Bound Feet & Western Dress: A Memoir
by Pang-Mei Chang
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Book Summary Information
Author: Pang-Mei ChangEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-09-15
ISBN: 0385479646
Number of pages: 215
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of Bound Feet & Western Dress: A Memoir
Book Review: Makes a great gift ...courage in the face of change
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel was given to me by my younger brother for Christmas 1997. He said he thought it might be interesting for me--I think it is the best gift he's ever given me. I am the eldest daughter of a Chinese family; my own mother came from China and I and my brothers were born here in America. The biography "Bound Feet and Western Dress" serves to further enrich all the stories and experiences that my mother has been telling me about our own family history. For me, the book serves as just one piece to the complex puzzle of what happened to some of the families in China during the first half of the Twentieth Century. The novel's poignant story lets me know that I'm not alone in my mother's methods to raise me as a "good Chinese daughter" -- with her strange proverbs, her continuing treatment of me as second to the males in our family, and her insistence on a daughter's family duty. This book illustrates time after time how the main character, Chang Yu-I, deals with many unforeseen circumstances with strength and dignity -- surviving a short-lived marriage, changing cultural traditions, raising children on one's own, living in a foreign land, dealing with wartime, working hard, fulfilling family duty, and doing what is needs to be done. In this story, I do not believe the main character intends to push through major changes but, rather, she does not cower at what life brings to her. This gives the reader extra courage to know that you can deal with whatever the future holds for you. It made me laugh and cry. I especially love this book because of all the translated Chinese sayings. I saved the Christmas ribbons (which wrapped this gift from my brother) and I use the strips for bookmarks; the book sits cheerfully on my shelf bookmarked in numerous places with bright red and green to bring me straight to the poetic and beautiful sayings. The author was introduced to me last night at a dinner event as "Pang Mei" (prounounced like "Bang Mei") -- I was delighted at her beauty, animated enthusiasm and her down-to-earth approachability. I highly recommend "Bound Feet and Western Dress" for young and old alike. Be prepared for the jumping of the timeframes and the two narrative voices--the story will, nonetheless, enrich your life and hopefully it will help you understand a bit more about some of the Chinese women you may meet. The story is quick to read and would be a good springboard for the discussion of duty and honour, and the ability to change, be responsible, and succeed regardless of gender and class.
Summary of Bound Feet & Western Dress: A Memoir
"In China, a woman is nothing."Thus begins the saga of a woman born at the turn of the century to a well-to-do, highly respected Chinese family, a woman who continually defied the expectations of her family and the traditions of her culture. Growing up in the perilous years between the fall of the last emperor and the Communist Revolution, Chang Yu-i's life is marked by a series of rebellions: her refusal as a child to let her mother bind her feet, her scandalous divorce, and her rise to Vice President of China's first women's bank in her later years.
In the alternating voices of two generations, this dual memoir brings together a deeply textured portrait of a woman's life in China with the very American story of Yu-i's brilliant and assimilated grandniece, struggling with her own search for identity and belonging. Written in pitch-perfect prose and alive with detail, Bound Feet and Western Dress is the story of independent women struggling to emerge from centuries of customs and duty.
When Chang Yu-I was three her mother tried to bind her feet. But the child's cries so tormented her brother that he convinced their mother to stop. This break with convention foreshadowed the extraordinary life Yu-i was to lead. After following her husband, poet Hsu Chi-Mo, a noted philanderer, to Oxford, she made history by becoming the first Chinese woman to have a western-style divorce at age 22. Determined to make her own way, she moved to America and served in a series of prestigious positions, including president of a bank. Written by Yu-i's great niece, Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, Bound Feet and Western Dress chronicles the life of this exceptional woman.
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