The Good Women of China Quotes

“Everybody says women are like water. I think it's because water is the source of life, and it adapts itself to its environment. Like women, water also gives of itself wherever it goes to nurture life....”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“I received no praise for the rescue of this girl, only criticism for "moving the troops about and stirring up the people" and wasting the radio station's time and money. I was shaken by these complaints. A young girl had been in danger and yet going to her rescue was seen as "exhausting the people and draining the treasury". Just what was a woman's life worth in China?”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“When you walk into your memories, you are opening a door to the past; the road within has many branches, and the route is different every time.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“No matter how revolutionary people were, he said, they could not live without books. Without books, we would not understand the world; without books, we could not develop; without books, nature could not serve humanity.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“(While interviewing The University Student:)
'Oh, poor Xinran. You haven't even got the various categories of women straight. How can you possibly hope to understand men? Let me tell you. When men have been drinking, they come out with a set of definitions for women. Lovers are "swordfish", tasty but with sharp bones. "Personal secretaries" are "carp", the longer you "stew" them, the more flavour they have. Other men's wives are "Japanese puffer fish", trying a mouthful could be the end of you, but risking death is a source of pride.'
'And what about their own wives?'
'Salt cod, because it keeps for a long time. When there is no other food, salt cod is cheap and convenient.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“Writing is a kind of repository and can help create a space for the accommodation of new thoughts and feelings. If you don't write these stories down, your heart will be filled up and broken by them.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“(While interviewing at the Hunan women's prison:)
'I have lived with several men, and let them amuse themselves with me. Because of that, I have been sent to two labour reeducation camps and been sentenced to prison twice. (...) When people curse me for having no shame, I don't get angry. All the Chinese care about is "face", but they don't understand how their faces are linked to the rest of their bodies.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“(While interviewing The University Student:)
'Good Chinese women are conditioned to behave in a soft, meek manner, and they bring this behaviour to bed. As a result, their husbands say that they have no sex appeal, and the women submit to oppression, convinced the fault is their own. They must bear the pain of menstruation and childbirth, and work like men to keep the family when their husbands don't earn enough. The men pin pictures of beautiful women above the bed to arouse themselves, while their wives blame themselves for their care-worn bodies.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“Xinran, do you know that it is the really bad women who are the lucky ones? I believe the saying “Money makes men bad; badness makes women money.”
― Xinran, The Good Women Of China: Hidden Voices

“(As a "grandchild of a capitalist household":)
At school, I was forbidden to take singing and dancing lessons with the other girls because I was not to "pollute" the arena of the revolution. Even though I was short-sighted, I was not allowed to sit in the front row in class because the best places were reserved for the children born to peasants, workers or soldiers; they were deemed to have 'straight roots and red shoots'. Similarly, I was forbidden to stand in the front row during PE lessons, though I was the smallest in the class, because the place nearest the teacher were for the 'next generation of the revolution'.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“Mentre scrivo queste righe a Sydney, una splendida coppia di pappagalli verdi con il petto arancione è accovacciata sul tetto dell'edificio accanto e sta nutrendo il proprio cucciolo.
Se gli uccelli possono provare un simile sentimento e non abbandonare mai le loro creature, com'è possibile che degli esseri umani rinuncino ripetutamente ai loro figli?”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“Just what are women, exactly? Should men be classed in the same species as women? Why are they so different? Books and films may say it is better to be a woman, but I cannot believe it. I have never felt it to be true, and I never will.”
― Xinran, The Good Women Of China: Hidden Voices

“Never think of a man as a tree whose shade you can rest in. Women are just fertiliser, rotting away to make the tree strong . . . There is no real love. The couples who appear loving stay together for personal gain, whether for money, power or influence.”
― Xinran, The Good Women Of China: Hidden Voices

“Men want a woman who is a virtuous wife, a good mother, and can do all the housework like a maid. Outside the home, she should be attractive and cultivated, and be a credit to him. In bed, she must be a nymphomaniac. What is more, Chinese men also need their women to manage their finances and earn a lot of money, so they can mingle with the rich and powerful. Modern”
― Xinran, The Good Women Of China: Hidden Voices

“When you walk into your memories, you are opening a door to the past; the road within has many branches, and the route is different every time”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“عندما نجول داخل ذكرياتنا فإننا نفتح بذلك بابا على الماضي، الطريق في داخله ملئ بالأغصان وتختلف الدرب فيه كلمرة.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“La escritura es una especie de sala de exposición, y un almacén que puede ayudar a crear un espacio para dar cabida a nuevas ideas y sentimientos. Si no pones estas historias por escrito, tu corazón se colmará de ellas y se romperá.”
― Xinran Xue, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“أما الفلسفة التي تملكها النساء؟
ما السعادة بالنسبة للمرأة؟
وما الذي يجعل المرأة امرأة صالحة؟”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“Uma família sem sentimentos ou sentimentos sem uma família. As condições de vida obrigam os jovens a fazer do emprego e da habitação os principais pré-requisitos para o casamento. Seus pais, que viveram a turbulência das mudanças políticas, fizeram da segurança e da estabilidade os alicerces sobre os quais uma família deve ser construída.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“A vida toda eu tivera vontade de que ela (mãe) me abraçasse. Quando eu era criança, ela não me abraçou nem beijou uma única vez.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“The chicken in the coop has grain but the soup pot is near; the wild crane has none but its world is vast.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

“Por mais revolucionárias que sejam, disse, as pessoas não podem viver sem livros. Sem livros não compreenderíamos o mundo; sem livros não poderíamos desenvolver; sem livros, a natureza não pode servir a humanidade.”
― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices