From Utopian to Dystopian World: Two Faces of Feminism in Contemporary Taiwanese

Women's Fiction
Author(s): Ying-Ying Chien
Source: World Literature Today , Winter, 1994, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Winter, 1994), pp. 35-42
Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40149842

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 From Utopian to Dystopian World: Two Faces of Femi-
nism in Contemporary Taiwanese Women's Fiction
By YING-YING CHIEN 1: Introduction. With points of view. "These Three Women" focuses on
modern Taiwanese intellectual women's search for a
the impact or feminism
and the rise of the wom- new identity, The Butcher's Wife on the sexual ex-
en's movement in Taiwan since the 1970s, fiction ploitation of a peasant woman. However, each work
written by and about women has grown rapidly, es- was created in a self-acknowledged attempt by the
pecially in the 1980s. As Taiwan has moved toward author to be "feminist"2 - that is, to expose directly
modernization and democracy, its reception of femi- and critique the patriarchal oppression and injustice
nism has met with great resistance. Although the which have victimized women, on the one hand,
first and second waves of the women's movement and to provide their own visions of gender, sex, and
laid the groundwork for diverse women's organiza- womanhood on the other. Although the receptions
tions to sprout in the late 1980s, most of theseaccorded
ac- the two works in Taiwan represent oppo-
tivities were carried out in a way that would not site ends of the spectrum, they realize, I propose,
ap-
pear directly threatening to traditional Chinese such an attempt from different perspectives: "These
values and mores.1 As a result, though the number Three Women" through reconstructing a new wom-
of women writers increased and sensitive "taboo" is- anhood in a more optimistic, Utopian light; The
sues related to gender and sex were explored in their Butcher's Wife through deconstructing the tradition-
works, few of them challenged directly the underly- al patriarchy from a more pessimistic, dystopian
ing patriarchal assumptions and ideologies. angle.
Chinese women writers and their writing have The impact of these two works, I believe, is
long been marginalized and classified under the equally significant, for each not only calls for the
diminutive term Gueixiu pai (feminine group), a cat- end of total patriarchal domination but also marks
egory in which conventional themes of love, mar- the beginning of a more hopeful era for women in
riage, and romantic relationships are dealt with in a their homeland. In addition to giving strong warn-
predictable, stylized form and from a sentimental ings against gender inequity and sexual violence to-
perspective. With the emergence of feminist con- ward women, both works impart empowering mes-
sciousness, however, some women writers began ex- sages of the urgent need for consciousness-raising
pressing their personal experiences and political and sociopolitical change. Above all, the importance
of reclaiming the female values of connectedness
concerns openly in their works in a more experi-
and mutual understanding is emphasized, explicitly
mental way. Representative among these writers are
or implicitly.
Li Ang, Lu Xiulian (Lu Hsiu-lien), li Yuanzhen
As a general approach in analyzing these two
(Lee Yuan-chen), and Zhen Xinyi. Amid tremen-
works, I have adopted the idea of "gyno criticism"
dous social pressure and disapproval, they expose
and apply it here across cultural boundaries.3 I will
sexual inequality long embedded in the patriarchal
focus mainly on the writings of Lu Xiulian and li
culture by exploring new themes, images of women,
Ang. By discussing these two women authors' dis-
and literary forms.
tinctive ideas on feminism and womanhood, on the
Lu Xiulian's Zhe sange nuren (These Three Wom-
representations and new images of women, on the
en; 1985) and Li Ang's Shafu (1983; Eng. The
issues of sexuality and domestic violence, on their
Butcher's Wife) are historic landmarks of fiction by
relationship to other women, and on the reception
two important women writers from Taiwan that ex-
of their own works, I hope that I may better ac-
press female consciousness. On the surface, in terms quaint readers in the West with these two women
of characters, subjects, and literary forms, these two
writers, their personal and political experiences, and
novellas are written from seemingly contrasting their unique literary voices from the Eastern tradi-
tion.

