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The Dark Road
From one of world literature’s most courageous voices, a novel about the human cost of China’s one-child policy
Far away from the Chinese economic miracle, from the bright lights of Beijing and Shanghai, is a vast rural hinterland, where life goes on much as it has for generations, with one extraordinary difference: “normal” parents are permitted by the state to have only a single child. The Dark Road is the story of one such “normal” family—Meili, a young peasant woman; her husband, Kongzi, a village schoolteacher; and their daughter, Nannan.
Kongzi is, according to family myth, a direct lineal descendant of Confucius, and he is haunted by the imperative to carry on the family name by having a son. And so Meili becomes pregnant again without state permission, and when local family planning officials launch a new wave of crackdowns, the family makes the radical decision to leave its village and set out on a small, rickety houseboat down the Yangtze River. Theirs is a dark road, and tragedy awaits them, and horror, but also the fierce beauty born of courageous resistance to injustice and inhumanity.
The Dark Road is a haunting and indelible portrait of the tragedies befalling women and families at the hands of China’s one-child policy and of the human spirit’s capacity to endure even the most brutal cruelty. While Ma Jian wrote The Dark Road, he traveled through the rural backwaters of southwestern China to see how the state enforced the one-child policy far from the outside world’s prying eyes. He met local women who had been seized from their homes and forced to undergo abortions or sterilization in the policy’s name; and on the Yangtze River, he lived among fugitive couples who had gone on the run so they could have more children, that most fundamental of human rights.
Far away from the Chinese economic miracle, from the bright lights of Beijing and Shanghai, is a vast rural hinterland, where life goes on much as it has for generations, with one extraordinary difference: “normal” parents are permitted by the state to have only a single child. The Dark Road is the story of one such “normal” family—Meili, a young peasant woman; her husband, Kongzi, a village schoolteacher; and their daughter, Nannan.
Kongzi is, according to family myth, a direct lineal descendant of Confucius, and he is haunted by the imperative to carry on the family name by having a son. And so Meili becomes pregnant again without state permission, and when local family planning officials launch a new wave of crackdowns, the family makes the radical decision to leave its village and set out on a small, rickety houseboat down the Yangtze River. Theirs is a dark road, and tragedy awaits them, and horror, but also the fierce beauty born of courageous resistance to injustice and inhumanity.
The Dark Road is a haunting and indelible portrait of the tragedies befalling women and families at the hands of China’s one-child policy and of the human spirit’s capacity to endure even the most brutal cruelty. While Ma Jian wrote The Dark Road, he traveled through the rural backwaters of southwestern China to see how the state enforced the one-child policy far from the outside world’s prying eyes. He met local women who had been seized from their homes and forced to undergo abortions or sterilization in the policy’s name; and on the Yangtze River, he lived among fugitive couples who had gone on the run so they could have more children, that most fundamental of human rights.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 13, 2013
87 people are currently reading
3023 people want to read
About the author
Ma Jian
44 books321 followersMa Jian was born in Qingdao,China on the 18th of August 1953. In 1986, Ma moved to Hong Kong after a clampdown by the Chinese government in which most of his works were banned.
He moved again in 1997 to Germany, but only stayed for two years; moving to England in 1999 where he now lives with his partner and translator Flora Drew.
Ma came to the attention of the English-speaking world with his story collection Stick Out Your Tongue Stories, translated into English in 2006.
His Beijing Coma tells the story of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 from the point of view of the fictional Dai Wei, a participant in the events left in a coma by the violent end of the protests. His most recent novel China Dream will be published in the US in May 2019.
He moved again in 1997 to Germany, but only stayed for two years; moving to England in 1999 where he now lives with his partner and translator Flora Drew.
Ma came to the attention of the English-speaking world with his story collection Stick Out Your Tongue Stories, translated into English in 2006.
His Beijing Coma tells the story of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 from the point of view of the fictional Dai Wei, a participant in the events left in a coma by the violent end of the protests. His most recent novel China Dream will be published in the US in May 2019.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
August 28, 2013
The Dark Road by Ma Jian was the 14th book I've read this year. As some of you who are Facebook and/or Goodreads friends you know I keep track of my reading each year and include a short review or reflection. I read this book about three weeks ago and I am far enough removed from it to write the reflection. It will be lengthy.
This was, hands down, the most heart-wrenching and brutal book I have ever read in my life. And, I recommend it to everyone. In fact, it should be required reading for every adult.
The book is a fictional account of how China's one child policy affects the rural Chinese and one family in particular. The author, Ma Jian, is a Chinese dissident who spent a year with these families who are on the run from the family planning authorities. So, while the story is fiction he based it on the true stories he both heard and witnessed. As an English teacher, I always talk to my students about how literature is window into the human experience. This story truly is an example of the human experience expressed through literature.
The father in the book, Kongzi, and the mother, Meili, have one child - a young daughter named Nannan. They live in a village in rural China during the mid 2000s. Kongzi is a proud 76th descendent of Confucius and feels it is his spiritual duty to produce a male heir. With the family planning police about to discover Meili's pregnancy, the family leaves the village and takes to rivers on a make shift boat. As is common practice in rural China, the family planning police invade villages to enforce the one child policy. Women are forced to get implanted with IUDs if they already have one child. If they happen to be pregnant with an additional, unapproved child they are given a forced abortion, regardless of how close to term the pregnancy is. If a family refuses, speaks out, or rebels in any way their homes are leveled with bulldozers and they are locked up for an undetermined about of time by corrupt government officials.
Taking to the rivers is a common practice in China to avoid the reaches of the authorities. Without telling too much of Kongzi and Meili's life on the rivers and attempts to scrape by, what I do want to discuss is how horrified I was at the brutality that is leveled against Chinese citizens by their own government. I consider myself an educated citizen of the world, and as much as I read about China, this was not something I could wrap my head around. Rural citizens, especially, have no civil rights. For example, if they don't have the correct paper work (which is impossible to get) they can be arrested for just entering a city. Women who have the bad luck of getting picked up in a city are arrested and often sold into prostitution without families ever knowing what happens to them. Girls too, are victims of kidnapping and forced child prostitution.
Baby trafficking is also commonly practiced in rural China. Where families barely get by on what they can make running a booth in a market, teaching school, or farming a small plot of land they are often faced with the dilemma of selling a baby girl, escaping the authorities since they can't pay the fine for another child, or killing the newborn. In fact, all three options are illustrated in the book many times. Often the best option for these families is to gains something from the birth of an additional child and sell the child to a baby trafficker who then sells the child to an orphanage.
I chose this book originally because of a review on NPR and because of my Chinese daughter. I want to be as armed as possible when, and if, she does start asking questions as to why her Chinese parents didn't want her. This story was so brutal that most of the time I was unable to connect what was happening in the book to what her parents' life in China might be like. In fact, one particularly awful part of the book takes place in Changsha, the province capital of Hunan and the place where we first became a family. I think, for me, it was hard to reconcile what might have been her parents' life with the story we were told about her abandonment, which was quite benign.
I am glad that I was unable to consciously connect what was going on the book to my own child's beginnings or what could have happened to her had she not been given the chance at a completely different life. But, the fact remains that I can't shake what families in China face on a daily basis. I am sure being a parent doesn't help and, on some level, being the parent of a Chinese daughter plays a part in my response to the story. I just cannot shake this book. Even after three weeks. You really should read it. It is a hard book to swallow but it will open your eyes to a world we can't really comprehend.
This was, hands down, the most heart-wrenching and brutal book I have ever read in my life. And, I recommend it to everyone. In fact, it should be required reading for every adult.
The book is a fictional account of how China's one child policy affects the rural Chinese and one family in particular. The author, Ma Jian, is a Chinese dissident who spent a year with these families who are on the run from the family planning authorities. So, while the story is fiction he based it on the true stories he both heard and witnessed. As an English teacher, I always talk to my students about how literature is window into the human experience. This story truly is an example of the human experience expressed through literature.
The father in the book, Kongzi, and the mother, Meili, have one child - a young daughter named Nannan. They live in a village in rural China during the mid 2000s. Kongzi is a proud 76th descendent of Confucius and feels it is his spiritual duty to produce a male heir. With the family planning police about to discover Meili's pregnancy, the family leaves the village and takes to rivers on a make shift boat. As is common practice in rural China, the family planning police invade villages to enforce the one child policy. Women are forced to get implanted with IUDs if they already have one child. If they happen to be pregnant with an additional, unapproved child they are given a forced abortion, regardless of how close to term the pregnancy is. If a family refuses, speaks out, or rebels in any way their homes are leveled with bulldozers and they are locked up for an undetermined about of time by corrupt government officials.
Taking to the rivers is a common practice in China to avoid the reaches of the authorities. Without telling too much of Kongzi and Meili's life on the rivers and attempts to scrape by, what I do want to discuss is how horrified I was at the brutality that is leveled against Chinese citizens by their own government. I consider myself an educated citizen of the world, and as much as I read about China, this was not something I could wrap my head around. Rural citizens, especially, have no civil rights. For example, if they don't have the correct paper work (which is impossible to get) they can be arrested for just entering a city. Women who have the bad luck of getting picked up in a city are arrested and often sold into prostitution without families ever knowing what happens to them. Girls too, are victims of kidnapping and forced child prostitution.
Baby trafficking is also commonly practiced in rural China. Where families barely get by on what they can make running a booth in a market, teaching school, or farming a small plot of land they are often faced with the dilemma of selling a baby girl, escaping the authorities since they can't pay the fine for another child, or killing the newborn. In fact, all three options are illustrated in the book many times. Often the best option for these families is to gains something from the birth of an additional child and sell the child to a baby trafficker who then sells the child to an orphanage.
I chose this book originally because of a review on NPR and because of my Chinese daughter. I want to be as armed as possible when, and if, she does start asking questions as to why her Chinese parents didn't want her. This story was so brutal that most of the time I was unable to connect what was happening in the book to what her parents' life in China might be like. In fact, one particularly awful part of the book takes place in Changsha, the province capital of Hunan and the place where we first became a family. I think, for me, it was hard to reconcile what might have been her parents' life with the story we were told about her abandonment, which was quite benign.
I am glad that I was unable to consciously connect what was going on the book to my own child's beginnings or what could have happened to her had she not been given the chance at a completely different life. But, the fact remains that I can't shake what families in China face on a daily basis. I am sure being a parent doesn't help and, on some level, being the parent of a Chinese daughter plays a part in my response to the story. I just cannot shake this book. Even after three weeks. You really should read it. It is a hard book to swallow but it will open your eyes to a world we can't really comprehend.
September 23, 2017
preporučam 😁
May 3, 2020
Meili ve köy öğretmeni olan eşi Kongzi ikinci çocuklarını bekliyor. Meili’nin karnı günden güne büyüyor, içindeki korku da..
Çünkü burada kadınların bedeni Parti’ye ait. Devlet istemedikçe doğuramaz, devlet istemedikçe bir yerden bir yere gidemezler. İkinci çocuklarına mı hamile? Hemen kurtulmalı ondan. Eğer cezayı karşılayacak kadar şanslılarsa diğer bir ifade ile çok paraları varsa ikinci çocukları olabilir. Ama Meili ve Kongzi o kadar şanslı değil.
.
Ma Jian’ın pek çok kadınla olan görüşmesine dayanarak yazdığı Cenneti Öldürmek, Guardian’da da belirtildiği gibi okumak için sağlam bir yürek isteyen kitaplardan. Çünkü gerçekler çoğunlukla acıtır ve kabullenmesi zordur.
Dura dura okunan, sindirilmesi güç satırlar var Ma Jian’ın eserinde. Ama okunmalı, okunup bilinmeli.
.
Gözde Soykan çevirisi ve Yasin Öksüz kapak tasarımıyla.
Çünkü burada kadınların bedeni Parti’ye ait. Devlet istemedikçe doğuramaz, devlet istemedikçe bir yerden bir yere gidemezler. İkinci çocuklarına mı hamile? Hemen kurtulmalı ondan. Eğer cezayı karşılayacak kadar şanslılarsa diğer bir ifade ile çok paraları varsa ikinci çocukları olabilir. Ama Meili ve Kongzi o kadar şanslı değil.
.
Ma Jian’ın pek çok kadınla olan görüşmesine dayanarak yazdığı Cenneti Öldürmek, Guardian’da da belirtildiği gibi okumak için sağlam bir yürek isteyen kitaplardan. Çünkü gerçekler çoğunlukla acıtır ve kabullenmesi zordur.
Dura dura okunan, sindirilmesi güç satırlar var Ma Jian’ın eserinde. Ama okunmalı, okunup bilinmeli.
.
Gözde Soykan çevirisi ve Yasin Öksüz kapak tasarımıyla.
September 22, 2025
Yine Çin yine çok sert bir kitap… Çin Edebiyatı’nda duygusal olarak zorlamayan rahat okunabilecek romanlar olmadığına karar verdim. Cennet, Çin’deki tek çocuk politikası uygulamalarındaki trajedi ile başlayıp ülkedeki çürümüş bürokrasiden kaynaklı bir çok haksızlığın, hukuksuzluğun konu edildiği bir roman.
Konfüçyüs’ün soyunun yetmiş altıncı nesli olduğunun belgelerle kanıtlandığını iddia eden Kongzi ve eşi Meili tek çocuk politikasına karşı gelerek ikinci çocuklarına belirlenen süreden önce sahip olmak isteyince kızları Nannan’ı da yanlarına alarak evlerini ve köylerini geride bırakır, sonu bilinmez bir yolculuğa çıkarlar. Yolculukta kendileriyle aynı suçu işleyen başka çiftler gibi kaçak ve sefil bir hayat yaşamaya başlarlar. Fakat acının büyüğünü yaşayan, Kongzi’nin erkek çocuk sahibi olma konusundaki şovenist kararları sebebiyle kendini devletin ve kocasının malı gibi görmeye başlayan Meili olur. Yaşam koşulları ve arka arkaya kaybettiği çocuklarının acısı Meili’ye kendi ayakları üzerinde durma konusunda güç verirken onun mücadelesi ülkedeki yozlaşmayı gözler önüne seriyor.
