Post #14 Form B (FINAL POST!!!)

A lot happened to Heavenlight in a very short period of time. She had an affair with the son of the Emperor, Little Phoenix. Then the emperor died. She went off to become a nun at a monastery. Little Phoenix, the new Emperor, called her back to him. She gave birth to his son. She became a concubine. She then had the Empress kicked out and killed after Heavenlight’s daughter was poisoned by the Empress. She became the new Empress. She gave birth to another son. She had her sister become a concubine to the Emperor as well so that his interests would not leave the immediate family. “The Emperor had stopped pursuing the beauties to spend alternate nights in our beds.” (131) Her sister’s daughter fell into favor with the Emperor. “I learned that the sovereign’s heart had been inflamed once more and that his conquest had already been consummated. Her name was Harmony. She was Purity’s daughter.” (135) Her sister died of sadness upon hearing about the relationship. And her niece, Harmony, hates her guts. Talk about a whirlwind of activity and a ton of incest.

Post #13 Form A

“The Empress had been married at fourteen, and now, at twenty-two, her stomach was still flat, while in the other palace, a succession of concubines and slaves brought imperial children into the world. Infertility is a major crime committed toward the ancestors, and any man whose wife is sterile is free to repudiate her. Many former Empresses had lost their titles on these grounds, and the Empress Want was well aware of the danger that threatened her.” (102) In America women are not looked down upon just because they can’t have children. In fact, since decent birth control was available to women, many choose not to have any children. Also, in America a husband can’t repudiate his wife just because she is sterile. A husband can’t repudiate his wife at all. There is only divorce, not renouncement married couples who no longer wish to be married. This is a big culture shock and shows just how little worth a women was given in ancient China. Especially a sterile one.

Post #12 Form B

People are very emotional in this book. Love, sorrow, wrath, jealousy, abandonment, loneliness, desperation, desire, it’s all here mixed together like a drama gone horribly astray. One moment people are in love, the next they are in mourning, the next they are jealous and inflict their anger on those around them. Many people have died from sorrow and abandonment. “I stayed at the bedside of the Delicate Concubine Xu, trying to persuade her not to let herself die. Beneath her linen sheet, she weighed little more than a feather. She spat blood and was wracked by violent coughing. She reached out for me with her frozen bony hand. We talked endlessly about our first few years in the Side Court, the Institute of Letters, and the late sovereign. I begged her to receive a doctor. She smiled and gave me no reply. I could see in her eyes her determination to follow her master into the next world. She died a few days later.” (86) Many more have been killed as a result of wrath and jealousy. It all happens so quickly that after a while it’s hardly even noticeable just how many emotions are experienced on each page.

Post #11 Form A

“There was much talk of the future. But was there any future for the concubines of the dead sovereign? The mothers of kings may have been able to join their children posted in the province-kingdoms, but ordinary women had to choose between living in the funerary palace of the August Deceased, becoming nuns in monasteries, or dying alone in the Side Court.” (84) This is a major cultural difference. In ancient China, the women within the Forbidden City belonged to the sovereign. If that sovereign died they no longer belonged there and the new sovereign would bring in his own women for the Forbidden City. Those who had belonged to the deceased sovereign had to choose between going to live in the funerary palace for the rest of their lives, devoting their lives to Buddhism and becoming nuns in monasteries, or killing themselves so as to join their sovereign after death. Um, we don’t do that anymore.

Post #9 Form A

“Now that my brother the King of Wei has removed his opponent, the title of heir automatically falls to him. He’s a suspicious man, a grudge-bearer. His accession will be the beginning of the end. He will kill all his brothers to keep his crown.” (75) This is a major cultural difference in this quote because, in America, the leader isn’t chosen by the previous leader, nor is the leadership hereditary. We vote on who our next leader will be we don’t seek a ‘mandate from heaven’. Also, no matter how venomous our politicians might be they don’t kill each other in order to gain the title of the next leader. If they were to kill anyone they would have no chance at attaining the title. Due to killing anyone being considered a terrible crime in the US, there isn’t any need for them to kill off their brothers in order to hold onto the right to the crown.