Ying-Ying Chien holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from 2: Lu Xiulian's utopian vision. A: A pioneer-
the University of Illinois. She has taught at National Taiwaning WOMAN AND NEW FEMINISM. Lu Xiulian (b.
University and is currently Assistant Professor of Comparative
1944), commonly known as the "mother" of the
Literature and Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State Universi-
women's
ty. She is the author of several essays on feminism and modern movement in Taiwan, is an important ac-
Chinese literature and is currently at work on a book-length tivist and writer whose so-called new-feminist ideol-
study of that very topic. ogy has exerted great influence and caused consid-

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36 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY

erable turmoil on the social, political, andis literary

mentioning her power in voicing her visions along
scene of her time. As the leader of the first-wavewith her stamina in fighting for them, even under
women's movement in Taiwan (the "pioneering the most
pe- difficult situations. As one of the models of
riod," 1972-82), she challenged patriarchal hegem-a modern new woman herself, Lu has demonstrated
ony and paved the way for feminism in Taiwan. the courage and strength to be a female pioneer in
With a B.A. in political science from the Nationalher homeland, despite persecution and controversy.
Taiwan University and Master's degrees in law from
the University of Illinois and Harvard University, B. Bonds of new womanhood. Written on the
Lu is vocal and prolific. In addition to writing toilet
arti-seat and the floor of a prison cell, "These
cles and essays and delivering speeches on equal Three Women" was intended, according to the
rights and women's problems, she has also set up novella's preface, to convey and illustrate Lu Xiu-
hotlines for abused and underprivileged women and lian's ideas on "new feminism."10 In fact, the story is
organized a publishing house, Tuohuang Zhe (Pio- at times filled with didactic passages on women's is-
neers), focusing primarily on the discussion of wom- sues to the extent that Lu herself admits that the
en's issues. book can be read as "nonfiction." Regardless of its
Lu's nonfiction work Xin nuxing zhui (New Fem- genre, the work is important in terms of women's
inism; 1974, 1986) provides the defining character- literature in Taiwan in that the author openly pro-
istics of her "new feminism" and "new woman," claims it to be "feminist" by intention, a gesture
even including a song at the end to rally all women that still requires much courage in Taiwan.
around a new way of life.4 The book includes a sur- "These Three Women" is a trilogy on the life of
vey of the status of women in America, Japan, an independent modern new woman, Gao Xiuru,
Korea, and China, as well as critiques of traditional and the inspiration she provides for her two close fe-
ideas imposed on women. The characteristics of her male friends, Xu Yuzhi and Wang Yun, both in
new feminism are: first, it emphasizes women as their early forties. The story begins with each of
human beings and the importance of their indepen- them questioning the prescribed roles for women
dence and equality; second, it stresses cooperation and the pressure of social expectations and ends
between the sexes and the birth of "new men" as es- with all three women finding their own respective
sential to the emergence of "new women"; and solutions and new way of life. Revealed in the
third, it encourages women to develop their intelli- process is the author's optimistic attempt to provide
gence fully and to realize their talents (156-57). In
addition to her semiautobiographical works,5 Lu
later created one of her first fictional experiments -
"These Three Women" - while in prison due to her
political involvement. As an important literary nar-
rative from prison, this fictional trilogy provides sur-
prisingly positive models of intellectual new women
and presents an optimistic vision of the feminist ide-
ologies embedded in the author's previous works.
Although some feminists today consider Lu's
ideas too "middle-class" and not "radical" enough,6
her efforts as a pioneer who consciously rejects the
total reception of Western feminism, I contend,
should not be underestimated.7 Her special contri-
bution lies in her vision of combining Western and
traditional ideas of womanhood and in her charis-
ma, which attracts numerous intellectual volunteers
to carry on women's tasks. Among these "recruits"
is Li Yuanzhen, who later became the founder of
the Awakening Foundation8 and the leader of the
second wave of the women's movement (the "awak-
ening period," 1982 to the present) after Lu.
Recently elected as one of the few female legisla-
tive members of Parliament after twenty years as a
political outsider, Lu has once again returned to the
political arena to continue her work on behalf of
democracy and liberation for women.9 Aside from
disagreements over her specific brand of feminism
or her particular political strategies, what is worth Lu Xiuiian, Zhe sange nuren (These Three Women)