Yazar Ma Jian, Çin’de tabu sayılan konu ve temaları ele almasıyla biliniyor. Cennet’te de başta Tek Çocuk Politikası olmak üzere her türlü kanunun rüşvetle çiğnenmesi; ‘kaçak’ doğan çocukların yok sayılması ve hiçbir sosyal haklarının olmaması; Şovenist ataerkil toplum; Çin’in rüşvete dayalı sisteminin ülkede yarattığı suç örgütlerinin insanları köleleştirmesi; nüfus patlaması sebebiyle göçün yasaklanması ve insanların ikametleri dışında olan yerlerde yakalandıkları anda tutuklanıp birbirinden kötü muameleye maruz kalması; kaçak işçilik; Çin’in, Avrupa’nın elektronik çöplüğü olması ve beraberinde gelen çevre kirliliği, artan kanser vakaları gibi çok sayıda toplumsal konuyu gözler önüne seriyor.
Konfüçyüs’ün soyunun yetmiş altıncı nesli olduğunun belgelerle kanıtlandığını iddia eden Kongzi ve eşi Meili tek çocuk politikasına karşı gelerek ikinci çocuklarına belirlenen süreden önce sahip olmak isteyince kızları Nannan’ı da yanlarına alarak evlerini ve köylerini geride bırakır, sonu bilinmez bir yolculuğa çıkarlar. Yolculukta kendileriyle aynı suçu işleyen başka çiftler gibi kaçak ve sefil bir hayat yaşamaya başlarlar. Fakat acının büyüğünü yaşayan, Kongzi’nin erkek çocuk sahibi olma konusundaki şovenist kararları sebebiyle kendini devletin ve kocasının malı gibi görmeye başlayan Meili olur. Yaşam koşulları ve arka arkaya kaybettiği çocuklarının acısı Meili’ye kendi ayakları üzerinde durma konusunda güç verirken onun mücadelesi ülkedeki yozlaşmayı gözler önüne seriyor.
Yazar Ma Jian, Çin’de tabu sayılan konu ve temaları ele almasıyla biliniyor. Cennet’te de başta Tek Çocuk Politikası olmak üzere her türlü kanunun rüşvetle çiğnenmesi; ‘kaçak’ doğan çocukların yok sayılması ve hiçbir sosyal haklarının olmaması; Şovenist ataerkil toplum; Çin’in rüşvete dayalı sisteminin ülkede yarattığı suç örgütlerinin insanları köleleştirmesi; nüfus patlaması sebebiyle göçün yasaklanması ve insanların ikametleri dışında olan yerlerde yakalandıkları anda tutuklanıp birbirinden kötü muameleye maruz kalması; kaçak işçilik; Çin’in, Avrupa’nın elektronik çöplüğü olması ve beraberinde gelen çevre kirliliği, artan kanser vakaları gibi çok sayıda toplumsal konuyu gözler önüne seriyor.
June 21, 2014
Look, I just can't with this book. People are giving it really high ratings, lots of four or even five stars, and no, it's not that good. In fact, it's not good at all.
I think a lot of people are confusing the idea of a compelling story about modern rural China under Communist oppression (something that at least in some parts is either patently false or just based in modern myth: see, baby soup) with the idea of the novel being a compelling read on its own merits. The Dark Road flatly fails in the latter.
Yes, the government is an awful villain in this book, but parents Kongzhi and Meili are no prizes either. Their ignorance of their daughter Nannan--one of the only genuinely likable characters we get to know here--obviously will lead to great sorrow for everyone involved. The reader is hardly surprised to see where this is going.
And maybe it's a bad translation, but it's hard not to notice the sudden shift at page 275 from straight-ahead storytelling based in the world in which we live to that of an increasingly fantastical realm. The last 15 pages completely lose their grasp on reality; perhaps if the rest of the book had been written like that, it wouldn't have been a seven-month slog for me to finish this thing. I don't think Ma had much of a plan for the story, and when faced with a need to just get it over with, he wrapped it up in as much a hurry as possible.
At any rate, I'm glad I plowed ahead just so I could be done with it, but I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone else.
I think a lot of people are confusing the idea of a compelling story about modern rural China under Communist oppression (something that at least in some parts is either patently false or just based in modern myth: see, baby soup) with the idea of the novel being a compelling read on its own merits. The Dark Road flatly fails in the latter.
Yes, the government is an awful villain in this book, but parents Kongzhi and Meili are no prizes either. Their ignorance of their daughter Nannan--one of the only genuinely likable characters we get to know here--obviously will lead to great sorrow for everyone involved. The reader is hardly surprised to see where this is going.
And maybe it's a bad translation, but it's hard not to notice the sudden shift at page 275 from straight-ahead storytelling based in the world in which we live to that of an increasingly fantastical realm. The last 15 pages completely lose their grasp on reality; perhaps if the rest of the book had been written like that, it wouldn't have been a seven-month slog for me to finish this thing. I don't think Ma had much of a plan for the story, and when faced with a need to just get it over with, he wrapped it up in as much a hurry as possible.
At any rate, I'm glad I plowed ahead just so I could be done with it, but I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone else.
September 11, 2013
Rating 3* out of 5. I was highly inclined to give it only a two-star rating, but it gets another one for the importance of the subject. This book is about Meili and her husband Kongzi who are on the run from the family planning department in China. They've committed the crime of conceiving a new baby. Their first child, Nannan, was a daughter and Kongzi desperately wants a son. The book describes many of the horrors facing parents in strictest family planning regions of China. It's stomach turning, to say the least.
The author somehow makes a bad situation worse. The descriptions of intercourse between Meili and Kongzi are down-right lewd and I'm not a person who takes offence easily. It just didn't feel appropriate given the context and just left me with an itchy unclean feeling. I pretty much hated this book from one end to another. Yet it is important subject.
Food for thought: there are thousands, if not millions of Chinese women being forced to have abortions of wished-for babies. Not just in very early stages of pregnancy but basically right up until full term. It's not been a year since I actually saw on the news this poor Chinese woman who had been forced to abort her seven-month old fetus.So this does happen and it is cruel beyond measure and against all sorts of human rights. So yes, it's not difficult to imagine that parents would rather try to flee than to be forced to such a fate.
The author somehow makes a bad situation worse. The descriptions of intercourse between Meili and Kongzi are down-right lewd and I'm not a person who takes offence easily. It just didn't feel appropriate given the context and just left me with an itchy unclean feeling. I pretty much hated this book from one end to another. Yet it is important subject.
Food for thought: there are thousands, if not millions of Chinese women being forced to have abortions of wished-for babies. Not just in very early stages of pregnancy but basically right up until full term. It's not been a year since I actually saw on the news this poor Chinese woman who had been forced to abort her seven-month old fetus.So this does happen and it is cruel beyond measure and against all sorts of human rights. So yes, it's not difficult to imagine that parents would rather try to flee than to be forced to such a fate.
April 21, 2019
Kitap seçerken kolay kolay arka kapağını okumam. Hele hele kütüphanede dolanıyorsam, benim kitapları bulduğumdan çok kitapların beni bulduğunu düşünürüm çünkü oraya asla öyle bir kitapla elimden çıkmak amacıyla gitmemişimdir.
Bu kitapta da benzeri bu durum oldu. Çin Edebiyatı rafında fazlaca sürttüğüm için kitap gözüme takıldı ve ön kapaktaki yazıya tav oldum.
Bu kelimelerin büyüsüne kapılmamla kitabı almaya karar vermem eş zamanlı gerçekleşti.
Yurda geldikten sonra bir sayfa okudum okumadım ki bam!
Konu ilk sayfalardan itibaren ortaya serilmiş durumda olduğundan az buçuk başıma açtığım işi biliyordum ama bu kadarı... Bu kadarı bana bile fazla geldi. Zaman zaman kitabı kapatığ mide bulantımı bastırmaya çalışmakla geçti okuma sürecim. Ve şimdi, kitap bitmişken bile hatırladıklarım, aklımdan silinmeyecek bu iğrençlikler beni insanlıktan tekrar tekrar tiksindiriyor.
YER VE ZAMAN
Çin, kırsal kesimler ve sulak bölgelerde nehir yatakları
1979 Tek Çocuk Politikası yürürlüğe konulduktan sonra, uygulama ve denetimlerin başladığı dönemler
KARAKTERLER
Meili; Tanrıça Nuva’nın soyundan gelen, ilkokul ikinci sınıf terk bir köylü kadını.
Kongzi; Konfüçyüs’ün 75. nesilden torunu, köy öğretmeni.
Nannan; İkilinin kızı, kitabın başlarında iki sonunda on bir yaşında.
KONU
Çin Komünist hükümetinin, ekonominin iyiliği için aldığını iddia ettiği tek çocuk kararının uygulanmasıyla insanların nelere maruz kaldığına ışık tutan bir roman.
Yoksul köylü halkının maruz kaldığı ekonomik baskıları, hayat pahalılığını ve kalitesizliğini; rüşvetleri, vicdansızlığı, paranın köpeği olmayı tüm iğrençliğiyle ortaya seriyor.
incelemeye olayları aktararak devam edecektim ancak şu politikanın temel hatlarını, yapılan insanlık dışı durumun ayrıntılarına girmem daha uygun olacak gibi
BAHSİ GEÇEN POLİTİKA
Çin Komünist Hükümetinin aşırı nüfusu kontrol etmek için önlem olarak insanlara dayattığı bir politika. Bu kadarının sanırım her insan az buçuk biliyor. Ben size burada, kitapla birlikte öğrendiğim uygulama kısmını anlatacağım ki inanın bu öyle ev ev dolaşıp prezervatif dağıtmakla yapılan bir şey değil.
• İlk çocuğunuz varsa spiral takma,
• İki çocuğunuz varsa kısırlaştıma uygulanıyor.
• İkinci çocuğa hamile bir kadının yüz metre kare çevresinde yaşayan komşuları; vatandaşlık görevi olarak atfedilen şikâyeti yapmaz, yetkililere hamileliği bildirmezse en az bin ¥ para cezasına çarptırılıyor.
• Bahsi geçen aile tespit edildiğinde ise izinsiz hamile kalmak yüzünden 10 bin ¥ para cezası ödemek zorunda kalıyor,
• Bununla da sınırlı kalmayarak, bebeğin kaç aylık olduğu fark etmeksizin annenin karnına yapılan bir iğneyle hamilelik sonlandırılıyor, bebek iğneyle öldükten sonra normal doğum yoluyla rahimden çıkarılıyor,
• Yüzsüz hükümet bunun üstüne bir de çocuğunuz öldürmek için kullandığı iğneden, öldürdüğü bebeğin doğumuna, yattığınız yatağa kadar sizden misli misli masrafları ödemenizi istiyor.
• Çocuğun ölmüş olması da sizin izinsiz hamile kalışınızın cezasını iptal etmiyor,
• Kürtaj işleminden sonra kısırlaştırılma ya da spiral işlemi duruma göre uygulanıyor. Daha önceden iki çocuk varsa kesin kısırlaştırma.
• Politikadan önce doğmuş çocuklar için de oturma izni, doğum belgesi gibi şeylere ödeme yapmak zorundasınız,
• Geriye dönük uygulamalara birden fazla çocuk için para cezası ödemeniz de dâhildir.
Bi’ soluk alın, daha bu iğrençliğin devamı var.
• Ülkede doğmak gibi ölmek de parayla. Cenazenizi kendinize ait bir yere de boş bir yere de gömmeniz yasak (ki zaten kültürlerinde ölüyü gömmek ayıp/kötü/saygısızca bir şey, aslolan cenazeyi yakmak)
• Yakma işlemini kendi başınıza yapamazsınız, bunun için yetkililere 2 bin ¥ ödemeniz gerekiyor,
• Külleri teslim etmek için de para, külleri koydukları kavanoz için bile para...
Şu arada kalan kısım biraz ferahlayın diye, tekrar politikaya, daha çok Çin kültüründeki politikayla büyüyen bazı noktalara dönüyorum
• Kürtaj işleminden sonra, sizin olan ve sizden koparttıkları bebeğinizin cenazesi için de para istiyorlar!
• O bebeğe cenaze düzenlenmesi, bebeğin gömülmesi vs tamamen yasak.
• Hastaneler ve merdiven altı yapılan doğumlarda çoğunlukla plasenta ve ölü bebek ticareti yapılıyor.
• Bu işi yapanların anlaşmalı olduğu restorantlar var ki kendileri canlı ve canlıya en yakın bebek için Çin ekonomisinde kıymeti olan, sizin bazı temel ihtiyaçlarınızı karşılamaya yetecek düzeyde para ödüyorlar,
• Donmuş, katılaşmış bebekleri de alıyorlar ama ilk tercihleri değil.
• HATTA BAZI MÜSFETTE HÜKÜMET YETKİLİLERİ KENDİNE HASTANELERDEN PLASENTA, FETÜS AYIRTIYOR ÇÜNKÜ BUNLARDAN YAPILAN ÇORBANIN CİNSEL GÜCÜ ARTTIRDIĞINA İNANIYORLAR!
SOYUNUZ SOPUNUZ KURUSUN İNŞALLAH!
• Çin kültüründe erkek çocuk sahibi olmak, kuruyasıca soyu devam ettirmek çok mühim olduğundan, bebeğin kız olması ya da genel olarak ailenin cezasını ödeyemediği istenmeyen çocuklarla ilgili büyük bir ticari sektör oluşmuş durumda,
• O kadar ileri gidilmiş ki sağlam çocukların orasında burasına doğumun hemen ardından zarar vererek birilerine satıyorlar ki çocuğu dilenci olarak kullanabilsinler.
evet, hatırlayabildiğim iğrenç ayrıntılar şu anda bu kadar ama ben bunun bile midelerimiz için çok olduğunu biliyorum çünkü kendimi tuvalete gitmemek için zor zaptediyorum
aşağıda da belki biraz spoiler
OLAY
Meili, politikanın uygulanmaya başladığı yıllarda, net bir tarih vermemiyorum ama çok başları, ikinci çocuğuna hamile. Köylerine gelen doğum kontrol ve nüfus planlama ekiplerinden kaçmak ve çocuğunu doğrurabilmek için kocası ve küçük kızıyla kaçıyorlar. Ufak bir teknede, nehirlerde gezerek doğurmayı bekleyen kadın ne yazık ki doğumuna çok az kala memurlar tarafından yakalanıyor.
Sekiz aylık hamileyken iğne uygulamasından sonra çocuğu doğurtuyorlar ama çocuk beklenilenin aksine ölü değil. Doktorlar çözüm olarak bebeği boğarak öldürme kararı alıyor.
