Fu Ping is a character-driven novel, so we shouldn't be surprised
to find new characters popping up as the story progresses and in fact the city of Shanghai itself poses both as a structure and figurative character of the novel.
Having lived in Shanghai for most
part of her life, Nainai has been attuned to its lifestyle and the attributes
has been ingrained in her attitude and understanding of life while shaping her
personality. Nainai is a widowed woman who has seen her future, when she'll be
no longer able to work and support herself, and she's looking forward to be
settled, should the need arise, with her adopted grandson—with
whom she's planning to marry Fu Ping with—in the future. Following this,
she invites Fu Ping to live with her in Shanghai, before being married.
We get peek into the lives and
lifestyles of Shanghai residents, particularly of those Nainai work for and
served before, and those of like her1
who ended up in Shanghai for various reasons. The growing attraction to the
city settlement and the movement of migrants from the villages into the centre
and its outskirts depict the changing time of the history, evolved around
Chinese Cultural Revolution, when Shanghai lured people from all provinces and
they brought along their idiosyncratic dialects and accents which have often
been mentioned in the story.
1. Bereft
of family support, these women were forced to be self-reliant. The longer they stayed
away from home, the less often they returned. And when they did, the visit was
usually short-lived. They were no longer used to their hometown environment,
which habitually led to bouts of diarrhea or a rash, and that sent them right
back, often bringing along another woman or two to find work in a city household.
Taciturn, bashful and sensitive,
Fu Ping is a hard-to-understand girl, at least for those around her and particularly
for Nainai. She shows natural behavior but always keeps a wall of
unpredictability between herself and others. Soon Fu Ping starts to feel
comfortable in the new settlement2
not wanting to leave and understand the clues of Nainai. But this is already a long
span of time and her lengthy stay starts to trouble Nainai, who wants the
marriage to happen soon and thus be relieved.
2. She
learned the richly complex histories of local families, each of which possessed
a story worthy of characters in a movie or a play. Village life seemed to never
change, not for generations, and one family was very much like all the others.
Not here, where backgrounds were different, where every story was filled with
unique twists and turns. She had thought that everyone in Shanghai lived a life
of ease and comfort until she realized how hard it was to make a living in a
city. People in Shanghai were proof of that.
The attention to details3 that the author has given
to the objects, houses, seasons, streets and characters cannot be skimmed or
scanned, because we soon understand, this is the way she wants to present the
story of the city and lives of array of characters that are in one way or
another associated with Fu Ping, moulding her or becoming her part of
experiencing the new life or just living behind an impression. As Fu Ping
delves and understands the Shanghai life with its textures unraveling, so do we,
at her pace and see her wanting to connect with people, except that she finds
it hard to open up with those close to her.
3. Freshly
washed mops hung from windows of the frame houses on the banks. They were too
far from people washing clothes in the river to hear their conversations or the
bawling children. The boat’s engine noise smothered all other sounds and
created a greater distance to the riverbank. A few of the multistoried
buildings seemed to be following them, standing tall in the clear sky, their
concrete rooftops reflecting the sun’s rays. The river was dark by comparison,
and they seemed to be sailing through the shadows cast by buildings. And yet, a
muted light rose up from the river bottom, settling on their faces to form a
soft glow, while the light on the banks was harsher. The city appeared lofty
and mammoth when seen from the river, and alien. They were in one of the city’s
remote reaches, far from densely packed city structures, which were yet
visible. Sunlight refracted off the complex surfaces before settling on one
spot. And so, a glance in that direction was rewarded with a thicket of bright
light, almost as if a small sun were perched there. Light gusts of wind brushed
the water’s surface, chilling the travelers’ faces, hands, and feet.
Strong and weak ties, shrewd
reactions and unspoken virtue that govern the lives of residents—some of
whom share a common past—in Shanghai can be observed in the way the
characters interact or think of each other. We move in and out of personal
feelings of Fu Ping and Nainai, and sometimes just observe them as they glide
through the narrative. At times, it seems like Fu Ping and Nainai's character
opens door to multitude of lives and stories, which have socially and
culturally evolved, but women's life and times in the given period has illuminated
all the episodes and chapters. Pedestrians, shops and shopkeepers, neighbours, food,
celebrations, smell and texture of the streets make up the intricacies, and feature
of Shanghai and its outskirts becomes apparent, almost palpable, giving glimpse
into Chinese culture and lifestyle.
When Fu Ping goes to live at her uncle's
home not far from Shanghai just after when her departure from Shanghai has been
preset, everything changes. While Fu Ping is excited about finally finding her
true ties, Nainai is tensed all the more. This shift brings light on the lives
of people in the suburbs of Shanghai, where Fu Ping's uncle—who
works on a scow—has settled together with his family among boatmen. Here,
while she relishes her company with a new friend with whom she can go on private
excursions, her aunt has a different scheme on her head, unknown to the story
Fu ping (who is unexpressive of her status) has left behind in Shanghai. In
this sequence of events, the richer world of Opera House draws in clue into the
cultural organization of the people and very soon Fu Ping, changed in her
persona, returns to Shanghai again where she meets her to-be-husband, Li Tianhua. Her dubious attitude and intentions, her quandary, shy-laden and sometimes even provoking remarks is found throughout . However, like those close to her we cannot presume what's brewing up in her mind though we still can identify her shifting views. The
culmination of the novel comes as a surprise when Fu Ping decides something on her own.
Fu Ping connects the story of underclass, working immigrant women
with their willingness to freedom of choice and equally captures that forgotten
realm of history in all its richness and entirety, transporting readers to feel
the streets, rivers, sentiments and lives of those who lived then. Reading this
piece from the introduction once again, one realizes the essence of the text: In the chaotic changing of times, normal
life remains unchanged, and in normalcy lies a simple harmony, arranged based
on the reasonable needs of human nature, producing strength for generations to
carry on.
Author: Wang Anyi
Translator: Howard Goldblatt
Page Count: 296pp
Price: $18
Photo Credit: http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html0/people/writers/9/394-1.htm
Review Copy Courtesy: Columbia University Press
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