This is a story about the formidable woman my grandmother used to talk about.
She said: "I don't want to spend my days tending the stove. I want to learn to read and write and become a formidable woman who can do great things. I want to help build a cultured New China. During land reform, Team Leader Bai told us women had risen up and been liberated, and that women were equal to men. Boys and girls were all the same, so why did you play favorites? Teacher Gao at school said the same thing: liberation was only the first step in dividing up the land. After that, we still had to build a new country. We needed teachers, doctors, scientists, artists, and officials... And those people couldn't just be men. We needed women, too. Women can do great things, travel far and wide, support their families, and bring honor to their ancestors. You squat in this mountain valley all day, never attending meetings, studying, or getting an education. Your head is full of outdated ideas that favor men over women!"
She is Han Shanya, a wild girl everyone looks down on. She studies, learns to read and write, and aims for university. She will take charge of her own life.
Reader advisory: This entire story reflects the ideas of its time, which may be limited in certain ways. It may not be the kind of wish-fulfillment story you expect, so please be prepared. This is not a romance.
Theme: Education changes one's destiny