Meili tüm bu kaybın ardından bir çocuğunun daha öldürülmesini istemediğinden kocasından gizli spiral taktırıyor ancak Kongzi o kadar erkek çocuk istiyor ki... Spirale rağmen hamile de kalıyor ancak doğan çocuğun beyninde timör olduğu söyleniyor. Hem ameliyat parası hem de çocuğun nüfusa geçirilmesi masraflı olacağından Meili’nin boş bir anında Kongzi çocuğu satıyor.
Meili her ne kadar istese ve çözümlere başvursa da dördüncü çocuğuna hamile kalıyor. Çocuk doğacağı sırada doğumda sorun çıkıyor, doğumu yaptıran ruhsatsız doktor hastaneye gidip sezaryen yapmalarını söylüyor ama ceza parası olmadığı için, çocuklarına bir şey yaparlar diye gitmiyorlar.
MEİLİ ÇOCUĞU BEŞ YILA YAKIN KARNINDA TAŞIYOR VE KOCASIYLA, ÇOCUĞUN TÜM BU SÜREDE YAŞADIĞINA, SADECE BAŞINA GELECEKLERDEN KORKTUĞU İÇİN DOĞMAK İSTEMEDİĞİNE İNANIYORLAR.
Beş yıl sonra, kitabın sonunda doğduğunda çürümüş, katılaşmış bir erkek bebeğine sahip oluyorlar.
BAKIŞ AÇISI
Çoğunlukla üçüncü kişi ağzından anlatılıyor kitap. Bir de üç farklı bedende hayat bulan bebek ruh, onun duyduklarıyla ve bildikleriyle aktarılan kısımlar var kitapta.
ANLATIM, ÇEVİRİ
İç karartıcı konuya rağmen akıcı bir anlatımı var. Tek anlamlandıramadığım şey, bölüm başlarında geçen anahtar kelimeler kısmıydı onun dışında kendini okuttu.
Güzel de bir çevirisi vardı, emeği geçenlerin eline sağlık.
YORUM
Gel gelelim yoruma diyeceğim ama daha ben ne diyeyim ya, siz söyleyin! Böyle bir insafsız, vicdansız şey olur mu diyemiyorum olmuş abi ya!
Köpek Çin şimdi nüfus yaşlandı diye kudurmuş, iki çocuğa izin veriyormuş! Vay efendim, zahmet etmişler!
Ulan size ne kimin kaç çocuk yaptığından, kimin öldüğünden doğduğundan!
S İ Z E N E
Neyse, üstüne daha fazla konuşmak, cinnet geçirmeye devam etmek istemiyorum. Yüreğiniz bu yükü kaldıracaksa okumalısınız, muazzam bir hikâyeydi. Çok içimi dağladı ama beğendim, çok fazla çin edebiyatı okumamış olsam da kültürlerine yeni yeni hakim olmaya başlamış olsam da bence en iyilerinden!
konfüçyüs’ün de Allah ayrıca belasını versin ayrıca! erkek çocuk erkek çocuk diye bok varmış da mı tutturmuş ulan!
Bu kitapta da benzeri bu durum oldu. Çin Edebiyatı rafında fazlaca sürttüğüm için kitap gözüme takıldı ve ön kapaktaki yazıya tav oldum.
BÜTÜN İNSANLAR AYNI DİLDE ACI ÇEKER; AYNI DİLDE GÜLÜMSEDİKLERİ GİBİ...
Bu kelimelerin büyüsüne kapılmamla kitabı almaya karar vermem eş zamanlı gerçekleşti.
Yurda geldikten sonra bir sayfa okudum okumadım ki bam!
Konu ilk sayfalardan itibaren ortaya serilmiş durumda olduğundan az buçuk başıma açtığım işi biliyordum ama bu kadarı... Bu kadarı bana bile fazla geldi. Zaman zaman kitabı kapatığ mide bulantımı bastırmaya çalışmakla geçti okuma sürecim. Ve şimdi, kitap bitmişken bile hatırladıklarım, aklımdan silinmeyecek bu iğrençlikler beni insanlıktan tekrar tekrar tiksindiriyor.
YER VE ZAMAN
Çin, kırsal kesimler ve sulak bölgelerde nehir yatakları
1979 Tek Çocuk Politikası yürürlüğe konulduktan sonra, uygulama ve denetimlerin başladığı dönemler
KARAKTERLER
Meili; Tanrıça Nuva’nın soyundan gelen, ilkokul ikinci sınıf terk bir köylü kadını.
Kongzi; Konfüçyüs’ün 75. nesilden torunu, köy öğretmeni.
Nannan; İkilinin kızı, kitabın başlarında iki sonunda on bir yaşında.
KONU
Çin Komünist hükümetinin, ekonominin iyiliği için aldığını iddia ettiği tek çocuk kararının uygulanmasıyla insanların nelere maruz kaldığına ışık tutan bir roman.
Yoksul köylü halkının maruz kaldığı ekonomik baskıları, hayat pahalılığını ve kalitesizliğini; rüşvetleri, vicdansızlığı, paranın köpeği olmayı tüm iğrençliğiyle ortaya seriyor.
incelemeye olayları aktararak devam edecektim ancak şu politikanın temel hatlarını, yapılan insanlık dışı durumun ayrıntılarına girmem daha uygun olacak gibi
BAHSİ GEÇEN POLİTİKA
Çin Komünist Hükümetinin aşırı nüfusu kontrol etmek için önlem olarak insanlara dayattığı bir politika. Bu kadarının sanırım her insan az buçuk biliyor. Ben size burada, kitapla birlikte öğrendiğim uygulama kısmını anlatacağım ki inanın bu öyle ev ev dolaşıp prezervatif dağıtmakla yapılan bir şey değil.
• İlk çocuğunuz varsa spiral takma,
• İki çocuğunuz varsa kısırlaştıma uygulanıyor.
• İkinci çocuğa hamile bir kadının yüz metre kare çevresinde yaşayan komşuları; vatandaşlık görevi olarak atfedilen şikâyeti yapmaz, yetkililere hamileliği bildirmezse en az bin ¥ para cezasına çarptırılıyor.
• Bahsi geçen aile tespit edildiğinde ise izinsiz hamile kalmak yüzünden 10 bin ¥ para cezası ödemek zorunda kalıyor,
• Bununla da sınırlı kalmayarak, bebeğin kaç aylık olduğu fark etmeksizin annenin karnına yapılan bir iğneyle hamilelik sonlandırılıyor, bebek iğneyle öldükten sonra normal doğum yoluyla rahimden çıkarılıyor,
• Yüzsüz hükümet bunun üstüne bir de çocuğunuz öldürmek için kullandığı iğneden, öldürdüğü bebeğin doğumuna, yattığınız yatağa kadar sizden misli misli masrafları ödemenizi istiyor.
• Çocuğun ölmüş olması da sizin izinsiz hamile kalışınızın cezasını iptal etmiyor,
• Kürtaj işleminden sonra kısırlaştırılma ya da spiral işlemi duruma göre uygulanıyor. Daha önceden iki çocuk varsa kesin kısırlaştırma.
• Politikadan önce doğmuş çocuklar için de oturma izni, doğum belgesi gibi şeylere ödeme yapmak zorundasınız,
• Geriye dönük uygulamalara birden fazla çocuk için para cezası ödemeniz de dâhildir.
Bi’ soluk alın, daha bu iğrençliğin devamı var.
• Ülkede doğmak gibi ölmek de parayla. Cenazenizi kendinize ait bir yere de boş bir yere de gömmeniz yasak (ki zaten kültürlerinde ölüyü gömmek ayıp/kötü/saygısızca bir şey, aslolan cenazeyi yakmak)
• Yakma işlemini kendi başınıza yapamazsınız, bunun için yetkililere 2 bin ¥ ödemeniz gerekiyor,
• Külleri teslim etmek için de para, külleri koydukları kavanoz için bile para...
Şu arada kalan kısım biraz ferahlayın diye, tekrar politikaya, daha çok Çin kültüründeki politikayla büyüyen bazı noktalara dönüyorum
• Kürtaj işleminden sonra, sizin olan ve sizden koparttıkları bebeğinizin cenazesi için de para istiyorlar!
• O bebeğe cenaze düzenlenmesi, bebeğin gömülmesi vs tamamen yasak.
• Hastaneler ve merdiven altı yapılan doğumlarda çoğunlukla plasenta ve ölü bebek ticareti yapılıyor.
• Bu işi yapanların anlaşmalı olduğu restorantlar var ki kendileri canlı ve canlıya en yakın bebek için Çin ekonomisinde kıymeti olan, sizin bazı temel ihtiyaçlarınızı karşılamaya yetecek düzeyde para ödüyorlar,
• Donmuş, katılaşmış bebekleri de alıyorlar ama ilk tercihleri değil.
• HATTA BAZI MÜSFETTE HÜKÜMET YETKİLİLERİ KENDİNE HASTANELERDEN PLASENTA, FETÜS AYIRTIYOR ÇÜNKÜ BUNLARDAN YAPILAN ÇORBANIN CİNSEL GÜCÜ ARTTIRDIĞINA İNANIYORLAR!
SOYUNUZ SOPUNUZ KURUSUN İNŞALLAH!
• Çin kültüründe erkek çocuk sahibi olmak, kuruyasıca soyu devam ettirmek çok mühim olduğundan, bebeğin kız olması ya da genel olarak ailenin cezasını ödeyemediği istenmeyen çocuklarla ilgili büyük bir ticari sektör oluşmuş durumda,
• O kadar ileri gidilmiş ki sağlam çocukların orasında burasına doğumun hemen ardından zarar vererek birilerine satıyorlar ki çocuğu dilenci olarak kullanabilsinler.
evet, hatırlayabildiğim iğrenç ayrıntılar şu anda bu kadar ama ben bunun bile midelerimiz için çok olduğunu biliyorum çünkü kendimi tuvalete gitmemek için zor zaptediyorum
aşağıda da belki biraz spoiler
OLAY
Meili, politikanın uygulanmaya başladığı yıllarda, net bir tarih vermemiyorum ama çok başları, ikinci çocuğuna hamile. Köylerine gelen doğum kontrol ve nüfus planlama ekiplerinden kaçmak ve çocuğunu doğrurabilmek için kocası ve küçük kızıyla kaçıyorlar. Ufak bir teknede, nehirlerde gezerek doğurmayı bekleyen kadın ne yazık ki doğumuna çok az kala memurlar tarafından yakalanıyor.
Sekiz aylık hamileyken iğne uygulamasından sonra çocuğu doğurtuyorlar ama çocuk beklenilenin aksine ölü değil. Doktorlar çözüm olarak bebeği boğarak öldürme kararı alıyor.
Meili tüm bu kaybın ardından bir çocuğunun daha öldürülmesini istemediğinden kocasından gizli spiral taktırıyor ancak Kongzi o kadar erkek çocuk istiyor ki... Spirale rağmen hamile de kalıyor ancak doğan çocuğun beyninde timör olduğu söyleniyor. Hem ameliyat parası hem de çocuğun nüfusa geçirilmesi masraflı olacağından Meili’nin boş bir anında Kongzi çocuğu satıyor.
Meili her ne kadar istese ve çözümlere başvursa da dördüncü çocuğuna hamile kalıyor. Çocuk doğacağı sırada doğumda sorun çıkıyor, doğumu yaptıran ruhsatsız doktor hastaneye gidip sezaryen yapmalarını söylüyor ama ceza parası olmadığı için, çocuklarına bir şey yaparlar diye gitmiyorlar.
MEİLİ ÇOCUĞU BEŞ YILA YAKIN KARNINDA TAŞIYOR VE KOCASIYLA, ÇOCUĞUN TÜM BU SÜREDE YAŞADIĞINA, SADECE BAŞINA GELECEKLERDEN KORKTUĞU İÇİN DOĞMAK İSTEMEDİĞİNE İNANIYORLAR.
Beş yıl sonra, kitabın sonunda doğduğunda çürümüş, katılaşmış bir erkek bebeğine sahip oluyorlar.
BAKIŞ AÇISI
Çoğunlukla üçüncü kişi ağzından anlatılıyor kitap. Bir de üç farklı bedende hayat bulan bebek ruh, onun duyduklarıyla ve bildikleriyle aktarılan kısımlar var kitapta.
ANLATIM, ÇEVİRİ
İç karartıcı konuya rağmen akıcı bir anlatımı var. Tek anlamlandıramadığım şey, bölüm başlarında geçen anahtar kelimeler kısmıydı onun dışında kendini okuttu.
Güzel de bir çevirisi vardı, emeği geçenlerin eline sağlık.
YORUM
Gel gelelim yoruma diyeceğim ama daha ben ne diyeyim ya, siz söyleyin! Böyle bir insafsız, vicdansız şey olur mu diyemiyorum olmuş abi ya!
Köpek Çin şimdi nüfus yaşlandı diye kudurmuş, iki çocuğa izin veriyormuş! Vay efendim, zahmet etmişler!
Ulan size ne kimin kaç çocuk yaptığından, kimin öldüğünden doğduğundan!
S İ Z E N E
Neyse, üstüne daha fazla konuşmak, cinnet geçirmeye devam etmek istemiyorum. Yüreğiniz bu yükü kaldıracaksa okumalısınız, muazzam bir hikâyeydi. Çok içimi dağladı ama beğendim, çok fazla çin edebiyatı okumamış olsam da kültürlerine yeni yeni hakim olmaya başlamış olsam da bence en iyilerinden!
konfüçyüs’ün de Allah ayrıca belasını versin ayrıca! erkek çocuk erkek çocuk diye bok varmış da mı tutturmuş ulan!
January 2, 2014
In the backdrop of rural China, in the villages and waterways, Ma Jian has crafted a tale both alarming and distressing on the abuses of China's one-child policy.
"...Meili remembers seeing Yuanyuan hobbling back from the school the day they left. Her mother-in-law was beside her, one hand supporting her round the waist and the other gripping the aborted fetus by the arm. Yuanyuan went into labour as soon as she was strapped to the school desk, but by the time the baby was born the disinfectant had already killed it. The Family Planning Officer dropped the dead baby into a plastic bucket, but it was so big it toppled out. It lay sprawled on the ground for hours. No one bothered to pick it up. When her mother-in-law came to fetch her, she scooped it up from the floor and refused to let go of it..."