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 CHIEN 37

a new map for Chinese womanhood choice. through her they

At the same time, in- consciously choose
tricate weaving of a spiritual female
to preservecommunity
some of the qualities considered typical-
transcending the boundaries of ly time and
"feminine" space.11
in traditional Chinese culture such as
The story interconnects the lives
the joyand struggles
of cooking, of
raising children, knitting, and
these middle-aged women, graduated from
taking physical carethe same
of oneself. Above all, they learn
college in search of autonomy toandreach new identity.
out to one another and to other sisters and
The setting includes Taipei andchildren
San ofFrancisco
the world. and
spans from the 1960s to the 1970s. The numerous
obstacles they each encounter relate
C. Femaleindiscourse
one way or In an attempt
and style.
another to sex, money, and race: traditional stereo-
to reconstruct new womanhood and women's spiri-
typed roles in marriage and parenting,
tual communityprejudices
in her fiction, instead of following
against the single life and widowhood,
the traditionaland
linearcultural
narrative form (with a begin-
conflicts and a sense of displacement
ning, middle, inandthe West,
end) and male discourse (with its
among others. Emotionally relating to and support-
logical, masculine tone), Lu Xiulian invents a non-
ing one another, however, these women
linear, living
open narrative formonand adopts female dis-
the "margins" of the male-centered
course to Chinese and vision. The literary
express her literary
American context manage to re-create
form of "These their other-
Three Women" is a novella in three
wise restricted existence and cease to be passive,
parts, a trilogy with the subtitles "You peng zi yuan-
"muted" individuals.12
fang lai" (A Friend from Afar), "Jinsi hesi"
In addition to constructing alternative ways of liv-
(Tonight, Which Night), and "Hui shou" (Looking
ing for modern women, Lu Xiulian's novella pro-
Back). Each story is narrated from the perspective
vides a direct critique of traditional values and the
of one of the three female protagonists as she re-
injustices they impose on women. For example, ac-
flects and muses on bits and pieces of her life and
cording to Xu Yuzhi's mother, Chinese girls are like
the lives of her women friends in memories and pro-
"vegetable seeds" whose fate, once they have been
jections. As the heroine of each story speaks in dra-
spread on the ground, is totally out of their own
matic monologue in the text, the lives of these three
control (24). Other traditional concepts are also
women - their dreams, aspirations, and struggles,
questioned during Xiuru's soliloquy, including the
their past, present, and future - gradually (and al-
"three obediences and four virtues," imposed fe-
most synchronically) unfold before the reader in a
male chastity, practices such as concubinage, and
nonlinear, spiral form.
preference for sons over daughters. Furthermore,
The structure of these three episodes can be seen
modern women's issues such as abortion, teenage
pregnancy, sexual abuse, extramarital affairs, and as a triangle, with each story independent of yet in-
property and inheritance rights, among others, are terconnected with the others, just like the lives of
explored throughout the book, especially through the three heroines, separate yet interrelated and ulti-
the voices of Gao Xiuru and Wang Yun. mately commingled. A spiritual community of wom-
The female characters of "These Three Women" en across geographic boundaries gradually evolves
as these women learn from one another to recon-
represent different types of new women in the mod-
struct creatively and to reconnect their individual
ern world portrayed in a positive light. With differ-
ent family backgrounds, personalities, and ways lives
of with significant others (women, children, and
life, each of them eventually fulfills, in one way or around them. What is worth noting is that
men)
another, the author's ideas of new womanhood. For each heroine is given her own unique voice and
financial and emotional autonomy, they step out of viewpoint. Through the use of first-person internal
the familiar and secure domain of the kitchen and monologues delivered during the performance of
venture into the male-dominated world of the work- traditional women's everyday activities and chores
place while at the same time maintaining so-called such as preparing meals, reading letters, bathing,
feminine values and emotional rapport. Combining and dressing, the reader is made privy to the mean-
indigenous and Western ideas, Lu's presentation of dering flow of their consciousness and thus shares in
their new ways of life emphasizes above all the im- their most private lives and inner secrets.
portance of social service and a sense of community The general tone of the three women's language
based on the female principles of nonaggression, in- is familiar and conversational, an everyday feminine
terconnectedness, and mutual support. These are,style: I chitchatting, intimate, repetitive, soul-ex-
believe, the important characteristics of Lu's writing changing. It is all soothing, relaxing, almost mes-
that have been overlooked by critics in general. merizing; the reader is treated as an imaginary con-
All three women eventually embrace the (West- fidante with all the secrets and stories poured out
ern) idea of autonomy; they manage either to ac-from the bosom of these heroines. This also makes
quire the capability of working independently out- their didactic remarks and lessons at times more ac-
side their family or to pursue careers of their own ceptable for the reader.