Post #10 Form B

Dear Shan Sa,
I have many praises for you. I admire how Empress has such vivid, figurative language yet still carries a heavy dose of bluntness. Your elusions and descriptions are beautifully written and the entire book has a poetic feel to it. “The palace of Precious Dew was displaying its beds of irises and orchids. With its ceilings as high as the vault of the heavens, its curtains of pearls, its screens inscribed with calligraphy, and its succession of sinuous galleries, it was a labyrinth of intrigue. Its countless doors opened onto a little corner of sky, a sloping roof, a window in the shape of a crescent moon, a rockery smothered in the twisted limbs of a wisteria or an emerald pond around which white cranes flitted.” (70) Every character has many sides and emotions which are far more complex and developed than even some people.Yet you do not falter at even the most taboo of subjects. I admire that. I truly do. However, amongst the admirations there are also questions for you. What about Empress Wu’s tale inspired you to write this book? How much of her tale is historic, how much is myth, and how much stems from your imagination?
Your admiring reader,
Virginia

Post #7 Form A

“The rebel province was overcome by the imperial army’s attack. The King of Qi was brought to the Capital in chains. A decree from the sovereign stripped him of his position, his title, and his nobility. Now deposed, reduced to the state of a commoner and imprisoned, he received the order to commit suicide.” (73) This is a major cultural difference for a ton of reasons. First, we don’t really chain people up anymore. People are handcuffed but the way it’s phrased in this sentence it sounds like more than just handcuffs. Secondly, in the US at least, we don’t really have ‘nobility’ nor do we give orders to commit suicide. And even if the order to commit suicide was given to someone, it is very unlikely that they would carry it out unlike in ancient China.

Post #8 Form B

‘“My little cousin, I have heard stories of you,” she said, pronouncing each word carefully. Her lips were two petals of red grenadine. “I shall take care of your instruction, my little, wild one.”’ (52) This is the beginning of a very very very very bad relationship for Heavenlight. She falls in love with her cousin, the Gracious Wife. “In fact my longing to see her again supplanted every other agony. Freed from the anguish of mourning, I was now enslaved by a new torment. I did not know this was the being of love: Taut as an archer’s bow, my soul distended with expectation, my desire tightly coiled, my stomach tensed.”(54) So, she falls in love with her. She thinks about her constantly and is anguished to be apart from her. Finally, she meets the Gracious Wife again. They sleep together. Yes, the intimate kind of sleeping together. They sleep together, the Gracious Wife beats her. They sleep together, the Gracious Wife beats her. The Gracious Wife even makes her sleep with other girls. “She forced strangers on me, girls I did not desire. In that accumulation of mouths and breasts, above the mirror that multiplied the gaping orifices further, she would beat me until I bled. The other women would fondle on another as they watched me. They were naked, with their heads between on another’s thighs, their bodies writhing in the blaze of sunlight, shrieking with pleasure; and I felt only loathing.” (62) Like I said, a very very very very bad relationship for Heavenlight.
(Do you pity me yet for having to read this Ms. Burgess?)

Post #6 Form B

“In the Palace of Celestial Breath, I followed the training given to new women at Court. The great curtsey, the minor curtsey, greetings of respect, greetings of condescension, greetings from equal to equal, the quick walk, the slow walk… there was no spontaneity in the Forbidden City. Natural responses were considered the premise of the people and of Barbarians; all the elegance of our movements derived from the height of restraint.” (42) I found it very interesting that these women who are granted a life of luxury create their own hierarchy. They make rules and laws to govern themselves within the Forbidden City. Though it seems very superficial it gives these women something to do rather than laze about. They make friends and enemies and create their own little world within the palace. It seems so distant, so dreamlike to read about. But I suppose to the women who lived there it was very real and very, very real. And very, very dull. They must have come up with many more rules and games in order to entertain themselves. And of course they chatted with the eunuchs to learn about the affairs of the outer realm. I feel sorry for them but I also admire their ingenuity and the cunning plans they made in order to gain power and influence despite being in a patriarchal society and being cut off from the world.

Post #5 Form A

A major cultural difference which has arisen is in the existence of the Forbidden City. In the Forbidden City hundreds of women live lives of luxury, pettiness, and jealousy while waiting and hoping for the Emperor’s favor so that they might go to bed with him. That’s not something that exists in current day America, at all. Though this seems like a lowly existence for these women it is actually the best way and one of the only ways to gain any power at all. “My heart leapt with pride. As Talented One of the fifth rank, I immediately overtook my brothers in the imperial hierarchy; they were officials of the seventh rank. The next time we saw each other they would have to prostate themselves at my feet!” (34) The women within the Forbidden City were the ones who became the Emperor’s concubines and wives. They were surrounded by government officials and were able to have some influence within the government. They were also the ones who gave birth to possible heirs to the throne. It’s a major cultural difference but it is also one of the only ways a woman could obtain power and influence in this highly patriarchal society.