Meili has already had her one child. A girl. But her husband Kongzi is determined to continue his line which he believes goes back to the great philosopher Confucius and demands a son. When she becomes pregnant they flee their village and travel the rivers in rural China to hide from the Family Planning Police. The enforcers of China's one-child policy.
..."What a fine voice you have," the man says coldly. "Your cries won't change anything, though. We've seen it all in this room: vomit, faeces, blood, urine, screaming tantrums. But however much the women curse and resist, they must all surrender their babies to us in the end. You think you can defy the state? Don't waste your breath."
"When we tied you to this table there were two of you, but when you get off there'll be just one,"....
Meili suffers greatly in her duty to provide Kongzi with a heir. She is beaten, raped and suffered the horror of watching her newborn child strangled in front of her. But an even greater indignity is in her realization that although she and Kongzi were once respected and held in esteem in the village they came from. That now. They are no better than the peasants they once looked down upon. That now they are the outcasts in their own country. This in turn changes the way she sees herself and her husband.
"...The village teacher she once worshipped has become a man who fills her with disgust. She looks down at him now and spits: "What were those sayings you kept rattling off? Cultivate yourself and bring order to your family, and the nation will be at peace..."
The abuse and tyranny Meili suffers at the hands of the government and the husband she loves is as tragic and horrible as the truth that leaks from this novel. You want to believe that much of what is written here is not true, but in your heart, you know it is.
"...Meili remembers seeing Yuanyuan hobbling back from the school the day they left. Her mother-in-law was beside her, one hand supporting her round the waist and the other gripping the aborted fetus by the arm. Yuanyuan went into labour as soon as she was strapped to the school desk, but by the time the baby was born the disinfectant had already killed it. The Family Planning Officer dropped the dead baby into a plastic bucket, but it was so big it toppled out. It lay sprawled on the ground for hours. No one bothered to pick it up. When her mother-in-law came to fetch her, she scooped it up from the floor and refused to let go of it..."
Meili has already had her one child. A girl. But her husband Kongzi is determined to continue his line which he believes goes back to the great philosopher Confucius and demands a son. When she becomes pregnant they flee their village and travel the rivers in rural China to hide from the Family Planning Police. The enforcers of China's one-child policy.
..."What a fine voice you have," the man says coldly. "Your cries won't change anything, though. We've seen it all in this room: vomit, faeces, blood, urine, screaming tantrums. But however much the women curse and resist, they must all surrender their babies to us in the end. You think you can defy the state? Don't waste your breath."
"When we tied you to this table there were two of you, but when you get off there'll be just one,"....
Meili suffers greatly in her duty to provide Kongzi with a heir. She is beaten, raped and suffered the horror of watching her newborn child strangled in front of her. But an even greater indignity is in her realization that although she and Kongzi were once respected and held in esteem in the village they came from. That now. They are no better than the peasants they once looked down upon. That now they are the outcasts in their own country. This in turn changes the way she sees herself and her husband.
"...The village teacher she once worshipped has become a man who fills her with disgust. She looks down at him now and spits: "What were those sayings you kept rattling off? Cultivate yourself and bring order to your family, and the nation will be at peace..."
The abuse and tyranny Meili suffers at the hands of the government and the husband she loves is as tragic and horrible as the truth that leaks from this novel. You want to believe that much of what is written here is not true, but in your heart, you know it is.
May 17, 2020
*Warning* The Dark Road will break your heart.
The novel is a fictional account of how China's one-child policy affected the rural Chinese, and one family in particular. The author, Ma Jian, is a Chinese dissident who spent a year with families on the run who were trying to evade authorities. So, while the story is fiction he based it on the true stories he both heard and witnessed. Forced abortions and sterilizations, child abandonment (if female), huge disparity in sex ratio - according to a report by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, there will be 30 million more men than women in China THIS YEAR.
(The policy was introduced in 1979 (after a decade-long two-child policy), modified beginning in the mid 1980s to allow rural parents a second child if the first was a daughter, and then lasted three more decades before the government announced in late 2015 a reversion to a two-child limit.)
I'm not sure if Jian set out to write something so strongly feminist, but the overwhelming themes are of a woman desperately trying to take control of her life, her body, her future, from the state and from the hands of men.
"She discovered that women don't own their bodies: their wombs and genitals are battle zones over which their husband and the state right for control - territories their husbands invade for sexual gratification and to produce male heirs, and which the state probes, monitors, guards and scrapes so as to assess its power and spread fear. These continual intrusions into her body's most intimate parts have made her lose her sense of who she is."
The novel is a fictional account of how China's one-child policy affected the rural Chinese, and one family in particular. The author, Ma Jian, is a Chinese dissident who spent a year with families on the run who were trying to evade authorities. So, while the story is fiction he based it on the true stories he both heard and witnessed. Forced abortions and sterilizations, child abandonment (if female), huge disparity in sex ratio - according to a report by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, there will be 30 million more men than women in China THIS YEAR.
(The policy was introduced in 1979 (after a decade-long two-child policy), modified beginning in the mid 1980s to allow rural parents a second child if the first was a daughter, and then lasted three more decades before the government announced in late 2015 a reversion to a two-child limit.)
I'm not sure if Jian set out to write something so strongly feminist, but the overwhelming themes are of a woman desperately trying to take control of her life, her body, her future, from the state and from the hands of men.
"She discovered that women don't own their bodies: their wombs and genitals are battle zones over which their husband and the state right for control - territories their husbands invade for sexual gratification and to produce male heirs, and which the state probes, monitors, guards and scrapes so as to assess its power and spread fear. These continual intrusions into her body's most intimate parts have made her lose her sense of who she is."
October 1, 2013
Ma Jian has written a shocking novel, THE DARK ROAD, that chronicles the inhumane policies of China’s one-child policy. It’s chilling, infuriating, and almost unbearable to read with its dark detail. Perhaps the most disturbing feature of Ma’s story is the knowledge that you, the reader, can do nothing about it.
The policy of one child for each normal family is enforced by governmental agencies using forced abortion and sterilization. Brutality and inhumanity force women of China to flee and hide from secretive agents of the Chinese government’s family planning agency to either conceal their pregnancy or protect children already born in violation of the law. To be discovered means to be subjected to unbelievable abortion tactics, beatings, rape, and a lifetime of supervised sanction.
A young peasant woman, Meili, lives a life of poverty under the rule of an arrogant husband, Kongzi, who believes his legacy as a lineal descendant of Confucious requires that they produce a son. Already the parents of a girl, Nannan, and with Meili again pregnant with an illegal child, their life is in continuous turmoil as they eke out a meager living while trying to evade governmental agents. In desperation, they try to find better conditions by traveling down the foul Xi River in a tiny, decrepit houseboat.
They are eventually discovered and Meili is subjected to a brutal abortion. In heartbroken disarray, she returns to a husband who continues to attempt to impregnate her at every opportunity without regard to the suffering she has already experienced, her physical condition, or the possibility of more heartless pain for her should another pregnancy occur. Kongzi is adamant and incredibly goatish. They must produce a son.
Ma is a dissident writer who was born in China, whose work is banned there, and who continues to travel the country in an effort to expose the cruelty of the one-child rule. Critics complain that his writing is heavily biased against the policies of the Chinese government and that he unfairly criticizes the attempts to control the runaway population. His writing is morose and filled with details about abortion and childbirth in filthy conditions. There are instances in the book when the reader experiences near disbelief at his portrayals of inhumanity. But he is unapologetic and maintains that his depictions are factual based on personal observations. Through the gloom, Ma actually presents some luminous and humorous moments.
As China continues its relentless rise to world power with proclamations of being a great society, Ma Jian, and others who echo his relentless disapproval, will continue to produce stains on the official view of Chinese life. The one-child policy he depicts is but one serious transgression that spoils China’s image on the world stage. Corruption, fraudulent economic policies, poor quality export products, intellectual property piracy, unsafe food products, and severe human rights violations are other smears on China’s policies. I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of his story. I abhor it. I shudder at it. But I am thankful that a writer of his talent has the courage to share his observations. We are free to make our own decisions about the veracity.
This is an incredible book. Ma Jian’s ability at portraying a life with all its depressions and high points has to be recognized. The storyline is wonderfully presented. His characters are to be both embraced and reviled.
I recommend this book for the non-squeamish who are interested in the workings of a government obsessed with control. It's not light entertainment but will provide mesmerizing reading about a current situation under much discussion.
The policy of one child for each normal family is enforced by governmental agencies using forced abortion and sterilization. Brutality and inhumanity force women of China to flee and hide from secretive agents of the Chinese government’s family planning agency to either conceal their pregnancy or protect children already born in violation of the law. To be discovered means to be subjected to unbelievable abortion tactics, beatings, rape, and a lifetime of supervised sanction.
A young peasant woman, Meili, lives a life of poverty under the rule of an arrogant husband, Kongzi, who believes his legacy as a lineal descendant of Confucious requires that they produce a son. Already the parents of a girl, Nannan, and with Meili again pregnant with an illegal child, their life is in continuous turmoil as they eke out a meager living while trying to evade governmental agents. In desperation, they try to find better conditions by traveling down the foul Xi River in a tiny, decrepit houseboat.
They are eventually discovered and Meili is subjected to a brutal abortion. In heartbroken disarray, she returns to a husband who continues to attempt to impregnate her at every opportunity without regard to the suffering she has already experienced, her physical condition, or the possibility of more heartless pain for her should another pregnancy occur. Kongzi is adamant and incredibly goatish. They must produce a son.
Ma is a dissident writer who was born in China, whose work is banned there, and who continues to travel the country in an effort to expose the cruelty of the one-child rule. Critics complain that his writing is heavily biased against the policies of the Chinese government and that he unfairly criticizes the attempts to control the runaway population. His writing is morose and filled with details about abortion and childbirth in filthy conditions. There are instances in the book when the reader experiences near disbelief at his portrayals of inhumanity. But he is unapologetic and maintains that his depictions are factual based on personal observations. Through the gloom, Ma actually presents some luminous and humorous moments.
As China continues its relentless rise to world power with proclamations of being a great society, Ma Jian, and others who echo his relentless disapproval, will continue to produce stains on the official view of Chinese life. The one-child policy he depicts is but one serious transgression that spoils China’s image on the world stage. Corruption, fraudulent economic policies, poor quality export products, intellectual property piracy, unsafe food products, and severe human rights violations are other smears on China’s policies. I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of his story. I abhor it. I shudder at it. But I am thankful that a writer of his talent has the courage to share his observations. We are free to make our own decisions about the veracity.
This is an incredible book. Ma Jian’s ability at portraying a life with all its depressions and high points has to be recognized. The storyline is wonderfully presented. His characters are to be both embraced and reviled.
I recommend this book for the non-squeamish who are interested in the workings of a government obsessed with control. It's not light entertainment but will provide mesmerizing reading about a current situation under much discussion.
August 12, 2018
Šokantni roman u kojem na kraju glavna junakinja postaje alegorijski lik u borbi pojedinca protiv bezdušne vlasti.
Iako je fikcija, temelji se na stvarnim pričama iz Kine (politika jednog djeteta, prava ljudi, prostitucija, radni logori, otmice i prodaja djece- posebno ženske, krivotvorena roba, prljave igre prehrambene industrije, područja s e-otpadom koji se dovozi u Kinu iz Europe i život u njima).
Negdje, na korici knjige, jedna se epizoda uspoređuje s Orwellom, ali Orwell je „mala beba“ u usporedbi s opisanim.
Iako je fikcija, temelji se na stvarnim pričama iz Kine (politika jednog djeteta, prava ljudi, prostitucija, radni logori, otmice i prodaja djece- posebno ženske, krivotvorena roba, prljave igre prehrambene industrije, područja s e-otpadom koji se dovozi u Kinu iz Europe i život u njima).
Negdje, na korici knjige, jedna se epizoda uspoređuje s Orwellom, ali Orwell je „mala beba“ u usporedbi s opisanim.
April 10, 2025
• Ma Jian è un autore cinese contemporaneo molto coraggioso, esule scrive con l’urgenza di chi deve denunciare le storture del proprio paese. La via oscura è un romanzo che affronta con crudezza il tema della politica del figlio unico, una delle pagine più oscure della Cina moderna, mostrando le sue conseguenze sulla vita delle donne e delle famiglie.
• La protagonista, Meili, è una giovane donna che lavora con il marito Kongzi in una piccola città sul Fiume Azzurro. Lui è un insegnante ossessionato dall'idea di avere un figlio maschio per continuare la linea della sua famiglia, che discende direttamente da Confucio. Ma il problema è che la coppia ha già una figlia, e quando Meili rimane di nuovo incinta, la loro vita entra in una spirale di fuga e persecuzione. Il governo cinese impone sterilizzazioni forzate e aborti per far rispettare la legge sulla pianificazione familiare, e così Meili e Kongzi diventano fuggitivi, costretti a nascondersi in villaggi galleggianti e zone marginali, sperando di sfuggire alle autorità.
• Nel corso della fuga, Meili attraversa esperienze traumatiche che rivelano la brutalità di un sistema disumano. La sua gravidanza diventa un atto di resistenza ma anche un peso, mentre il marito, egoista e ottuso, si dimostra più preoccupato per il proprio lignaggio che per la sofferenza della moglie. Il romanzo si snoda in un crescendo di tensione e disperazione, fino a un epilogo sconvolgente che non lascia spazio a illusioni.
• Ma Jian scrive con uno stile aspro e dettagliato, senza risparmiare nulla: la miseria, la corruzione, la violenza subita dalle donne sono narrate con una lucidità spietata. Ma il romanzo non è solo una denuncia sociale: è anche un'opera profondamente letteraria, che combina realismo e simbolismo, portando il lettore dentro un incubo kafkiano, in cui il corpo femminile diventa un campo di battaglia politico.
• Meili è una figura femminile potente: non è un'eroina nel senso classico, ma una donna comune che cerca solo di sopravvivere, trovando nel desiderio di libertà una forza inaspettata. La sua lotta è personale e universale al tempo stesso, un grido contro l'oppressione che supera i confini della Cina e tocca chiunque abbia conosciuto la violenza del potere.
• In Cina il romanzo è stato, prevedibilmente, censurato e mai pubblicato ufficialmente. L’autore, da tempo considerato un dissidente dal regime, vive in esilio a Londra e le sue opere sono bandite nella Repubblica Popolare Cinese.
