Jung Chang's Novel Wild Swans Analyzed

In Jung Chang's novel Wild Swans, Chang outlines the lives of the "three daughters of China". The first of the daughters being the author's grandmother, Yu-fang and the second being the author's mother, Bao Qin. The story of both the author's mother and grandmother are chronicled throughout Wild Swans. Both lived during revolutionary times in China, as much of China's history is filled with revolution. Yu-fang, however, was not as involved in the revolution as her daughter Bao Qin was.

When Yu-fang was fifteen years old she was made a concubine by her father to a local warlord. She gave birth to her daughter Bao Qin while her "husband" was away. At first, this was the only way that Yu-fang was involved in any way of the revolution in China. Her husband, General Xue, was part of the warlord government ruling the area at the time. She was involved with this part of the revolution almost entirely against her will. When her husband died, she began to look for a new husband. This was another revolutionary ideal held by Yu-fang. Yu-fang wanted to have a proper husband that she could spend her life with. It was often frowned upon for a former concubine to have a proper husband, especially one as respected as Dr. Xia. After many protests from Dr. Xia's family, the wedding went ahead and Dr. Xia began to raise Bao Qin as if she was his own.

Bao Qin showed at a very early age that she could be a revolutionary personality as she grew older. She had many different attitudes and ideals that were considered revolutionary at the time. When she was 15 years old, the Kuomintang defeated the Japanese in Manchuria and she was not pleased with the new rulers. She felt it was very wrong that the Kuomintang took so many concubines, which was an accepted practice at the time. She was also proposed to by many Kuomintang officers and turned them all down. The author said, "My mother had made up her mind to choose her own husband" (Chang 81). As simple as that may sound, in traditional China most women did not pick their husbands. In fact, Dr. Xia and Yu-fang had to spend much of their time coming up with excuses why Bao Qin would not marry. If they did not come up with specific reasons why, they would have been the subject of much criticism in the community. Bao Qin would not be satisfied, however, until she found a man that she loved. Love was something that traditional Chinese never really talked about. Love was not important to a traditional Chinese marriage, but it was extremely important to Bao Qin.

Bao Qin's real revolutionary actions did not come into real importance until the Communist's came into Manchuria. The Communist Party was very appealing to Bao Qin, who was quite fed up with the way the Kuomintang was running the country. She began by helping the Communists smuggle Communist literature into the city to be distributed to potential new members. Over the years, Bao Qin became more and more involved with the Communist Party, and began to move away from traditional views. When Bao Qin met her husband, Wang Yu, she was immediately thrust far into the Communist Party. Wang was a high ranking official in the Communist Party, and Bao Qin was becoming well known for her revolutionary actions.

The similarities between Bao Qin and her mother are more related to similar attitudes as opposed to revolutionary contributions. There is no question that Bao Qin had a much greater impact on the revolution than Yu-fang did. Yu-fang was a very outspoken woman, which was rare for the time and it was evident that Bao Qin had taken much of her qualities. Yu-fang did, however, know many Kuomintang officers and often helped them. Bao Qin had a very big impact on the revolution in China due to her huge involvement with the Communist Party. Her husband was a high ranking official and she was an important part of the work the Communists were trying to do. She gave up much of her life to conform to the Communists, basically having deal with the constant criticism and accusations that came with being in the Party. Bao Qin helped the party with many problems it faced ruling the country. She was often appointed to high responsibility positions where she could be an influential force for change. She was very outspoken with her feelings about how people should be treated, especially former Kuomintang officers she knew.

While Bao Qin helped make the revolution happen, her mother more just helped out here and there. She never really had a huge contribution to any type of revolution that came through China. Bao Qin and her husband had a very big effect on the areas in which they lived. They were considered very good Communists and were a very big part of the revolution in China. It could be said that Yu-fang's biggest contribution to revolution was giving birth to her daughter Bao Qin.