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38 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY

D. The communal vision. With "These Three most of her "feminist" works, including fiction such
Women," Lu Xiulian has constructed a fictional as The Butcher's Wife and Anyeh (Dark Night;
community of positive new women with a near- 1985)14 and nonfiction such as Nuxing de ijien
utopian vision. In her imaginary Eden her heroines (Woman's Opinions; 1984) and Waiyu (Extramari-
reclaim their female consciousness and find their tal Affairs; 1984). For the latter two works, she
own identity by venturing into new territory. wrote
Al- newspaper columns expressing her views on
though the work is not "great" in terms of literary modern women's dilemmas within a so-called Tai-
technique - it was the author's first attempt at writ-wanese context and conducted surveys and research
on the issue of extramarital affairs (a new form of
ing fiction - it is historically and politically signifi-
polygamy and concubinage) to uncover its causes
cant in that it not only creates intellectual, indepen-
dent women characters as counterparts to the and the effects it has on both women and men. Al-
traditional ideal, submissive female figures hitherto though she did not participate directly in the wom-
predominant in Chinese literature, but also provides en's movement per se, her spiritual involvement is
direct critiques of patriarchal values and inspiring evident from the review she wrote of Lu's work and
blueprints for a new feminist world. from her contributions to feminist journals such as
Lu's vision may seem overoptimistic. For exam- Nuxing Ren (Woman-Mankind), for which she
ple, she does not directly cut through the biased sys- serves as the managing editor.15
tem of marriage; her model of the "new woman" at As a young female writer entering the male do-
times comes dangerously close to an oversimplified main of commentary on issues related to gender,
"superwoman" syndrome - the double workload, sexuality, and power, Li was met with public disap-
the expectations and pressure from both the familyproval.16 Despite obstacles, however, in the early
and the job - and her idea of "new men" is never 1980s she completed The Butcher's Wife (the Chi-
fully developed in her fiction. Nevertheless, her nese title literally means "killing one's own hus-
ideas on sexual equality, community support, and band"), one of the most disturbingly powerful
cooperation between women and men are timely works in the history of Taiwanese literature, expos-
starting points that suggest various possibilities for ing patriarchal oppression and exploitation through
women following in her footsteps. Dedicated to her the subtle manipulation of food, money, and sex.
mother and her fellow sisters, "These Three Wom- The Butcher's Wife is a story of the trials and
en" reveals the significance of emotional/spiritual tribulations of Linshi, a young peasant woman from
bonding among women and the power and strengththe fishing village of Lugang in southeastern Taiwan
of femininity as culturally defined in the East. at the turn of the century. By presenting the myste-
rious case of such a peasant woman's "murder" of
3. Li Ang's dystopian world. Another Tai- her husband first through news reports, then
wanese woman writer whose work is intentionally through the story proper, the author leads readers
"feminist" is Li Ang. Although she shares through Linshi's life from different perspectives in
a pioneer-
ing feminist awareness with Lu Xiulian,order to let cre-
Li Ang them form their own conclusions with
ates a fictional world which is a near antithesis of regard to the cause, effect, and significance of such
that found in "These Three Women." Her dark a tragic event. The unequal relationships between
dystopia in The Butcher's Wife carries a powerful men mes-
and women in a marriage system, the biased
sage by portraying a male-centered world in which social customs
vi- and religious superstitions, and the
olence and domination rule while female values of powerful control exerted by "gossips," "rumors,"
connection and understanding are virtually absent. and the media in a patriarchal society are all por-
trayed, questioned, and challenged in the course of
A. Gender, sex, and violence. Like Lu Xiulian, uncovering the mystery of the protagonist's inten-
Li Ang was influenced by Western feminist thinking tion to kill her husband.17
and the women's movement in Taiwan. As a talent- Although the novel won Li Ang a literary award
ed writer, she started out at age seventeen dealing and widespread recognition, it was actually misun-
with sensitive topics related to young women from derstood and was received rather negatively by the
her hometown of Lugang and was especially notable reading public and critics due largely to their per-
for her depiction of their emotional and sexual ception of the explicit sexual descriptions in the
world. During the 1970s she apparently came in novel as "perverse" and of the climactic act of hus-
contact with works by and about Simone de Beau- band-murdering as "immoral" regardless of the rea-
voir, Virginia Woolf, and Germaine Greer, among sons.18 One of Taiwan's most controversial writers,
other feminist writers, and was fascinated by them.13 Li was not only rejected by the conservative "domi-
Li followed her sister's footsteps and received her nant" group for being "outrageous" and promoting
Master's degree in theater from the University of disharmony in the family and society, but was also
Oregon in the 1980s. It was after her return from regarded by some local feminists as being too elitist
the United States that she wrote and published and not sufficiently "radical."19 Above all, both