• Il tema, presente nel libro, del consumo di feti abortiti o placente in Cina è stato oggetto di molte voci. Il consumo di placenta umana ha una lunga storia nella medicina tradizionale cinese, dove viene considerata un rimedio per rafforzare il corpo, migliorare la fertilità e curare malattie. Esistono testimonianze di placente vendute illegalmente da ospedali o cliniche, e alcune sono state trovate in farmacie di medicina tradizionale, anche se il governo cinese ha più volte vietato questa pratica.
• Le accuse secondo cui feti abortiti sarebbero stati venduti o consumati come cibo sono più controverse. La voce circola da anni e alcuni giornalisti e attivisti per i diritti umani hanno denunciato il commercio clandestino di feti abortiti, non come cibo, ma per utilizzi nella medicina tradizionale o in pratiche discutibili di bellezza (ad esempio, come fonte di cellule staminali per trattamenti estetici).
• Nel caso di La via oscura, Ma Jian utilizza questo tema in modo narrativo e simbolico, esasperando il realismo per denunciare l’orrore della politica del figlio unico e la disumanizzazione della società. Si può escludere che episodi isolati siano realmente accaduti? O che il governo abbia chiuso un occhio o entrambi davanti a queste pratiche barbare?
3stelle e mezza
• La protagonista, Meili, è una giovane donna che lavora con il marito Kongzi in una piccola città sul Fiume Azzurro. Lui è un insegnante ossessionato dall'idea di avere un figlio maschio per continuare la linea della sua famiglia, che discende direttamente da Confucio. Ma il problema è che la coppia ha già una figlia, e quando Meili rimane di nuovo incinta, la loro vita entra in una spirale di fuga e persecuzione. Il governo cinese impone sterilizzazioni forzate e aborti per far rispettare la legge sulla pianificazione familiare, e così Meili e Kongzi diventano fuggitivi, costretti a nascondersi in villaggi galleggianti e zone marginali, sperando di sfuggire alle autorità.
• Nel corso della fuga, Meili attraversa esperienze traumatiche che rivelano la brutalità di un sistema disumano. La sua gravidanza diventa un atto di resistenza ma anche un peso, mentre il marito, egoista e ottuso, si dimostra più preoccupato per il proprio lignaggio che per la sofferenza della moglie. Il romanzo si snoda in un crescendo di tensione e disperazione, fino a un epilogo sconvolgente che non lascia spazio a illusioni.
• Ma Jian scrive con uno stile aspro e dettagliato, senza risparmiare nulla: la miseria, la corruzione, la violenza subita dalle donne sono narrate con una lucidità spietata. Ma il romanzo non è solo una denuncia sociale: è anche un'opera profondamente letteraria, che combina realismo e simbolismo, portando il lettore dentro un incubo kafkiano, in cui il corpo femminile diventa un campo di battaglia politico.
• Meili è una figura femminile potente: non è un'eroina nel senso classico, ma una donna comune che cerca solo di sopravvivere, trovando nel desiderio di libertà una forza inaspettata. La sua lotta è personale e universale al tempo stesso, un grido contro l'oppressione che supera i confini della Cina e tocca chiunque abbia conosciuto la violenza del potere.
• In Cina il romanzo è stato, prevedibilmente, censurato e mai pubblicato ufficialmente. L’autore, da tempo considerato un dissidente dal regime, vive in esilio a Londra e le sue opere sono bandite nella Repubblica Popolare Cinese.
• Il tema, presente nel libro, del consumo di feti abortiti o placente in Cina è stato oggetto di molte voci. Il consumo di placenta umana ha una lunga storia nella medicina tradizionale cinese, dove viene considerata un rimedio per rafforzare il corpo, migliorare la fertilità e curare malattie. Esistono testimonianze di placente vendute illegalmente da ospedali o cliniche, e alcune sono state trovate in farmacie di medicina tradizionale, anche se il governo cinese ha più volte vietato questa pratica.
• Le accuse secondo cui feti abortiti sarebbero stati venduti o consumati come cibo sono più controverse. La voce circola da anni e alcuni giornalisti e attivisti per i diritti umani hanno denunciato il commercio clandestino di feti abortiti, non come cibo, ma per utilizzi nella medicina tradizionale o in pratiche discutibili di bellezza (ad esempio, come fonte di cellule staminali per trattamenti estetici).
• Nel caso di La via oscura, Ma Jian utilizza questo tema in modo narrativo e simbolico, esasperando il realismo per denunciare l’orrore della politica del figlio unico e la disumanizzazione della società. Si può escludere che episodi isolati siano realmente accaduti? O che il governo abbia chiuso un occhio o entrambi davanti a queste pratiche barbare?
3stelle e mezza
November 24, 2013
Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans said: "My motto about message in a book is: flowers in honey, salt in water. The messages have disappeared, but the flavors are everywhere."
Ma Jian might say: poison in honey, industrial waste in water. The multiple messages in this polemical novel coat every page like the Styrofoam and electronic waste that covers every waterway and landscape in his version of contemporary China. And that's the author's point: to raise a hue and cry against the horrors of China's one-child policy. And, while he's at it, illustrate the corruption, pollution, poisoned air, water and food that are so endemic in today's China.
The story follows Meili and her husband Kongzi on their travels around the countryside as refugees in their own land, trying to avoid the population control authorities, as Kongzi knocks her up repeatedly in the quest for a son, with abortion, infanticide, forced sterilization, kidnap, prostitution, slavery and venal, thieving officials, as well as garbage, garbage and more garbage, at every turn. No gorgeous, lyrical description of a landscape of breathtaking beauty is complete without a piece of factory rubbish or an infant corpse floating past. The novel ends with a soaring, operatic scene of such jaw-dropping ugliness that it's nearly beautiful.
Ma Jian did extensive first-hand research into the lives of birth policy refugees, prior to his being banished forever from China. Whatever your feelings about the population-control goals of the one-child policy, its actual implementation and effect on ordinary people is a human rights nightmare, even if this novel might (I said, might, not probably) exaggerate it for effect. My trouble with the book's message is that the author eloquently condemns every aspect of the one-child policy, except one of the many reasons for its existence and for its horrors: Chinese men's pathological insistence on producing sons. Before the policy came into effect, men forced their wives to pump out baby after baby (if the first were girls) until a boy was produced. Since the policy came into effect, those girl babies are aborted or murdered, or the family is forced into becoming birth policy refugees. This issue actually threads throughout the book, as Meili argues with her husband about his insistence on producing a son. Yet she gives in every time. For a novel which so strongly condemns the government over its policies and human rights abuses, it's surprising how lightly he treats the shocking misogyny of Chinese men (and, hey, I'm allowed to say this, having lived among them for 25 years).
Ma Jian is an excellent writer, and the translation is artfully done, which is the saving grace of this novel. The Dark Road is an important and worthwhile book for tackling such a unique subject, but it falls short of being a great one.
Ma Jian might say: poison in honey, industrial waste in water. The multiple messages in this polemical novel coat every page like the Styrofoam and electronic waste that covers every waterway and landscape in his version of contemporary China. And that's the author's point: to raise a hue and cry against the horrors of China's one-child policy. And, while he's at it, illustrate the corruption, pollution, poisoned air, water and food that are so endemic in today's China.
The story follows Meili and her husband Kongzi on their travels around the countryside as refugees in their own land, trying to avoid the population control authorities, as Kongzi knocks her up repeatedly in the quest for a son, with abortion, infanticide, forced sterilization, kidnap, prostitution, slavery and venal, thieving officials, as well as garbage, garbage and more garbage, at every turn. No gorgeous, lyrical description of a landscape of breathtaking beauty is complete without a piece of factory rubbish or an infant corpse floating past. The novel ends with a soaring, operatic scene of such jaw-dropping ugliness that it's nearly beautiful.
Ma Jian did extensive first-hand research into the lives of birth policy refugees, prior to his being banished forever from China. Whatever your feelings about the population-control goals of the one-child policy, its actual implementation and effect on ordinary people is a human rights nightmare, even if this novel might (I said, might, not probably) exaggerate it for effect. My trouble with the book's message is that the author eloquently condemns every aspect of the one-child policy, except one of the many reasons for its existence and for its horrors: Chinese men's pathological insistence on producing sons. Before the policy came into effect, men forced their wives to pump out baby after baby (if the first were girls) until a boy was produced. Since the policy came into effect, those girl babies are aborted or murdered, or the family is forced into becoming birth policy refugees. This issue actually threads throughout the book, as Meili argues with her husband about his insistence on producing a son. Yet she gives in every time. For a novel which so strongly condemns the government over its policies and human rights abuses, it's surprising how lightly he treats the shocking misogyny of Chinese men (and, hey, I'm allowed to say this, having lived among them for 25 years).
Ma Jian is an excellent writer, and the translation is artfully done, which is the saving grace of this novel. The Dark Road is an important and worthwhile book for tackling such a unique subject, but it falls short of being a great one.
August 4, 2013
This is truly a scary book. It is so graphic and ruthless that at some point I started wondering if I am too sentimental or the rest of the world is so pitiless – how can anyone read a two-page description of an eight-month abortion – as graphic as it gets – with the embryo extracted and killed in front of his mother? By the time she gets a huge bill for services, you have been numbed to anything.
The book takes place in modern-day China, a country good for businessmen and Party cadres, but not so much for peasants, especially if they want more than one child. If you compare social institutions not by names, but by their M.O’s, the Chinese equivalent of KGB and Gestapo will be Family Planning Police entrusted with enforcing the “one family one child” policy. They raid villages, forcibly commit abortions and insert IUDs; if you have already had an illegal baby and can’t pay the fine, they confiscate property, however scant, practically dooming a family to starvation.
Kongzi already has a child – a daughter. But Kongzi, who traces his roots to Confucius, insists on a son, and so he grabs his much-suffering pregnant wife Meili, and they hit the road, always on the lam from the Family Planning police. There are many fugitives like them on the Yangtze River, all in trouble with the family law, living without a semblance of social safety net that we associate with this formally Socialist country.
Ma Jian really piles up the stories of this life at the social bottom: “Ten years ago a villager sold his club-footed son to a criminal gang who made the boy beg on the street… in one year, the boy was able to send his parents 10,000 yuan. Envious of their good fortune, other parents in the village have sought to get rich… they mutilate their babies at birth, twisting or snapping their limbs, knowing that the severer the handicap the more money they will earn… Within months the parents are able to buy color TVs, refrigerators, imported cigarettes [sic]… the mud houses have been replaced with three-storey villas… local government hiked taxes and … turned a blind eye to family planning.”
Later on, a private doctor tells Meili that a restaurant would have paid 3,000 yuans for a fetus. What??? “Sure. They boil it in broth, adding some ginseng and angelica. Everybody says it’s great for male potency.”
Eventually, they find themselves in a town called Heaven, the largest computer dump site in the world, where air, water, and soil are so poisoned that all men are rendered infertile. That’s where I want to be, says Meili. She wants to be a modern businesswoman and work in a high-rise and wear a business suit. But in the rest of China mass poisonings are common, baby formula is all fake, and he list goes on. So when you read how the heroes go to celebrate a birthday to a restaurant called “Lured by Fragrance, You Dismount Your Horse” where she is about to order a “dog hotpot and “tiger and dragon fight to death”, a local specialty of cat and snake meat, believed to help rebalance your yin and yang” - your eyes glaze over - you need a Bosch to illustrate this book.
From a purely literary standpoint, Ma Jian does not always connect: social-r of Dickens and magic-r of Marquez are a combination not as organic as a tiger and a dragon. But his unstoppable drive and his character’s perseverance win you over. You are really there, whether you can handle it or not.
I should just footnote that the horrors are taking place against the background of wild economic boom, enhanced by the approaching Olympics, where whole fake temples are erected for foreign visitors and fake greenery is planted for one day for visiting Olympic officials. Outside China, who cares what’s real? As a Family Planning officer explains to Kongzi, “No one cares about you. The UN have voted for one-child policy. Are you against the whole world?”
Really, if you think about it: if someone held an international referendum, who would vote against this policy? Who wants more Chinese in the world? And that may well be the scariest aspect of this already scary book.
The book takes place in modern-day China, a country good for businessmen and Party cadres, but not so much for peasants, especially if they want more than one child. If you compare social institutions not by names, but by their M.O’s, the Chinese equivalent of KGB and Gestapo will be Family Planning Police entrusted with enforcing the “one family one child” policy. They raid villages, forcibly commit abortions and insert IUDs; if you have already had an illegal baby and can’t pay the fine, they confiscate property, however scant, practically dooming a family to starvation.
Kongzi already has a child – a daughter. But Kongzi, who traces his roots to Confucius, insists on a son, and so he grabs his much-suffering pregnant wife Meili, and they hit the road, always on the lam from the Family Planning police. There are many fugitives like them on the Yangtze River, all in trouble with the family law, living without a semblance of social safety net that we associate with this formally Socialist country.
Ma Jian really piles up the stories of this life at the social bottom: “Ten years ago a villager sold his club-footed son to a criminal gang who made the boy beg on the street… in one year, the boy was able to send his parents 10,000 yuan. Envious of their good fortune, other parents in the village have sought to get rich… they mutilate their babies at birth, twisting or snapping their limbs, knowing that the severer the handicap the more money they will earn… Within months the parents are able to buy color TVs, refrigerators, imported cigarettes [sic]… the mud houses have been replaced with three-storey villas… local government hiked taxes and … turned a blind eye to family planning.”
Later on, a private doctor tells Meili that a restaurant would have paid 3,000 yuans for a fetus. What??? “Sure. They boil it in broth, adding some ginseng and angelica. Everybody says it’s great for male potency.”
Eventually, they find themselves in a town called Heaven, the largest computer dump site in the world, where air, water, and soil are so poisoned that all men are rendered infertile. That’s where I want to be, says Meili. She wants to be a modern businesswoman and work in a high-rise and wear a business suit. But in the rest of China mass poisonings are common, baby formula is all fake, and he list goes on. So when you read how the heroes go to celebrate a birthday to a restaurant called “Lured by Fragrance, You Dismount Your Horse” where she is about to order a “dog hotpot and “tiger and dragon fight to death”, a local specialty of cat and snake meat, believed to help rebalance your yin and yang” - your eyes glaze over - you need a Bosch to illustrate this book.
