Daughters of Shandong

“I choose to remember love. Wherever I am in this world, I remain as I was, and always will be—the wheat that bursts through Shandong soil, and the Northern flowers that bloom in snow.”

The narrator of the Prologue is not identified, leaving a sense of mystery, on the first reading, as to whose point of view this is. The vivid imagery describes Zhucheng as a beautiful homeland, but the tone is colored with nostalgia. The final metaphors indicate perseverance and fortitude, foreshadowing the challenges the family will undergo, but hinting at Adapting as Survival Strategy, a major theme.

“Zhong nan qing nu, an idiom that meant ‘Value men and belittle women,’ was embedded in my understanding of our world.”

This proverb captures the traditional Chinese belief that women have less value in society and are useful only as mothers and tenders of the home. The worldview structures Hai’s childhood and her understanding of The Demands of Family Duty; a key part of her character arc is learning to resist this teaching and find her own worth. This belief also adds to the novel’s conflict, leading to Mom and the girls getting left behind when the rest of the Ang family escape the Communists.

“I followed suit, kowtowing before [Father and Nai Nai] like they were an emperor and empress dowager, for in our world that was what they were.”

As her parent and the Ang family’s first son and heir, Hai recognizes that her father has absolute control over her life as well as her mother and sisters.