Four Sisters of Hofei

by Annping Chin

Through the stories of four sisters born between 1907 and 1914, a renowned historian examines a century of change in Chinese culture and in women's lives. Now in their late eighties and early nineties, the four Chang sisters lived through a century of historic change in China. In this extraordinary work, assembled with the benefit of letters, diaries, family histories, poetry, journals and interviews, Annping Chin shapes the story of one family into a riveting chronicle that provides a unique insight into the old China and its transition into the new. From prosperity to persecution, from foreign wars to Cultural Revolution, "Four Sisters of Hofei" is an intensely personal and sweeping story that illustrates the complex history of a complex culture.

Genres: China, History, Asia, Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir, Asian Literature

Paperback

First published October 22, 2002

Reviews

[Dar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a detailed history of 20th century China as experienced by a family with 4 sisters (and 6 brothers) born before WW1. Each child in the family had a nanny who served that child alone until adulthood. Their father was a benevolent landowner who built his own private school to educate girls. He believed they should earn their own incomes. They all attended college, studying history, literature, calligraphy and opera.

The author speaks often of the sisters' unique temperaments and their very different experiences of marriage and motherhood. They lived through nationalism, war, the beginning of Communism, starvation, the destruction of their culture, reeducation and even resettlement in America.

Although the author had many sources to draw on such as diaries, letters and interviews, the sisters grew reticent in later life and their stories grew vague. This was also deliberate on the author's part because she wanted to focus on a few key scenes for each sister, while spending more time on social history.

I learned a lot, but the lack of a strong narrative arc in the second half of the book was disappointing.

[Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Chinese translation of this book. Its writing is pretty dry (so not much flavor was lost in the translation), so I am not surprised that most readers, interested in modern Chinese history but not familiar with most of the literary and cultural luminaries appeared in the book, found this book boring and unreadable.

This book told a quite splendid story about the upbringing and divergent later lives of four sisters from a fluent and progressive family at the beginning of the last century. All four of them had talent in performing arts, calligraphy or literature, and their lives were intertwined with some of the best known cultural figures at that period. It offers a interesting perspective into the fate and struggle of Chinese intellectuals, and the Chinese society as a whole, in the turbulent 20th century. Totally loved it.

[Sammi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I normally love books like these... but, I could just not get into this one. I tried to keep reading, but I couldn't get interested in anything that was written.
I'm guessing it is a brilliant book, just not for me.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Much more of a dry scholarly work than I had anticipated...I didn't get past the second chapter. Eh.

[Anita Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and half stars I think. I really enjoyed reading this in places. It lost half a star as I found it tended to 'go on a bit' but generally a lovely book, well worth reading :-).

[Momma Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zzzzzzz

Term paper

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of four sisters who were born to a gentry family around 1910-1920, and describes their upbringing in an upper class household in Hofei, also Shanghai. The adult story of each sister is then told in a separate chapter - they mostly came of age in the 1930s when the country was being overrun by the Japanese, and all struggled through the second world war, and the subsequent Red takeover, or left to go to Taiwan. All were living in the States by the time this was written.

I find this book dry, hence not that interesting for someone who has not read a lot about China or who otherwise does not have a great interest in China of the 20th century. For me it was a useful fill-in of information of how educated upper class people felt about and dealt with the great changes in China at the time. The sisters were lucky to have parents who felt that they should be educated and have advantages. This is despite the family later having five sons. That girls were not valued is underscored by the fact that the youngest of the four sisters (disappointing, still no boy) was effectively hived off to live with a grandmother who did want her, and the mother died in childbirth of a last daughter (tenth child), who was not nurtured and was simply left to die herself a day or two later.

As it happens I am simultaneously reading the Chinese classic, A Dream of Red Mansions (AKA The Dream of the Red Chamber), about a prominent family two or three centuries before, but the overlaps are astonishing. The sisters are quite taken with kun chu opera (southern Chinese opera, vs Peking opera)and are given extensive training in it, later performing for audiences or family - the family in Dream keeps a theater group as part of the house staff, to provide just this entertainment - and the same opera scenes are favorites in both books. An important woman for each of the sisters is her nurse-nanny,essentially her wet nurse who remains with her to adulthood, in addition to multiple other servants, as in Dream. Both the sisters and the Dream family have an extensive knowledge of poetry and poetical references, strong marks of educated people (and the classical education needed to score well on the civil service exam.) Another fun overlap is a reference in Sisters to Granny Liu, a country type with a guileless way of talking - this is actually a character in Dream, clearly a Chinese character as well known as Mrs. Malaprop or Shylock in the Chinese body of literature.

