Sojourn in China with Snowflower and the Secret Fan

I'm a little pokey posting to the blog this month--must be the gorgeous spring weather. Our discussion of Snowflower and Secret Fan was really fun with some great cheesecake made by Cindy's husband Blake. In general, the group found this an easy read for content, but many commented on the small text size the publisher chose. Many felt that they learned something about Chinese culture from the reading. Numerous questions were raised about the issue of foot binding--how it started, why it was prized, and how it impacted the mother/daughter relationship. During my visit to China several years ago, we ran into an elderly woman who was raised in a remote providence who had bound feet. Although it was officially outlawed around the turn of the last century the practice continued in some of the outlying areas. She had to be supported on both sides by her daughters to walk through the formal gardens where we saw her. Our guide on the trip told us the practice had originated through the ballet when men became fascinated by the shape of the woman's foot in toe shoes. I've never researched to ascertain that this is correct--but whatever the reason, you have to wonder about how beauty is signified in various cultures. We tried, but couldn't come up with a direct equivalent in our own culture that compared to voluntary (or maybe parental enforced) mutilation. We talked about the laotong relationship and marveled how a friendship you made as a young child could be sustained through adulthood. We shared ideas about the closed world of women, how they were geographically limited to within a few miles of their birthplace, and how this may have contributed to remaining in the same limited circle for social interaction. The topic of patriarchy came up, and the imbalance of overt power in the marriage relationship. We also noted the women had covert power with jurisdiction over the female realm as long as they were able to produce sons. We touched (no pun intended) on the "bed business" and the erotic interlude between Lily and Snowflower when they traced characters on each other's bare skin. Some members wondered if this would be a more natural affection between the women since the marriage relationship could be devoid of tenderness. But we also noted that there was a range of response, for instance Auntie and Uncle who openly enjoyed their private time. Some members had a problem with the novel at the point that Snowflower's illness was revealed. We wondered what kept her from simply sharing this fact with her sworn friend. One member felt Lily was justified in encouraging Snowflower to comply with tradition, to tell her to keep trying to have boy babies to raise her status, to be faithful in serving her mother-in-law. Another wondered why Snowflower, who seemed very much in charge and sure of herself, who was Lily's teacher at the outset of the relationship would surrender her power to her so completely after marriage. In a large context, we decided we often take offense with others not knowing the complete reasons behind their actions. Hear an interview with the author at exclusive audio interview to gain some insight into the author's experience.