From a purely literary standpoint, Ma Jian does not always connect: social-r of Dickens and magic-r of Marquez are a combination not as organic as a tiger and a dragon. But his unstoppable drive and his character’s perseverance win you over. You are really there, whether you can handle it or not.
I should just footnote that the horrors are taking place against the background of wild economic boom, enhanced by the approaching Olympics, where whole fake temples are erected for foreign visitors and fake greenery is planted for one day for visiting Olympic officials. Outside China, who cares what’s real? As a Family Planning officer explains to Kongzi, “No one cares about you. The UN have voted for one-child policy. Are you against the whole world?”
Really, if you think about it: if someone held an international referendum, who would vote against this policy? Who wants more Chinese in the world? And that may well be the scariest aspect of this already scary book.
July 5, 2020
“She discovered that women don't own their bodies: their wombs and genitals are battle zones over which their husbands and the state fight for control - territories their husbands invade for sexual gratification and to produce male heirs, and which the state probes, monitors, guards and scrapes so as to assert its power and spread fear. These continual intrusions into her bodu's most intimate parts have made her lose her sense of who she is. All she is certain of is that she is a legal wife and an illegal mother.
I'd be better off dead.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
TW: Rape, assault, forced abortion and sterilization, child murder
Ma Jian's The Dark Road is a bleak look at China's one-child policy and how it affects the people of rural China. This book is set after the Cultural Revolution in the early 2000s. Having lived in China from 2003 to 2006, there were parts of this that I recognized, especially the descriptions of rural life, city life, and the markets. That said, I never saw the dark underbelly of China, although was warned repeatedly about children being stolen and used as peddlers.
The story follows Meili and her 'scholarly' husband Kongzi, a descendent of Confucious. When Meili becomes pregant with their second child, they are forced to leave their village before being discovered by the National Population and Family Planning Commission. If caught, Meili would be forced to have an abortion and fitted with an IUD without her consent. They end up buying a boat and float for years on the Yangtze River trying to avoid the authorities. Their ultimate goal is to end up in Heaven Village, where Meili has heard that women do not have to get pregnant there.
As of this year, the outcome of China's One Child Policy has resulted in 30 million more men than women and sex trafficking and mail order brides are a result of it. The policy began in the 1980s and lasted 30 years before being revised a few years ago.
Ma Jian's account of Meili's life as a walking uterus, not a woman who should be valued for her intelligence and capability, is obvious. She is never able to fend her husband off, has no form of birth control, gets caught by the police, and has zero control over her life and her own body.
This book is unbelievably sad, but it is also an eye-opening and brutal account of how women live in China and how villages have adapted and become so polluted.
Takeaway Quotes
“Never rely on a husband for your happiness. The government persecute men, then men persecute their wives in return. And what do the wives do? If they have a child, they slap it to let off steam. If not, they drown themselves or swallow bottles of pesticide.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
��What is a wife for if not to produce sons?
Why are you so obsessed with having a son? It's so feudal! Don;t you know that men and women are equal now?
My brother has no sons, so it's my responsibility to continue the family line. Our daughters will join their husband's family when they marry, and their names won't be recorded in the Kong register. So they serve no purpose to us.
Still clinging to those outmoded Confucian beliefs! I warn you the modern world will leave you behind.
Huh! Just a few days on the road and already you've become worldly-wise! Don't forget, you left school at eight while I graduated at sixteen, so I'll always be cleverer than you.
Stop being so patronising. We're both fugitives now. Let's see how far your male chauvinism gets you here.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
“All these years you drone on about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, then you go and sell your own daughter.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
I'd be better off dead.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
TW: Rape, assault, forced abortion and sterilization, child murder
Ma Jian's The Dark Road is a bleak look at China's one-child policy and how it affects the people of rural China. This book is set after the Cultural Revolution in the early 2000s. Having lived in China from 2003 to 2006, there were parts of this that I recognized, especially the descriptions of rural life, city life, and the markets. That said, I never saw the dark underbelly of China, although was warned repeatedly about children being stolen and used as peddlers.
The story follows Meili and her 'scholarly' husband Kongzi, a descendent of Confucious. When Meili becomes pregant with their second child, they are forced to leave their village before being discovered by the National Population and Family Planning Commission. If caught, Meili would be forced to have an abortion and fitted with an IUD without her consent. They end up buying a boat and float for years on the Yangtze River trying to avoid the authorities. Their ultimate goal is to end up in Heaven Village, where Meili has heard that women do not have to get pregnant there.
As of this year, the outcome of China's One Child Policy has resulted in 30 million more men than women and sex trafficking and mail order brides are a result of it. The policy began in the 1980s and lasted 30 years before being revised a few years ago.
Ma Jian's account of Meili's life as a walking uterus, not a woman who should be valued for her intelligence and capability, is obvious. She is never able to fend her husband off, has no form of birth control, gets caught by the police, and has zero control over her life and her own body.
This book is unbelievably sad, but it is also an eye-opening and brutal account of how women live in China and how villages have adapted and become so polluted.
Takeaway Quotes
“Never rely on a husband for your happiness. The government persecute men, then men persecute their wives in return. And what do the wives do? If they have a child, they slap it to let off steam. If not, they drown themselves or swallow bottles of pesticide.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
��What is a wife for if not to produce sons?
Why are you so obsessed with having a son? It's so feudal! Don;t you know that men and women are equal now?
My brother has no sons, so it's my responsibility to continue the family line. Our daughters will join their husband's family when they marry, and their names won't be recorded in the Kong register. So they serve no purpose to us.
Still clinging to those outmoded Confucian beliefs! I warn you the modern world will leave you behind.
Huh! Just a few days on the road and already you've become worldly-wise! Don't forget, you left school at eight while I graduated at sixteen, so I'll always be cleverer than you.
Stop being so patronising. We're both fugitives now. Let's see how far your male chauvinism gets you here.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
“All these years you drone on about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, then you go and sell your own daughter.”― Ma Jian, The Dark Road
May 26, 2024
Mi sembra tutto un po' too much ho avuto gli incubi per due settimane però lo consiglio tre stelle👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
March 12, 2024
This is a case of what sometimes happens when an activist writes a novel. There is no doubt in my mind that what Ma Jian writes about China is (or was) true but almost all the characters here are black or white, with none falling in-between, so the villains seem inhuman and most of the heroes are few and far between. Instead of a novel exposing the horrors of the disastrous one-child policy of China from 1979 to 2015, we have a dystopic horror story with too much overkill; instead of a pen, the writer uses a mallet to drive home his points.
The book centers on a young woman, Meilei, and her husband, Kongzi, who is apparently a direct descendent of Confucius and very much guided by those teachings; one of these is that a man hasn't fulfilled his obligations unless he brings a son into the world. Their first child is a daughter so it's clear to him that they must keep trying until Meilei gives him a son. However, with China's one-child policy, another child is not only prohibited but severely punished (unless you have the money to pay an exorbitant fee/bribe, something clearly out of their reach.) The first 100 pages of the 400+ pages has almost every horror imaginable, from murdering violators and/or razing their homes to the ground to forced sterilizations of women to forced abortions, and even late-term abortions where the child is born alive but is killed by grinning doctors or nurses straight out of any horror film who complain about how this will make them late to leave work. It made me wonder where the author could go next; what else could he reveal?
After Meilei suffers a forced abortion, they become fugitives and are forced to live on the river with their daughter and here there's a sort of separation between Kongzi and his wife because while Meilei doesn't want to go through that again, even secretly having an IUD implanted, Kongzi is blinded by his ancestral obligation to produce a son which means that he "pounds" Meilei - the only way to describe it - every night and frequently during the day to try to impregnate her. It turns out that he had been successful before the IUD was inserted (or the rough sex had displaced it) but it's another daughter - and not only the wrong sex but mentally discapacitated because they have been living in toxic waste sites. Now, we get to more horrors because what do people do with babies who are "defective" by reason of gender or discapacitions? You either kill them or, better, sell them - there's a lot of money to be made selling a girl to the West for adoption or a discapacitated child to beg in the big cities, to the point that if they aren't discapacitated already, that can be remedied!
Meilei fiercely opposes selling off her daughter so the "practical" Kongzi does it behind her back.
And on it goes. I don't want to give away too much of all that follows but there's little hope. I have no doubt that it's all based on truth but in the hands of a skilled writer, this would be delicately constructed to let the sense of the atrocious build but Ma Jian is more of a "crowbar mechanic" so it just numbed me after a while. He's currently in exile, banned from ever setting foot in China again. He's to be commended for exposing the horrible things that happen(ed) in the countryside but he's not a novelist; his translator is his wife so maybe there's some blame there but in the end, this was one of those books that maybe deserves a 5 for subject matter but I rated it lower for style.
The book centers on a young woman, Meilei, and her husband, Kongzi, who is apparently a direct descendent of Confucius and very much guided by those teachings; one of these is that a man hasn't fulfilled his obligations unless he brings a son into the world. Their first child is a daughter so it's clear to him that they must keep trying until Meilei gives him a son. However, with China's one-child policy, another child is not only prohibited but severely punished (unless you have the money to pay an exorbitant fee/bribe, something clearly out of their reach.) The first 100 pages of the 400+ pages has almost every horror imaginable, from murdering violators and/or razing their homes to the ground to forced sterilizations of women to forced abortions, and even late-term abortions where the child is born alive but is killed by grinning doctors or nurses straight out of any horror film who complain about how this will make them late to leave work. It made me wonder where the author could go next; what else could he reveal?
After Meilei suffers a forced abortion, they become fugitives and are forced to live on the river with their daughter and here there's a sort of separation between Kongzi and his wife because while Meilei doesn't want to go through that again, even secretly having an IUD implanted, Kongzi is blinded by his ancestral obligation to produce a son which means that he "pounds" Meilei - the only way to describe it - every night and frequently during the day to try to impregnate her. It turns out that he had been successful before the IUD was inserted (or the rough sex had displaced it) but it's another daughter - and not only the wrong sex but mentally discapacitated because they have been living in toxic waste sites. Now, we get to more horrors because what do people do with babies who are "defective" by reason of gender or discapacitions? You either kill them or, better, sell them - there's a lot of money to be made selling a girl to the West for adoption or a discapacitated child to beg in the big cities, to the point that if they aren't discapacitated already, that can be remedied!
Meilei fiercely opposes selling off her daughter so the "practical" Kongzi does it behind her back.
And on it goes. I don't want to give away too much of all that follows but there's little hope. I have no doubt that it's all based on truth but in the hands of a skilled writer, this would be delicately constructed to let the sense of the atrocious build but Ma Jian is more of a "crowbar mechanic" so it just numbed me after a while. He's currently in exile, banned from ever setting foot in China again. He's to be commended for exposing the horrible things that happen(ed) in the countryside but he's not a novelist; his translator is his wife so maybe there's some blame there but in the end, this was one of those books that maybe deserves a 5 for subject matter but I rated it lower for style.
July 9, 2013
A woman’s womb is a battleground between Old China and New China in Ma Jian’s dark new work. Meili and Kongzi are family planning fugitives. Kongzi is intent on bringing a male heir into the world and continue the Confucius line. Meili is intent on not having her baby killed by the Chinese government. She is constantly pulled by both forces, but never given a choice of her own. After violating the One Child Policy in China, they go on the run with their daughter Nannan. They choose to buy a boat and float down the Yangtse to a mythical Heaven Township where they can have the child in peace away from the authorities.
Kongzi and Meili travel down the Yangtse Heart of Darkness and experience all hardship that could be brought upon peasants in Communist China. They are imprisoned, fined, sent to work camps, forced prostitution, forced abortions, see chemical and toxic wastes until they reach Womb Lake, the Heaven Township. An electronics toxic waste dump, it becomes their paradise to create a new life, only to
experience new hardships.
There are times where words fail to accurate describe events in this book. The use of the word “dark” in the title is insufficient to describe these events. It’s like putting a Band-Aid over a shotgun wound. There were three times I had to put the book down because the events were so disturbing. When I thought I was desensitized enough Jian could then top that. This story is about forced abortions and sterilization of women. It’s the Communist state coldly implementing the One Child policy. Those who violate this law will be hunted down. They will be fined, their property confiscated, their home bulldozed to the ground, and family members punished. If the woman is found to be pregnant, she is dragged into a room, held down, and a forced abortion is performed. Jian captures this in terrifying detail. As Meili and Kongzi travel to escape the authorities, they see constant road signs saying better rivers of blood than one more child.
This is a book to read to reveal some of the dark underbelly of Communist China. It’s a cross between a totalitarian state and the Wild West. Government agents can bring harm, but the rampant criminal underworld can do the same. There is no escape from this vise. Only the polluted river provides any refuge or escape. Furthermore, the conflicts of Old China and New China between Kongzi and Meili also have devastating consequences as the need for a boy puts Meili at risk by the government. Once she is pregnant, she is an illegal person. Jian does a brilliant job probing this experience. His personal experience must add to the story as the events are too shocking and frightening to be simply made up. It’s an educational, but very disturbing read.
Kongzi and Meili travel down the Yangtse Heart of Darkness and experience all hardship that could be brought upon peasants in Communist China. They are imprisoned, fined, sent to work camps, forced prostitution, forced abortions, see chemical and toxic wastes until they reach Womb Lake, the Heaven Township. An electronics toxic waste dump, it becomes their paradise to create a new life, only to
experience new hardships.
There are times where words fail to accurate describe events in this book. The use of the word “dark” in the title is insufficient to describe these events. It’s like putting a Band-Aid over a shotgun wound. There were three times I had to put the book down because the events were so disturbing. When I thought I was desensitized enough Jian could then top that. This story is about forced abortions and sterilization of women. It’s the Communist state coldly implementing the One Child policy. Those who violate this law will be hunted down. They will be fined, their property confiscated, their home bulldozed to the ground, and family members punished. If the woman is found to be pregnant, she is dragged into a room, held down, and a forced abortion is performed. Jian captures this in terrifying detail. As Meili and Kongzi travel to escape the authorities, they see constant road signs saying better rivers of blood than one more child.
