Family is very important in Chinese
society and Asian society as a whole. If one does a bad deed or is subject to a
bad deed, their image in front of their family will be tainted. This happened
with No Name Woman. She will not be
venerated as she has lost her place in society. She will no longer be able to
depend on her relatives because of one problem; pregnancy. She was raped, her home
pillaged and livestock murdered all in one night. Her maids and relatives
watched as she was ravished. Her child is illicit in the eyes of her family;
her lump, but a mark of shame. She will no longer be able to gain from her familial
past because now, every token spoken is a token lost. She has lost everything.
Veneration
of ancestors is a very sacred thing in Asian culture. Many Asian cultures erect
large houses and burn them to ensure the deceased has a nice dwelling in the
afterlife. Some burn money, phones, food and cars to send to their ancestors.
The No Name Woman will not receive
any of those gifts. She will have to fight over the leftovers in the afterlife
against others that have been forgotten by their families as well. The only
thing that she still can hold onto in the living realm is her story.
Her niece
tells it well. After drilling through the facts of her aunt’s life, the author
surmises what it was like to be her aunt in persecution. Questions such as: who was the man? was it consensual? and did she, on the other hand, have a wild
side?, were tough to handle. The author uses an inquisitive, yet confident
tone throughout the essay to demonstrate her own assuredness coupled with curiosity. She
discovers her aunt’s story by connecting facts with logical strings of
reasonable information. But, I do not believe the author just wrote it to make
a connection in the past.
Veneration
is a very sacred thing. The author is venerating her aunt for the first time
since her death by telling her story. The story, yes, is a very tragic one but
it is one that many can learn from. Now, instead of dying for nothing at all,
her aunt can be a fine example of Asian culture. Why do I say this? Let’s see:
there are pros and cons to each and every culture. Asian familial veneration
opens up a lot of opportunity for elders to set long lasting examples but it
also presents a lot of controversy. For me to look at this practice with
western eyes is to do it no justice but I would like to make a comparison. In
America, you leave your family and become an individual. What you become is you
and yourself alone. In Asian culture, you go out into the world and bring back
to your family. What you become in the Far East is reflected on your family. If
you contaminate your family, you will be forgotten, lying in the street in
pain. Or at the bottom of a well, wet, and searching through the scraps and tatters
of the afterlife.
I do agree with your point that veneration of ancestors is a very sacred and important ritual for people of Chinese culture. This relates to the “No Name Woman” because Kingston’s aunt will not be venerated for her one simple mistake: pregnancy. As all of Chinese society’s success was based off of family structures and a sense of community, not being venerated by your ancestors was a very significant punishment. For example, the family wouldn’t dare ever say her name (“no name woman”) because they liked to imagine as if she never had an existence, that she just wasn’t a part of their family because of her one fault that brought harmful shame and embarrassment to the family. The point you made about how she lost everything because of her pregnancy is very true. Some people may think that this is quite a trivial matter to lose one’s life over, but in China, without family, you literally had nothing. Kingston’s aunt was left destitute after her family abandoned and ostracized her for life. It’s sad to think about how this one mistake led to such a significant outcome, of her losing her life and everything she would ever love. While I believe that the author is in fact venerating her aunt by telling the very tragic story, I also believe she wrote this story with vivid details and imaginations for herself as well. Kingston honored her aunt by telling her story to the world and actually acknowledging her past existence. As an American born Chinese woman, Kingston was exploring her past and her ancestors in her narrative about her aunt. She learned about her Chinese culture and how things were back before she was even born. I also like your idea of how Kingston’s aunt can now be used as an example of Chinese culture, because not everything works out as smoothly as planned in these communities, oftentimes there’s more controversy than a smooth-running household. You point out several times that Chinese culture is very different from the culture that we are used to, but since we live in two completely distinctive societies it is very understandable. Family values and individual goals and practices seem to be very different in the modern Western society compared to Chinese culture.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that veneration is a pivotal part of the Chinese culture. The worst possible thing to happen to someone in this society is to be neglected by the family after death and have to "fight over the leftovers." Imagine if your only defining moment in the eyes of your family was an adulterous act that brought shame to the family. Yes, the village people tore her house apart, killed her livestock, and stole her stuff, but the worst possible punishment she suffered was the neglect of her family.
ReplyDeleteNames are important. They are a defining characteristic. To put it into perspective, look at how many things we use our signature for; Names are how people identify us. The "No Name Woman" has her name removed from her after death because her family refuses to venerate or even acknowledge her. The community solely identifies her by a story describing how she brought shame to her family. Also, take into account that the story doesn't even provide a perspective for the "No Name Woman." Granted, the woman did commit suicide and an account of what actually happened through her perspective would be impossible to acquire, but being identified only by a story that doesn't accurately define what happened is really depressing. To put it into perspective, imagine if you were an NFL quarterback, and only a handful people vaguely remember who you were. Furthermore, they remember you not as a quarterback but as a kicker who missed a lot of field goals. The analogy may not be completely accurate but the basic point still serves; Having a legacy based on a biased account of an error one makes is a huge insult to that person's memory, especially if veneration and ancestral respect is as deeply rooted in the society as it was in China. It's easy to see that Kingston's aunt's family really hated her for her mistake.
From my perspective, Kingston is "venerating her aunt" but I don't know if her aunt would necessarily consider Kingston's imaginings as veneration. Since her only defining characteristic is a story that does not accurately portray her, it may be that she wouldn't appreciate Kingston further blurring the reality. I, however, believe that Kingston's aunt would appreciate the "face" that Kingston gives her. Before the essay, the "No Name Woman" is just a woman who commits adultery and brings shame to her family. Furthermore, she is only a lesson to scare Kingston into being compliant. Kingston's essay provides scenarios where she is wild or even seductive; where she is an individual who chooses to step outside the societal norm. Kingston then uses these fictional scenarios to discover things about herself. After all, ancestry is important because people want to be able to find some enlightenment in the experiences of their ancestors.