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 CHIEN 39

groups criticized the tragic ending ple, herof The are

ducklings Butcher's
ruthlessly slaughtered by her
Wife and its pessimistic, gloomy husband; outlook herfor
neighbor's concern turns out to be in-
Chinese
women. Suffering from the pressure sincere, asofshe severe
gossips about Linshi's shameless
criti-
cism in the author's homeland, the book
screaming was,
at night ironi-
without concern for the victim's
cally, much better received in predicament; the West andby some
of course the tenderness shown
sympathetic critics,20 resulting in by its translation
the butcher toward theinto
prostitute vanishes when
several foreign languages, including he returns English,
home to beat andGer-
rape his wife.
man, French, and Japanese.21 The yearning for tender love and understanding
Despite her work's being marginalized and the creationby critics
of potential motherly and sisterly
in her own country, Li nevertheless figures as has
sourcescontinued
of redemption in the novel is, I
to pursue such taboo issues as sex, violence, and believe, related to the author's personal experiences.
domination even though the general public still re- As the youngest of three daughters, Li Ang was in-
mains silent on such common practices as the keep- fluenced greatly and encouraged by her mother to
ing of mistresses and concubines, trade in aboriginal think and live independently.23 Her two literary
adolescent prostitutes, and marital abuse and rape.22 sisters - Shi Shuqing, a professional writer now re-
It is out of her sympathy for and sense of justice to- siding in Hong Kong, and Shi Shunu, a scholar and
ward sexually oppressed women (both poor and literary critic now living with the author near Tai-
rich, rural and urban), I believe, that she launched pei - also gave her the inspiration and support that
her attack on the patriarchal evils of her own society she needed to be a writer herself.
by exposing its horrifying "realities" from a wom- Though pessimistic on the surface, The Butcher's
an's viewpoint. Wife is a political work which protests sexual vio-
Perhaps the deepest misunderstanding of The lence by depicting it in its fullest reality. Through
Butcher's Wife has been the notion of critics that the the novel's metaphorical murder of the patriarchy,
novel is too pessimistic and therefore lacking in em- the status of women in Taiwan is moved a step for-
pathy and human bonding. In my view, this reveals ward symbolically. Above all, Li's novella is a sub-
a double misapprehension of Li Ang's work. First, versive work of art that deconstructs the destructive
the author does give important glimpses of such a forces of aggression and domination and thereby
connection several times in the novel: in the female
opens up various possibilities for the feminine prin-
protagonist Linshi's caring for a small brood of ciples of communication and compassion.
ducklings, in her initial responsiveness to her neigh-
bor Auntie Ahwang's signs of concern, and even in B. Femme fatale or victim? The Butcher's Wife
the butcher's gentle, open relationship with his is a powerful piece of feminist fiction that aims to
prostitute-friend Jinhua (Golden Flower). Thus Li destabilize the subtle patriarchal control and shock
shows the possibility of empathy and connection readers into consciousness. In contrast to Lu Xiu-
even within the dark social nightmare she is present- lian's Utopian world, it is a dark, dystopian work
ing. Second, and perhaps more important, she that serves to deconstruct the phallocentric world of
heightens the reader's awareness of the problem she sexual oppression and repression. Ideologically, it
is portraying precisely by leaving these possibilities provides a critique of several dehumanizing prac-
for compassion and bonding unfulfilled. For exam- tices involving sex and money, including arranged
marriages, the control of food, and sexual assault,
both verbal and physical.
In The Butcher's Wife the author attempts to sub-
vert a dystopian patriarchal hell through the depic-
tion of the female peasant protagonist Linshi's resis-
tance to and rebellion against its total control. In
the news reports at the beginning of the novel be-
fore the story proper actually begins, Linshi is con-
demned by an anonymous newspaper reporter in a
"logical," "rational" tone of voice as a "fatal" and
"immoral" woman who kills her husband for the
sake of another man. According to the news report,
"Chen Linshi's confession defies reason and logic,
for, since ancient times, a murder of this sort has al-
ways been the result of an adulterous affair. We
urge the authorities to launch a thorough investiga-
tion to determine the identity and precise role of the
secret lover in this case. . . . The killing of a man by
his wife is a moral issue that affects all of society.

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40 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY

. . . [The] authorities must treat thisdominant case with and dominated.

the ut- The power of a repressed
most severity" ("News Report #1," emphasis woman's "wild" psyche that has been buried deep
added). The image of Linshi here as a "debauched"inside her unconscious is finally released and re-
woman to be severely punished as a moral lesson for claimed, albeit in a maddened, surrealistic state.
all other women, however, is gradually demystified In contrast to Lu Xiulian's hopeful vision of fe-
in the text through the narrator's skillful unfolding male community, Li Ang's dystopian vision seems
of Linshi's life story and the use of recurring sym- devoid of human contact, true communication, and
bols and dreams. sisterhood. Although the women in "These Three
Instead of being an evil woman, the female Women" pro- support one another emotionally, those in
tagonist turns out to be a silent victim in a male- The Butcher's Wife isolate and persecute one anoth-
dominated rural village. Readers are told that er. as aLinshi's act of killing is a metaphorical rebellion
poor orphan, Linshi, together with her widowed against the horrible control of the human psyche,
mother, was driven out of her own house by rela- the control of body and mind. That is why in her
tives claiming that women have no inheritance "mad"
or murderous state Linshi even envisions the
property rights. Later we see her as she witnesses villagers'
at invisible verbal control as "countless bright
a young age the virtual raping of her mother red by atongues noisily jabberpng] on and on." Eventu-
soldier in exchange for food. After her mother ally
is she cannot but raise "the knife and hack and
forced to "disappear" from the village, the unpro- hack until the tongues [go] away" (138).
tected, uneducated Linshi is taken in by her uncle
and later married off to a butcher in exchange for C. aMale discourse and subversion. In contrast
monthly supply of pork. In addition to being usedLu to asXiulian's use of female discourse in her fic-
a commodity for trade, she is treated like a sextion, ob- Li Ang assimilates mainstream male discourse
ject, abused, beaten, and harassed by her brutal in The Butcher's Wife to depict patriarchal "reality."
husband, bringing her ultimately to the brink of in- The main text of the novel presents an enclosed, ex-
sanity. Far from being a bad woman as the news re- clusive, suffocating, male-centered dystopia. Those
port portrays, Linshi is a victim of patriarchal domi- who follow the patriarchal rules are endowed with
nation and exploitation. the power of "truth" and control. For example,
On a symbolic level, the image of Linshi as a early in the story the elders of the Chen clan, in the
powerless victim is often associated in the main text name of traditional virtue, condemn Linshi's moth-
with that of a dehumanized puppet or a helpless an- er for being "unfaithful," "shameless," and expel
imal. Deprived of proper food and nutrition, she is her from her society simply because the starving
described as plain and flat in appearance, as if widow exchanged sexual favors for a bowl of rice.
carved out of a piece of wood; she is skinny, with "a
long face, long hands, long legs" (81), yellowish dry
skin, and a stiff body. Her blank gaze and mechani-
cal motions bespeak her pathetic death-in-life state
of being. Deprived of all warmth, joy, and pleasur-
able human sexuality, she is reduced to the status of
a sex object or a frightened animal.
The dystopian world of The Butcher's Wife is that
of the butcher's slaughterhouse, with Linshi likened
to the "bound pig" waiting to be sacrificed and
Chen Jiangshui, her husband, associated with a
butcher knife, an image of the penis as the essence
of phallocentric control. The butcher's brutal
slaughtering of pigs thereby symbolizes the aggres-
sive sexual possession and violent victimization of
female bodies.
The ultimate control of such an enclosed patriar-
chal hell is challenged, however, by Linshi's "defi-
ant" act of murder. In a dreamlike, nightmarish at- 3

mosphere, we see the starving, harassed, abused

wife get up in the middle of the night half-crazed,
grab her husband's knife as it shines under the eerie
si
moonlight, and coolly kill the sleeping butcher as if ©

dissecting a pig. The act of taking over and using

her husband's knife, a symbol of phallic power, sub-
verts the existing relationship of male and female, of 1j Ang