This is a book to read to reveal some of the dark underbelly of Communist China. It’s a cross between a totalitarian state and the Wild West. Government agents can bring harm, but the rampant criminal underworld can do the same. There is no escape from this vise. Only the polluted river provides any refuge or escape. Furthermore, the conflicts of Old China and New China between Kongzi and Meili also have devastating consequences as the need for a boy puts Meili at risk by the government. Once she is pregnant, she is an illegal person. Jian does a brilliant job probing this experience. His personal experience must add to the story as the events are too shocking and frightening to be simply made up. It’s an educational, but very disturbing read.
August 21, 2013
This is probably not the best book to read when you're nine months pregnant, but luckily I have a very strong bubble of peace from all the practice I've had to keep people's negativity out.
This fictionalized account of one family's struggles living with China's one-child policy contains no happiness. Terrible things happen and when you think things can't get any worse, they do. Reading this is like watching Chinese drama: nothing good happens and there are no happy endings. There are forced abortions, miscarriages, rapes, and all sorts of awful things.
When I first started reading this book, I thought it took place further in the past, but it's actually pretty recent. Even though I'm a product of the one-child policy, I never really thought about how much it effected people in China -- especially people like poor peasants who can't pay the fine. On the one hand, I'm glad that someone is telling their story, but on the other, I found the writing to be very heavy handed and awkward at times.
I would have liked it if the book had a more consistent style. Most of the time, it reads like a novel, but there are times where the writing becomes very dry and didactic while still trying to make it sound as if the words are coming from the minds of the characters. It just brings me out of the experience of the book and makes people sound stilted. I guess I was annoyed at how self-aware the characters are sometimes because it's a jarring contrast with some stupid decisions they make.
The depiction of Meili's relationship with Kongzi felt so real that half the time, I wished that she would just leave him. Kongzi's attitude toward women, work, and his own talents reminded me of some people I know back in China who were also probably brought up the same way. In that respect, the novel felt very real to me.
One big thing that annoyed me was how each chapter started with the "keywords:" part. It was too post-modern ha-ha clever, but I don't think it served anything other than to spoil the chapter for me.
A small thing that probably annoys only me is the way baby-talk is written in the book. I know Ma Jian can speak Mandarin or some dialect of Chinese, so I don't know why he chose to write his baby-talk in such a wrong way. He would write Nannan's dialogue as "Me want Coca-Cola" as a for of baby-talk, but in most Chinese dialogues, the word for "me" and the word for "I" are exactly the same, so a child wouldn't be wrong in saying either. It just made me think of Nannan as a caveman or a very un-PC Native American, which totally tore me out of the world of the book.
Recommending this book is like recommending someone watch Schindler's List. It's not a subject matter that's easy to read about, but it does make you think about things.
This fictionalized account of one family's struggles living with China's one-child policy contains no happiness. Terrible things happen and when you think things can't get any worse, they do. Reading this is like watching Chinese drama: nothing good happens and there are no happy endings. There are forced abortions, miscarriages, rapes, and all sorts of awful things.
When I first started reading this book, I thought it took place further in the past, but it's actually pretty recent. Even though I'm a product of the one-child policy, I never really thought about how much it effected people in China -- especially people like poor peasants who can't pay the fine. On the one hand, I'm glad that someone is telling their story, but on the other, I found the writing to be very heavy handed and awkward at times.
I would have liked it if the book had a more consistent style. Most of the time, it reads like a novel, but there are times where the writing becomes very dry and didactic while still trying to make it sound as if the words are coming from the minds of the characters. It just brings me out of the experience of the book and makes people sound stilted. I guess I was annoyed at how self-aware the characters are sometimes because it's a jarring contrast with some stupid decisions they make.
The depiction of Meili's relationship with Kongzi felt so real that half the time, I wished that she would just leave him. Kongzi's attitude toward women, work, and his own talents reminded me of some people I know back in China who were also probably brought up the same way. In that respect, the novel felt very real to me.
One big thing that annoyed me was how each chapter started with the "keywords:" part. It was too post-modern ha-ha clever, but I don't think it served anything other than to spoil the chapter for me.
A small thing that probably annoys only me is the way baby-talk is written in the book. I know Ma Jian can speak Mandarin or some dialect of Chinese, so I don't know why he chose to write his baby-talk in such a wrong way. He would write Nannan's dialogue as "Me want Coca-Cola" as a for of baby-talk, but in most Chinese dialogues, the word for "me" and the word for "I" are exactly the same, so a child wouldn't be wrong in saying either. It just made me think of Nannan as a caveman or a very un-PC Native American, which totally tore me out of the world of the book.
Recommending this book is like recommending someone watch Schindler's List. It's not a subject matter that's easy to read about, but it does make you think about things.
April 9, 2015
la via delle riforme è lastricata di corpi lasciati a marcire
Kongzi, ultimo in linea genealogica di Confucio e questo spiega perchè non può esimersi da cercare un figlio maschio, è in fuga sul fiume Yangtze con quella poveretta di sua moglie Meili, la quale, avendo già una figlia femmina che sconsideratamente non ha ucciso alla nascita, non fa nemmeno in tempo a subire un Aborto di Stato che il marito ricomincia a cercare di metterla incinta del figlio maschio che, secondo lui e il suo illustre antenato, gli spetta di diritto...ora che il Compagno Deng abbia stabilito che le famiglie cinesi si debbono accontentare di un solo figlio ci potrebbe anche stare, che questo vada contro tutti i principi confuciani pure, dal momento che Confucio secondo Mao faceva parte dei "vecchiumi" da abbattere, ma che una donna in procinto di partorire un figlio illegalmente concepito venga trascinata ad abortirlo proprio no...l'avvocato Chen Guangcheng è stato perseguitato in patria, fino all'intervento della Clinton che lo ha aiutato a fuggire, per il solo fatto di aver attirato l'attenzione del mondo sulla brutta faccenda degli Aborti di Stato, ma Ma Jian ci va ancora più pesante e ci racconta la vita dei poveretti devoti confuciani che vogliono tramandare il nome di famiglia senza ammazzare le femmine che nascono anche se non desiderate, gente che vive ai margini, sempre in fuga dalle Brigate di Pianificazione Familiare che ammazzano come se non ci fosse un domani sia i bambini illegali che le mamme che si oppongono, e a questo punto della storia viene da chiedersi come mai uno Stato così deciso a tenere basso il numero delle nascite non si prenda la briga di sterilizzare gli uomini invece di uccidere le donne...vabbè, la storia diventa surreale, Meili cerca in tutti i modi di difendere il suo ultimo feto, e questi decide di non nascere finchè non si sente al sicuro...
un libro tosto assai, molto più dell'annacquato Le Rane del cerchiobottista Mo Yan, che raccontava la stessa storia dall'ottica di chi gli aborti li praticava...un libro che lascia il lettore a chiedersi se sia giusto o meno guardare i cinesi dall'alto in basso, come fanno molti qui da noi, senza sapere da cosa fugge questa gente che si accontenta di vivere lavorando e morire in silenzio per assicurare un futuro ai propri figli...ecco...un libro così io lo farei leggere nelle scuole...così la smettiamo di sentirci superiori a quelli nati in posti meno fortunati di quelli in cui siamo nati noi, o con il colore della pelle diverso dal nostro...
Kongzi, ultimo in linea genealogica di Confucio e questo spiega perchè non può esimersi da cercare un figlio maschio, è in fuga sul fiume Yangtze con quella poveretta di sua moglie Meili, la quale, avendo già una figlia femmina che sconsideratamente non ha ucciso alla nascita, non fa nemmeno in tempo a subire un Aborto di Stato che il marito ricomincia a cercare di metterla incinta del figlio maschio che, secondo lui e il suo illustre antenato, gli spetta di diritto...ora che il Compagno Deng abbia stabilito che le famiglie cinesi si debbono accontentare di un solo figlio ci potrebbe anche stare, che questo vada contro tutti i principi confuciani pure, dal momento che Confucio secondo Mao faceva parte dei "vecchiumi" da abbattere, ma che una donna in procinto di partorire un figlio illegalmente concepito venga trascinata ad abortirlo proprio no...l'avvocato Chen Guangcheng è stato perseguitato in patria, fino all'intervento della Clinton che lo ha aiutato a fuggire, per il solo fatto di aver attirato l'attenzione del mondo sulla brutta faccenda degli Aborti di Stato, ma Ma Jian ci va ancora più pesante e ci racconta la vita dei poveretti devoti confuciani che vogliono tramandare il nome di famiglia senza ammazzare le femmine che nascono anche se non desiderate, gente che vive ai margini, sempre in fuga dalle Brigate di Pianificazione Familiare che ammazzano come se non ci fosse un domani sia i bambini illegali che le mamme che si oppongono, e a questo punto della storia viene da chiedersi come mai uno Stato così deciso a tenere basso il numero delle nascite non si prenda la briga di sterilizzare gli uomini invece di uccidere le donne...vabbè, la storia diventa surreale, Meili cerca in tutti i modi di difendere il suo ultimo feto, e questi decide di non nascere finchè non si sente al sicuro...
un libro tosto assai, molto più dell'annacquato Le Rane del cerchiobottista Mo Yan, che raccontava la stessa storia dall'ottica di chi gli aborti li praticava...un libro che lascia il lettore a chiedersi se sia giusto o meno guardare i cinesi dall'alto in basso, come fanno molti qui da noi, senza sapere da cosa fugge questa gente che si accontenta di vivere lavorando e morire in silenzio per assicurare un futuro ai propri figli...ecco...un libro così io lo farei leggere nelle scuole...così la smettiamo di sentirci superiori a quelli nati in posti meno fortunati di quelli in cui siamo nati noi, o con il colore della pelle diverso dal nostro...
June 30, 2014
I thought I had already read the bleakest novel ever written, Cormac McCarthy's The Road. But I've found one still bleaker, by my favourite Chinese writer Ma Jian, who hasn't had a new book in about five years. The Dark Road is the tale of Kongzi, seventy-sixth descendant of Confucius, his wife Meilie, and their daughter Nannan. It's about the brutalities of modern Chinese life, the one child policy, and the environmental chaos found there. It's about corruption and despair. These three and especially Meilie suffer unceasing torment at the hand of the Chinese authorities and various unpleasant people. There's no light at the end of the tunnel. Toward the end, the book becomes a strange variant of fantasy with Meilie being pregnant for the fourth time - for five years. She says she won't give birth until the one child policy is revoked.
I can't praise this highly enough, both in terms of the subject matter and the writing (expertly translated by Ma's wife Flora Drew). But it isn't for the fainthearted. I can read virtually anything and yet there were passages in this, especially in the first half, that were among the most gruelling and horrific I've read anywhere. You've been warned.
Still, it's an essential book by an essential writer, one of the brightest and best critics of modern China.
I can't praise this highly enough, both in terms of the subject matter and the writing (expertly translated by Ma's wife Flora Drew). But it isn't for the fainthearted. I can read virtually anything and yet there were passages in this, especially in the first half, that were among the most gruelling and horrific I've read anywhere. You've been warned.
Still, it's an essential book by an essential writer, one of the brightest and best critics of modern China.
July 31, 2013
The Dark Road is indeed dark, the topic being the one child policy in China and the Family Planning Committee. I gave it two stars because it educated me. Let me save you the horrific visual images and give you the message. In China, women are hunted, kidnapped, forcibly have IUD's inserted, forcibly sterilized, and have late trimester abortions performed on them against their will by having disinfectant injected into them (and the baby's head). And, if that's not enough, if the baby is expelled alive, they are often murdered. Then, even though the husbands witness their wives being brutalized, they often insist to keep trying for a son. Jian does a superb job at describing these things. The writing is good. The alternate voice of Meili's unborn child seems almost fairytale-like and magical. From all the 5 star ratings, it's probable that the book eventually weaves a good story. I don't deny it's well written. I like books with a message, books that educate me about other cultures and our differences. I got the message from this book in 83 pages. I could go no more. To read further felt like brutalizing myself, also.
October 13, 2013
If you glimpse through most of the reviews, you'll find the word 'disturbing' being used time and again. And it's true - this book really is disturbing. And graphic. And eye-opening.
It's about a husband and wife who are desperate for a son to carry on a philosophical family line. Already having a daughter, they face brutality from government officers who are trying to uphold one-child policy, and thus their effort for a second children requires them to live a nomadic, depressing, inhumane, even bloody life.
This is the second book I read written by Ma Jian, and I must say Red Dust is more personal (well it's his very own memoir). But this book, really shaked me me with the grotesque hardship of living under a brutal government, that at times I can't help but wonder why there's really a part of this world that is THAT cruel, frightening and depressing.
I'm not even sure if pregnant mothers should be allowed to read it.
You can't find a better author to write about life in China other than Ma Jian; he's both an insider and outsider of that country.
It's about a husband and wife who are desperate for a son to carry on a philosophical family line. Already having a daughter, they face brutality from government officers who are trying to uphold one-child policy, and thus their effort for a second children requires them to live a nomadic, depressing, inhumane, even bloody life.
This is the second book I read written by Ma Jian, and I must say Red Dust is more personal (well it's his very own memoir). But this book, really shaked me me with the grotesque hardship of living under a brutal government, that at times I can't help but wonder why there's really a part of this world that is THAT cruel, frightening and depressing.
I'm not even sure if pregnant mothers should be allowed to read it.
You can't find a better author to write about life in China other than Ma Jian; he's both an insider and outsider of that country.
October 22, 2017
a rare 5 stars
Shattering. For those who think, with typical western naivete, that all is rosy in the New China, dig into this novel. More likely, it will dig into you. A vivid and painful perspective on the pollution in rural areas, personal outrages like forced abortions, general civil unrest, and other detriments to ordinary Chinese citizens in the Pearl River area. The horrors are so finely woven into the story, one becomes afraid to read the next page.
Yes, that is the region where the new 34-mile bridge has been built so that the elite can travel from Hong Kong in 30 minutes versus three hours, whizzing past millions of peasants who are still enslaved and deprived of basics and denied access to the new economy. Perhaps this should be mandatory in high school and freshman college years, rather than the self-indulgent view of socialism spewed by white, bourgeois professors who think themselves radical but have never gone anywhere, never been hungry, never worked with his/her hands, and don't know anything in fact.
Shattering. For those who think, with typical western naivete, that all is rosy in the New China, dig into this novel. More likely, it will dig into you. A vivid and painful perspective on the pollution in rural areas, personal outrages like forced abortions, general civil unrest, and other detriments to ordinary Chinese citizens in the Pearl River area. The horrors are so finely woven into the story, one becomes afraid to read the next page.