The sisters' stories are personal, and one in particular is quite striking - Yun-Ho, the sister who did live through the Cultural Revolution described dealing with the students who came to "expose" her as thinking of them as characters in kun chu opera, and thinking of herself as acting on stage. Interesting coping mechanism!

[Latique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now, I'm not one to choose to read an autobiography or biography very easily. That being said, the complexity of these four sisters and the temptation of being able to learn about their lives in China and around the world during the 20th century was just too much to ignore. Their lives appeared to have started off with plenty (family money), but the chapters about their parents and later about themselves shows that this fact does not mean that they were spoiled or pampered indefinitely. Complications happened for each of the four sisters: scandals, disease, war, school, marriages, children, and tense relations with government officials. How they survived and stayed in contact across the decades is marvelous to see unfold as their stories get spun out one after another. Unfortunately, each of the four sisters' stories gets stopped suddenly and without an epilogue or note from the author at the end, the readers are left wondering what became of the women in their last days (for the book was published in 2002, and the women were becoming quite elderly when the author interviewed them before that date). Recommended for high school age and older to people who are interested in Chinese history, autobiographies/biographies/interviews/ethnography, and books about family relationships that span lifetimes.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those books I picked up because I was looking for something to read. This is the beauty of going to the main branch of the library.

I know very little about Chinese history or culture or anything, so it was all new to me. The sisters were raised in privilege before the Communist revolution. Somehow their tranquil, almost otherworldly existence was fascinating.

The book suffers from a surfeit of names - not just the family (there are 5 brothers, and nannies for each of the children, extended family, and friends), plus digressions into classical Chinese literature, Chinese history, and Chinese opera. Which was pretty overwhelming; I often got confused between the similarly-named sisters, and absolutely couldn't keep track of the hundred of other people referenced.

But I managed to let that go and just experience a different world: three hours of calligraphy every day (with half a day off every 10 days) or the fact that their father sponsored a school for girls or quotes from spouses separated by all the troubles faced by someone living in China over the last century. Not sure I learned anything, but it was a pleasant surprise.

[Sara Westhead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting biography of this family, focusing mostly on the life of 4 sisters born in to an upper class Chinese family between (approximately) 1905 and 1913. The book covers their lives, as well as touches on the lives of their grandfather, father and mother.

It can be a challenging read, especially for someone who knows little to nothing about Chinese literature, philosophy and culture, especially as the writer frequently goes on tangents - these all explain more about why the girls developed the way they did - but they can be distracting and hard to read all the same.

This is not your classic Chinese sob story! Three of the women do suffer under the heavy hand of communism, but this is only glossed over - the focus is on the development of 'modern women' in a very turbulent period of Chinese history, as the Emperor is overthrown, warlords fight over country, and then the invasion of the Japanese, all while the traditional role of women in Chinese culture was changing.

[Jodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book I picked up off the free shelf at the library (and I'll be returning it there!) and since I have read a lot about China, I decided to give this one a try. I don't know who these sisters were, but they were obviously from a well-to-do family and didn't feel the effects to the extreme of others during the Chinese rebellion. I did pick up some tidbits about life in China during the 1910ish to the 1930ish. It was interesting to read that a bridesmaid at a Chinese wedding during this time was hired to make small talk to all the guests to help the bride "look" better. Interesting. The book was a tad "dry" and thus the rating and perhaps had I known who these ladies were, maybe it would have been more interesting too............

[˚⊱ Avi ⊰˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will say, I typically don't enjoy bibliographies, however I found this a very interesting read.

It's an insight to a world that I could never experience and I really enjoyed the history of this family, the area of Hofei they lived much of their lives in, and looking into the lives of the four title sisters. My favorite chapters were of The Wedding, Birth, Mother, and Chao-ho.

I will admit there were times that my eyes glazed over, but the style of writing and how it was broken up by chapter helped keep my attention for the most part. (Again, this isn't a genre I pick up all that often) If you're interested in looking into a well-off family's transition from a pre-communist era into the early 20th century China, I recommend picking it up.

[Mary Lou]

Has an index - thanks. A look at a wealthy Chinese family, primarily the 4 daughters. (There were also 5 sons.) We see their home life from infancy to adulthood, their education, & the Chinese world they were part of. Interesting historically.

[Tasha Yee-king · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading.

[Wan Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annping best work....... powerfull and poignant, yet enduring history.