'What is a wife for if not for producing sons?"
"In China, procreation and childbirth are, like every facet of human life, deeply political. Since the Communist party came to power in 1949, it has viewed the country's population as a faceless number that it can increase or decrease as it chooses, not a society of individuals with unique desires and inviolable rights. At first, Mao Zedong encouraged large families and outlawed abortion and the use of contraception, urging women to produce offspring who would boost the workforce and the ranks of the People's Liberation Army. My mother dutifully gave birth to five children. Our neighbour, Mrs Wang, produced 11, and was declared a "Heroine Mother" by the local authorities and given a large red rosette to pin to her lapel.
Mao's reckless strategy caused China's population to double from about 500 million in 1949 to almost a billion three decades later. By the time Deng Xiaoping took over the reins in 1978 after the calamitous cultural revolution, not only was Mao dead, but so was all faith in communist ideology. Deng knew that for the party to regain legitimacy, it would have to achieve economic growth, and a small group of technocrats, headed by rocket scientist Song Jian, persuaded him that for China to meet its economic targets for the year 2000, its population would have to be restricted to 1.2 billion. The one-child policy they proposed was swiftly introduced: couples in China could have only one child, or in the countryside two if the first child was a girl. The production of children became as subject to state targets and quotas as the production of grain and steel."
- The China's barbaric One-Child Policy
- How most of the men treated their wives as an object to produce male descendants.
- Young female infants were killed
- If the citizens are caught by family planning officers for "being pregnant illegally", the unborn baby will be killed.
- Goddess Nuwa - The goddess of order from ancient Chinese mythology who created humans and saved the world from destruction.
- Tiananmen Massacre : On June 4, 1989, leaders of the Chinese Communist Party ordered the People’s Liberation Army to open fire on thousands of student protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to stamp out a pro-democracy protest. Nonviolent and unarmed civilians were confronted by military troops and tanks, resulting in many deaths. Officially, 241 people were killed, although unconfirmed estimates of the death toll are into the thousands.
- Osmanthus flowers : A traditional symbol of Love and Romance, Osmanthus was used in old wedding customs when the bride prepared Sweet Osmanthus and Pomegranate pot plants and carried them to her new family. The fragrant plant symbolized True Love and Faithfulness and the fruit tree - Fertility and Peace, and the custom had the meaning of "giving birth to noble children" and "many children and many grandchildren"
Vocabs
- Confiscated : Take or seize (someone’s property) with authority.
- Prostaglandin : hormone-like substance that causes your cervix to ripen, and which may stimulate contractions