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 CHIEN 41

The gossiping villagers, who blindly accept and need for changing such a dehumanizing, sexist soci-
spread rumors about Linshi and her mother for ety.
being "tainted" or "possessed" by evil spirits, also Whether victim or villain, Linshi is seen by some
reinforce the subtle control of that society. Even thecritics as not being a heroine with a feminist con-
butcher Chen, himself an outcast due to his lowly sciousness and therefore not a true "victor." Li Ang,
profession, is given the power of control over his however, has argued that it is unrealistic for a peas-
wife by virtue of his being a breadwinning husband. ant woman such as Linshi to be aware of her
He never looks at Linshi directly, never calls her by predicament to such a degree as to rebel.24 More-
her name, and often yells at her or scolds her with over, several signs of resistance on the heroine's part
dehumanizing and degrading epithets such as throughout the novel are neglected by critics. Also,
"bitch" or simply "woman." In contrast, Linshi andin the news report contained in the epilogue, pre-
her mother, who do not appear to follow the rigidsumably published after the sentencing of Linshi,
rules of society voluntarily, are chastised and readers are told that in reality the woman from
stripped of any power. They belong to the "mutedShanghai on whom the entire story is based eventu-
group," excluded from the dominant one in terms ally escaped her death sentence due to the end of
of gender and class. the war between China and Japan. Such an arrange-
The formal structure of the text is like that of a ment in the frame text, I suggest, is significant in
frame story, with news reports at the beginning and that it indicates a disruption of the patriarchal or-
end serving as secondary texts that introduce and der's total domination and enclosure and reveals
conclude the main text. The news report that open- signs of hope for the "resisting" heroine both in fic-
ly condemns Linshi and warns all Chinese women tion and in reality.
against "foreign" and "new" ways of life serves as
the first layer of subtle social control. The male dis-4: Conclusion. "These Three Women" and The
course of the text which intricately frames the fe- Butcher's Wife are two historically important novels,
male protagonist is, however, challenged and desta- for their appearance signifies the end of patriarchal
bilized through the author's use of irony, through domination and the beginning of a new era for
sarcasm in the news reports, and through the women of both the middle and the lower class. The
dreamlike, Gothic atmosphere of the murder scene shared impact of the two authors Lu Xiulian and Li
itself. The two news reports remarking on female Ang in helping reshape the values in traditionally
virtues undermine the general social attitude toward patriarchal societies and the possibilities for women
Linshi in particular and women in general. The in those societies comes from two strikingly differ-
"muted" discourse that emerges at times in Linshi's ent works of fiction. Lu reconstructs womanhood in
nocturnal dreams is mostly related to her repressed a contemporary urban world of intellectual women
sexuality. The murder she commits in a state of in search of self-actualization. Their idealized
"madness" can be seen as a symbolic reclaiming of progress toward independence and interdependence
the female psychic power, released only in the realm is conveyed in a trilogy of female narratives. Li Ang,
of the "wild" subconsciousness. The killing of her in contrast, deconstructs the Chinese patriarchy
husband is thus a symbolic gesture subverting patri- through a dark dystopian world. The use of a male-
archal control. dominated, authoritarian narrative encloses the
poor peasant woman in early twentieth-century
D. Beyond the killing. Linshi's triumph is onlyrural Taiwan without the possibility of self-realiza-
transitory. She is eventually sentenced to death for tion or even of any meaningful degree of autonomy.
transgressing the patriarchal structure. Meeting vio- With her literary subtleties, Li Ang is able to show
lence with violence obviously does not get to the the implausibility of the dominant group's view of
root of the problem in reality, and the function of the "evil," "murderous" heroine and to expose the
her action, I believe, lies in its symbolic gesture of destructiveness of the dominant value system.
resisting complete patriarchal colonization of and In introducing feminist ideas into the Taiwanese
control over her body. The moral of the story, I sug-context, both authors seem to point in their works
gest, does not lie in the combative act of murder it- to the often marginalized female values of connect-
self, as some critics maintain, but rather in the grad-edness, understanding, and compassion as consti-
ual revealing of the naked "truth" through the tuting an exit: Lu by directly demonstrating the sig-
stripping away of the many-layered "lies" that en- nificance of these values through the "communal
fold the event. Far from encouraging readers to em- world" and bonds of her "new women," Li by indi-
ulate the heroine's drastic act of revenge, the author rectly presenting the complete lack of and therefore
opens our eyes by presenting the poignant struggle the urgent need for these values through the "phal-
of a sexually abused woman on the verge. Li Ang's lic hell" of the butcher shop and the murder com-
hope lies ultimately in her readers' understanding of mitted by her "madwoman" on the verge. The jux-
the ugly "reality" and their awakening to the urgent taposition of these two works reveals the range and

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42 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY

11 in
depth of problems confronting women For atraditional
discussion of women's community in literature, see
Nina Auerbach, Communities of Women: An Idea in Fiction, Cam-
Chinese societies and the possibilities for fiction as a
bridge, Ma., Harvard University Press, 1978, esp. pp. 1-32.
means by which women can deconstruct and s recon-
12 See Showalter idea of the dominant group versus the
struct the worlds they inhabit. "muted group," in Feminist Readings, pp. 92-94.
13 Most of these works are translated by Yang Meihui and O
Pennsylvania State University
Yangzi. See Ying-Ying Chien, "Women, Feminism, and Creativ-
ity: An Interview with Li Ang," Chung- Wai Literary Monthly,
17:10 (March 1989), p. 185.
1 For a detailed discussion of the women's movement in Tai-
14 See Michelle Yeh, "Shapes of Darkness: Symbols in Li
wan, see Ku Yen-lin, "The Feminist Movement in Taiwan,
Ang's Dark Night," in Chinese Women Writers: Critical Appraisals,
1972-87," Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 20:1 Qanuary-
Michael S. Duke, ed., New York, Sharpe, 1989, pp. 78-95.
March 1989), pp. 12-22; and "The Changing Status of Women in 15 For Li's review of Lu, see Zhe sange nuren, pp. 227-30. Nu-
Taiwan: A Conscious and Collective Struggle Toward Equality,"
xing ren [Woman-Mankind] is a feminist journal that includes es-
Women's Studies International Forum, 11:3 (1988), pp. 179-86.
says from North America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. It is
2 See Lu Xiulian, "Tiequang xia yiao bigan" [Writing Under published in Taipei by Chen Youshi, who currently teaches at
the Iron Window], the preface to her Zhe sange nuren [These the University of Alberta in Canada.
Three Women], Taipei, Zili Evening News, 1986, pp. 2-6; and Li 16 See Howard Goldblatt, "Sex and Society: The Fiction of Li
Ang, Shafu, Taipei, lianjin, 1986, pp. 8-9. All translations from
Ang," in his World Apart: Recent Chinese Writing and Its Audience,
Lu's book are my own; citations from Li's novel are based on New York, Sharpe, 1990, pp. 150-65.
Howard Goldblatt and Ellen Yeung's translation, The Butcher's17 The story told in The Butcher's Wife reminds us of the "mad
Wife: A Novel by Li Ang, Berkeley, Ca., North Point, 1986.
housewife" plays in early twentieth-century American literature,
3 For a detailed discussion of "gyno critique" or "gyno criti-
such as Trifles by Susan Glaspell, in which a stifling marriage and
cism," see Elaine Showalter, New Feminist Criticism: Essaysisolated
on village life lead to the heroine's murder of her husband. I
Women, Literature, and Theory, New York, Pantheon, 1985,surmisepp. that this play might have been a possible source or inspi-
247-50; and Sara Mills et al., Feminist Readings I Feminists Read-
ration for Li Ang.
ing, Charlottesville, University Press of Virginia, 1989, pp. 18 See Fongqi yunyong de nuxing zhui piping [New Waves of
83-121.
Feminist Criticism], Taipei, Gufong, 1988, pp. 254-90, 344-61.
4 See the revised edition of Lu Xiulian's Xin nuxing zhui
19 [New
In the preface to "Women's Opinions" (Shibao, 1987, pp.
Feminism], Taipei, Dunli, 1986, p. 280. Misperceived by 2-4) the
Li Ang explained why she was viewed by a few intellectual
alarmed government for the author's seemingly militant stance,
friends as "conservative" and "encouraging a bourgeois women's
the book was banned shortly after its first publication in movement."
1974.
5 Among Lu Xiulian's semiautobiographical works are Shuishu
20 See, for example, Howard Goldblatt, Carolyn See, and
tuohuang de jiaobu (Counting the Footsteps of Pioneering) and
Richard Burgin, among others. Scholars participating in the 1986
Xinnuxing hequ hechong (New Women: Where Are You Going?). "Commonwealth Modern Chinese Literature" conference held
6 Some feminists complain that Lu Xiulian avoids theinissue of
Germany were considered especially "open-minded" by the
homosexuality and overemphasizes the "traditional" feminine author with regard to the reception of The Butcher's Wife.
qualities. 21 See the preface to Li Ang's new novel Mi-yuan [Lost in the
7 According to Lu Xiulian herself, she deliberately includes Garden] (Taipei, Li Ang Series, 1991, pp. 1-2), in which the au-
some of the "feminine qualities" in her new feminist ideologies to thor explains how, with understanding and support from critics
counterbalance the so-called "Western feminism."
and readers in the West, she overcame inner and outer pressures
8 Li Yuanzhen is a professor of Chinese literature at Tamkang
and picked up her pen to complete the new book.
University. She organized the "Awakening Foundation," an ac- 22 At a national conference, for example, a female scholar's
tive and leading local feminist organization in Taiwan. For paper
a de- on "domestic violence" was once regarded as "not a pro-
tailed discussion, see Ku Yen-lin, 1989, pp. 17-20. fessional topic" and unsuitable for inclusion in a formal scholarly
9 See Ms., 3:5 (March/April 1993), p. 10; 17 of Taiwan's meeting.
161
members of Parliament are female.
23 Chien, p. 194.
10 Lu Xiulian, Zhe sange nuren, p. 8.
24 Ibid., pp. 184-85.

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