Yes, that is the region where the new 34-mile bridge has been built so that the elite can travel from Hong Kong in 30 minutes versus three hours, whizzing past millions of peasants who are still enslaved and deprived of basics and denied access to the new economy. Perhaps this should be mandatory in high school and freshman college years, rather than the self-indulgent view of socialism spewed by white, bourgeois professors who think themselves radical but have never gone anywhere, never been hungry, never worked with his/her hands, and don't know anything in fact.
May 30, 2013
Very dark. But a bit patchy. In fact, it's all a bit, I don't know, Victorian? There is welcome twist of weirdness towards the end, but for a large chunks of itit just reads like a 19th century novel. I also don't know if it is translation or not, but lot of prose is pedestrian and there is much that is unfeasible about how the main character is portrayed. Having said that, it's a gripping read, 360 pages flew by...
November 17, 2013
That was a weird book, I kept thinking throughout the book- is this real? Does this stuff really happen? And what was that ending? Really scary depressingly dark book.
June 29, 2020
cupo, cupo, cupo, e terribile. ma allo stesso tempo bello, bello, bello.
February 3, 2020
A volte i libri non sono soltanto storie inventate ma diventano testimonianze necessarie per custodire la memoria degli eventi, per ricordarci come sono andate veramente le cose.
In questo romanzo cupo Ma Jian racconta la storia di una famiglia costretta a scappare per evitare che la moglie incinta di un figlio "fuori quota" venga costretta ad abortire dai funzionari della Pianificazione Familiare.
Già, perché in Cina fino all'altro ieri, esattamente fino al 2015, era in vigore la legge del figlio unico, che obbligava le famiglie ad avere un solo figlio. Questa legge, che pare saltata fuori da un romanzo distopico e invece è storia, venne introdotta nel '79 e aggiunta alla costituzione nell'82 per arginare l'incontrollabile aumento demografico che minacciava di rallentare lo sviluppo economico del paese.
Agli abitanti delle zone rurali però, abituati da sempre ad avere famiglie numerose per lavorare la terra, era permesso avere un secondo figlio, a patto che il primo avesse già compiuto 5 anni.
I nostri protagonisti Kongzi e Meili ricadono in questa fortunata categoria... peccato però che la loro primogenita Nannan debba ancora compierne 3, di anni. Dopo aver assistito alle violenze subite da altre donne del villaggio, sorprese senza l'autorizzazione di gravidanza e costrette ad abortire, anche se all'ottavo o nono mese, e prontamente sterilizzate, i due decidono di scappare con la figlioletta. Comincia così la loro nuova vita, sempre all'erta e in movimento costante, navigando lungo le acque scure del fiume Yangtze, dove tantissimi altri come loro tentano di eludere i controlli dei funzionari locali. Il destino di questa famiglia spaventata si compie tra disperazione e povertà, in mezzo alla puzza e al buio costanti, in un susseguirsi di eventi drammatici che soltanto di rado lasciano spazio a qualche attimo di illusoria speranza.
Kongzi, il marito, rappresenta il passato e la società patriarcale: è ossessionato dall'idea di avere un figlio maschio, in modo da tramandare la sua discendenza da Confucio.
Inutile sottolineare che in seguito all'entrata in vigore della legge del figlio unico tantissime bambine furono abortite o uccise appena nate, pratica abbastanza comune in diversi paesi del terzo mondo dove un figlio maschio è preferibile, al punto che attualmente in Cina c'è una fortissima disparità di genere per cui ci sono milioni di scapoli in cerca di una moglie che non troveranno mai perché non esiste.
Meili invece rappresenta il futuro, la voglia di evolversi: una ragazza umile, ansiosa di emanciparsi e capace di lavorare e mettere a frutto l'ingegno meglio di suo marito. Meili è la madre e di conseguenza l'eroina tragica di questa storia, impegnata com'è a difendere strenuamente il suo bambino, che a un certo punto si "rifiuta" di venire al mondo, di uscire allo scoperto in questo posto ostile in cui non è il benvenuto.
Questa non è una storia a lieto fine, è un racconto straziante che preferirei fosse soltanto il frutto della fantasia di un uomo e invece suona come un monito, oltre che come testimonianza di fatti realmente accaduti.
I libri di Ma Jian sono censurati in Cina e ormai anche lui non riesce più a mettere piede in patria dal 2011, visto che il governo ha tutto l'interesse a sorvolare sui crimini commessi in nome della legge del figlio unico e su altre nefandezze di cui l'autore ha avuto l'ardire di parlare.
Non posso non stimare quest'uomo che non si lascia intimorire dalla censura e dall'esilio e continua a raccontare il suo paese con la speranza che tanti, soprattutto i giovani cinesi, acquisiscano la consapevolezza di ciò che è realmente accaduto e che nessuno dimentichi quanto è successo e perché, a differenza di quanto raccontato, o meglio taciuto, dagli organismi di governo.
[Per approfondire ulteriormente questa tematica, consiglio il documentario One child nation, uscito nel 2019 e disponibile su prime video, in cui Nanfu Wang, una ragazza cinese classe '85, torna al villaggio natio dopo aver vissuto e partorito negli USA. Nanfu intervista la madre, la zia, il nonno, il capo del villaggio dell'epoca, la levatrice che si occupava anche degli aborti per ovviare alle trasgressioni, una funzionaria della pianificazione familiare e così via riportandoci le testimonianze di persone che hanno subito e obbedito a quelle leggi senza opporre resistenza, che se il fratellino di Nanfu fosse stato una femmina l'avrebbero lasciata morire come da tradizione, ci racconta la madre con un candore agghiacciante. Giustificano le loro azioni con frasi del tipo "si usava così" o "erano gli ordini del partito... cosa avremmo dovuto fare?" Erano saggi oppure folli?
Di certo non sta a me giudicare, forse sottomettersi era l'unico modo per sopravvivere, come sembra dimostrare la storia della stessa Meili, senza dimenticare che anche la propaganda giocava una parte importante, visto che ai bambini veniva inculcato tramite giochi, canzoni, spettacoli teatrali, gadget di ogni tipo e cartelloni enormi affissi in giro per le città, che la famiglia era composta da tre individui e basta. Nanfu racconta che si sentiva a disagio da piccola perché a scuola era l'unica ad avere un fratello...
La realtà a volte supera tristemente la fantasia ma è bene ricordarsene, non dimenticare.]
In questo romanzo cupo Ma Jian racconta la storia di una famiglia costretta a scappare per evitare che la moglie incinta di un figlio "fuori quota" venga costretta ad abortire dai funzionari della Pianificazione Familiare.
Già, perché in Cina fino all'altro ieri, esattamente fino al 2015, era in vigore la legge del figlio unico, che obbligava le famiglie ad avere un solo figlio. Questa legge, che pare saltata fuori da un romanzo distopico e invece è storia, venne introdotta nel '79 e aggiunta alla costituzione nell'82 per arginare l'incontrollabile aumento demografico che minacciava di rallentare lo sviluppo economico del paese.
Agli abitanti delle zone rurali però, abituati da sempre ad avere famiglie numerose per lavorare la terra, era permesso avere un secondo figlio, a patto che il primo avesse già compiuto 5 anni.
I nostri protagonisti Kongzi e Meili ricadono in questa fortunata categoria... peccato però che la loro primogenita Nannan debba ancora compierne 3, di anni. Dopo aver assistito alle violenze subite da altre donne del villaggio, sorprese senza l'autorizzazione di gravidanza e costrette ad abortire, anche se all'ottavo o nono mese, e prontamente sterilizzate, i due decidono di scappare con la figlioletta. Comincia così la loro nuova vita, sempre all'erta e in movimento costante, navigando lungo le acque scure del fiume Yangtze, dove tantissimi altri come loro tentano di eludere i controlli dei funzionari locali. Il destino di questa famiglia spaventata si compie tra disperazione e povertà, in mezzo alla puzza e al buio costanti, in un susseguirsi di eventi drammatici che soltanto di rado lasciano spazio a qualche attimo di illusoria speranza.
Kongzi, il marito, rappresenta il passato e la società patriarcale: è ossessionato dall'idea di avere un figlio maschio, in modo da tramandare la sua discendenza da Confucio.
Inutile sottolineare che in seguito all'entrata in vigore della legge del figlio unico tantissime bambine furono abortite o uccise appena nate, pratica abbastanza comune in diversi paesi del terzo mondo dove un figlio maschio è preferibile, al punto che attualmente in Cina c'è una fortissima disparità di genere per cui ci sono milioni di scapoli in cerca di una moglie che non troveranno mai perché non esiste.
Meili invece rappresenta il futuro, la voglia di evolversi: una ragazza umile, ansiosa di emanciparsi e capace di lavorare e mettere a frutto l'ingegno meglio di suo marito. Meili è la madre e di conseguenza l'eroina tragica di questa storia, impegnata com'è a difendere strenuamente il suo bambino, che a un certo punto si "rifiuta" di venire al mondo, di uscire allo scoperto in questo posto ostile in cui non è il benvenuto.
Questa non è una storia a lieto fine, è un racconto straziante che preferirei fosse soltanto il frutto della fantasia di un uomo e invece suona come un monito, oltre che come testimonianza di fatti realmente accaduti.
I libri di Ma Jian sono censurati in Cina e ormai anche lui non riesce più a mettere piede in patria dal 2011, visto che il governo ha tutto l'interesse a sorvolare sui crimini commessi in nome della legge del figlio unico e su altre nefandezze di cui l'autore ha avuto l'ardire di parlare.
Non posso non stimare quest'uomo che non si lascia intimorire dalla censura e dall'esilio e continua a raccontare il suo paese con la speranza che tanti, soprattutto i giovani cinesi, acquisiscano la consapevolezza di ciò che è realmente accaduto e che nessuno dimentichi quanto è successo e perché, a differenza di quanto raccontato, o meglio taciuto, dagli organismi di governo.
[Per approfondire ulteriormente questa tematica, consiglio il documentario One child nation, uscito nel 2019 e disponibile su prime video, in cui Nanfu Wang, una ragazza cinese classe '85, torna al villaggio natio dopo aver vissuto e partorito negli USA. Nanfu intervista la madre, la zia, il nonno, il capo del villaggio dell'epoca, la levatrice che si occupava anche degli aborti per ovviare alle trasgressioni, una funzionaria della pianificazione familiare e così via riportandoci le testimonianze di persone che hanno subito e obbedito a quelle leggi senza opporre resistenza, che se il fratellino di Nanfu fosse stato una femmina l'avrebbero lasciata morire come da tradizione, ci racconta la madre con un candore agghiacciante. Giustificano le loro azioni con frasi del tipo "si usava così" o "erano gli ordini del partito... cosa avremmo dovuto fare?" Erano saggi oppure folli?
Di certo non sta a me giudicare, forse sottomettersi era l'unico modo per sopravvivere, come sembra dimostrare la storia della stessa Meili, senza dimenticare che anche la propaganda giocava una parte importante, visto che ai bambini veniva inculcato tramite giochi, canzoni, spettacoli teatrali, gadget di ogni tipo e cartelloni enormi affissi in giro per le città, che la famiglia era composta da tre individui e basta. Nanfu racconta che si sentiva a disagio da piccola perché a scuola era l'unica ad avere un fratello...
La realtà a volte supera tristemente la fantasia ma è bene ricordarsene, non dimenticare.]
April 15, 2021
"Se il mio sentiero si interrompe, mi imbarco su una zattera e vado verso il mare", diceva Confucio e così fa Kongzi, suo settantaseiesimo discendente diretto, che si imbarca con la moglie Meilin e la figlia Nannan su una chiatta per sfuggire dalla squadra di pianificazione familiare che vuole costringere Meilin all'aborto quando si scopre la sua (avanzata) gravidanza non autorizzata.
Lungo il fiume Yangtze, Kongzi non si arrende di fronte all'impossibilità di avere finalmente il maschio che continui la stirpe portando numerose sofferenze alla loro famiglia, in primis alla moglie, vera eroina del romanzo, combattuta tra l'imperativo tradizionale di obbedirgli e il desiderio di emancipazione.
Ma Jian è un autore che critica aspramente la società cinese e i suoi romanzi sono tutt'ora censurati in Cina: non va per il sottile, le sue descrizioni sono crude e dirette, creando così descrizioni terribili ma memorabili.
La controversa politica del figlio unico è qui descritta dal punto di vista di persone semplici spinte a fare un salto culturale radicale dalla loro tradizione millenaria. La violenza di genere, sui minori, sulla libertà personale sia dallo Stato che dagli uomini è davvero perturbante così come la costante, folle burocrazia che si infiltra in ogni singola azione quotidiana.
è impossibile rimanere indifferenti dopo la lettura, ma è uno di quei libri che, seppure romanzato con un tocco di realismo magico, è una brutale critica alla politica del figlio unico, al cieco confucianesimo e alla società patriarcale. Scorrevole ma a tratti duro da leggere, ha un ritmo che fa trattenere il fiato fino alla sorpresa del climax finale.
Lungo il fiume Yangtze, Kongzi non si arrende di fronte all'impossibilità di avere finalmente il maschio che continui la stirpe portando numerose sofferenze alla loro famiglia, in primis alla moglie, vera eroina del romanzo, combattuta tra l'imperativo tradizionale di obbedirgli e il desiderio di emancipazione.
Ma Jian è un autore che critica aspramente la società cinese e i suoi romanzi sono tutt'ora censurati in Cina: non va per il sottile, le sue descrizioni sono crude e dirette, creando così descrizioni terribili ma memorabili.
La controversa politica del figlio unico è qui descritta dal punto di vista di persone semplici spinte a fare un salto culturale radicale dalla loro tradizione millenaria. La violenza di genere, sui minori, sulla libertà personale sia dallo Stato che dagli uomini è davvero perturbante così come la costante, folle burocrazia che si infiltra in ogni singola azione quotidiana.
è impossibile rimanere indifferenti dopo la lettura, ma è uno di quei libri che, seppure romanzato con un tocco di realismo magico, è una brutale critica alla politica del figlio unico, al cieco confucianesimo e alla società patriarcale. Scorrevole ma a tratti duro da leggere, ha un ritmo che fa trattenere il fiato fino alla sorpresa del climax finale.
February 13, 2022
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