Post #4 Form B

Thus far Heavenlight’s journey has all been a matter of fate. Her family had once been a noble family with power and wealth. However, her father died and her mother and siblings were stripped of all they had and left to depend on their extended family; a family who did not care for them, who did not appreciate nor love them. Her mother’s way of adapting to this was to put her all into Buddhism. If her current life was a mess she hoped to have a better next life and so she prayed and prayed and made religion her life.
By another piece of fate Heavenlight met General Li, who, impressed by her intelligence, recommended her to the emperor. He told her, “Heavenlight, you are an exceptional girl. I shall take responsibility for your destiny!” (26) She was then brought to the Forbidden City to be one Emperor’s of the hundreds of women.” The Great Uncle told me the news: Great General Li Ji, Governor of our province, had spoken highly of me at the Imperial Court. I was to be called for by a decree from the sovereign to go into service in the Forbidden City.” (32) Named a Talented One, Heavenlight became the only hope her mother and sister had at a better life.

Post #3 Form A

Cultural Legacy: Proceedings after Death

“We observed the ceremonial procedures: bathing him, calling upon his soul, filling his mouth, the smaller clothing ceremony, the great clothing ceremony, laying him in his coffin, and making daily offerings.” (16)

Some of the ceremonial procedures of ancient China are very different from our own while others are quite similar.
“Bathing him”: in general, nowadays the body of the deceased is cleaned up as well as back in ancient China.
“Calling upon his soul”: This depends on religion nowadays. As Buddhists calling upon the father’s soul was clearly an important part of the proceedings.
“Filling his mouth”: In ancient China the deceased’s mouth was filled with grain mixed with pieces of jade or shells depending on their social status.
“the smaller clothing ceremony”: Nowadays people the deceased are generally changed and gussied up a bit but in ancient China the smaller clothing ceremony consisted of the deceased being dressed in nineteen costumes after the clothes were displayed.
“The great clothing ceremony”: The great clothing ceremony took place the day after the smaller clothing ceremony. The number of clothes one was dressed in was ‘strictly related to hierarchy’. For the father, fifty costumes were used.
“laying him in his coffin”: Same as now, people were put into their coffins.
“making daily offerings”: Though nowadays people might bring flowers to a grave site occasionally and especially on the day of death back in ancient China it was custom to bring offerings daily.

Post #2 Form B

‘After looking carefully up and down, she put a finger in my hand, and I squeezed it until she flushed red and began to cry. "You must not hurt your sister," my wet nurse told me. She did not know that years later, as she had in those days of innocence, Elder Sister would beg me to be her torturer.’ (6)
This is a very clear foreshadowing of the dangers, trials, and tribulations to come. I get the feeling that Wu will become a very powerful woman very quickly, but the internal struggles she will face will slowly tear her apart. She will be caught in the middle, torn at the seams. At least, that’s my impression thus far. She is very inquisitive and that leads to her becoming much more aware of how much the world around her differs from the confined world she has been exposed to. This inquisitive nature of hers is bound to get her into trouble and troubles like that might have something to do with whatever will happen between her and her sister. But, that’s just my guess on everything.

Post #1 Form A

In the book Empress by Shan Sa, there is a distinctive cultural difference from the United States in differing treatment of the sexes. Ancient China was highly patriarchal. Men were in charge. If pregnant, you wanted a son. Men had the most power. Men, men, men, men, men.
When Wu is born her father asks, '"Boy or girl?" No one replied. The man grabbed me and tried to tear open my swaddling. He was interrupted by a woman's quiet wail: "Another girl, my Lord." "Ah!" he cried before dissolving in tears.' (2-3) So heartbroken to have another girl is he that her father cries! Later in the book, after going though the ritual of toddlers choosing on of many items set before them in order to tell what their future will be like, another states, "It is truly a shame that she is not a boy." (5) It is then decided upon to dress her like a boy and give her the education of a boy because the item she chose was her father's sword meaning that she would become very strong and a "mistress of a noble warrior household". Even this is only allowed because she is the daughter of a general and has all the 'signs' of being someone of power.

Fourth Quarter ORB

I chose the book Empress by Shan Sa which is 319 pages long. This book written by a woman born in Beijing and is about Empress Wu from the 7th century. I picked out this book because I have strong interest in Asian culture and especially women’s roles in ancient Asian societies. I specifically chose this book from the other books about Asia because of the author’s unique writing style, and of course, because it isn’t a really long book. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to reading Empress for fourth quarter.