was hit first not by sound, not by sight, but by a wave of heat from the bodies.  The people were joined together, singing the anthem.  It was a beautiful picture of the Chinese people, strong and standing.
     A lot of Americans don't understand why I'd want to come to China.  They think all Chinese people are hard-core Communists, but I've yet to meet a party member in China, and with maybe two exceptions, even someone mildly interested in discussing politics.  The people are not the government.
     This book was much more historical than I expected.  I thought it would be interesting to have a young Chinese person today choose ten words.  I think I know one of them--yali, pressure.  There is so much pressure--friends with jobs are forced to work unpaid overtime.  Last night, my roommate got home at 9 pm.  I assume she had an 11-hr work day.  There's pressure from society and family to marry.  There's academic pressure for students.
     A recent political development has been Xi Jinping's seizure of power.  I asked a university student about it, and she seemed unconcerned.  "It doesn't matter, since we can't vote.  If he can make China stronger, good for him."  I've been reading an interesting article about this event.