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A Daughter of Han (annotated): The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman
A Daughter of Han is the remarkable account of one Chinese woman's life during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A true story, as told to Ida Pruitt, of Ning Tai-tai, that deals with fleeting moments of joy and years of suffering, with strict societal rules, with addiction and loss. The result is the clearest picture of life for ordinary Chinese women in turbulent times, a reminder both of how far we have come and how far we still need to travel.
271 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 27, 2017
About the author
Ida Pruitt
12 booksIda Pruitt (1888 – 1985), bi-cultural social worker, author, speaker, interpreter and 20th century contributor to Sino-American understanding.
Ida Pruitt was the daughter of North China Southern Baptist missionaries Anna Seward Pruitt and C.W. Pruitt. Born in 1891 in the coastal town of Penglai on the Shandong peninsula, her childhood was spent in the small inland village of Sung-ch’iat’an, where for many years the Pruitts were the only Western family.
After attending Cox College in College Park, Georgia (1906–1909), Ida Pruitt received a B.S. from Columbia University Teachers' College in New York (1910). When her brother John died, Ida returned to China to be with her family and became a teacher and principal of Wai Ling School for Girls in Chefoo (1912–1918). In 1918, she came back to the United States and studied social work in Boston and Philadelphia until hired by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York as head of the Department of Social Services at the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) where she remained until 1938.
During the Japanese occupation of China (1937–1945), Ida assisted Rewi Alley as he organized the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. The CIC was formed to organize cooperative factories throughout the countryside to support China's industry. Schools were built to train the Chinese (often crippled or orphaned) to work in and manage the factories. Indusco, the fundraising arm of the CIC in the United States, was formed, and Pruitt served as its executive secretary from 1939 to 1951.
A keen observer and student of Chinese history, society, and paleo-anthropology, Pruitt was a prolific writer and the author of a number of books, stories, and articles, including several autobiographies: A China Childhood (1978), The Years Between, and Days in Old Peking: May 1921-October 1938 as well as several biographies – Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman (1945, 1967), Old Madame Yin: A Memoir of Peking Life, 1926-1938 (1979), and Tales of Old China. She also translated and edited many works, including Yellow Storm by Lao Tse (1951), The Flight of an Empress by Wu Yung (1936), Little Bride by Wang Yung, and Beyond China's City Walls by George A. Hogg, et al.
In addition to her writing, Ida filled her retirement years with travel, talks, and political activism. She returned to China twice (1959, 1972) despite a State Department ban and remained a strong proponent for U.S.-China relations throughout her life.
(from Wikipedia)
Ida Pruitt was the daughter of North China Southern Baptist missionaries Anna Seward Pruitt and C.W. Pruitt. Born in 1891 in the coastal town of Penglai on the Shandong peninsula, her childhood was spent in the small inland village of Sung-ch’iat’an, where for many years the Pruitts were the only Western family.
After attending Cox College in College Park, Georgia (1906–1909), Ida Pruitt received a B.S. from Columbia University Teachers' College in New York (1910). When her brother John died, Ida returned to China to be with her family and became a teacher and principal of Wai Ling School for Girls in Chefoo (1912–1918). In 1918, she came back to the United States and studied social work in Boston and Philadelphia until hired by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York as head of the Department of Social Services at the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) where she remained until 1938.
During the Japanese occupation of China (1937–1945), Ida assisted Rewi Alley as he organized the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. The CIC was formed to organize cooperative factories throughout the countryside to support China's industry. Schools were built to train the Chinese (often crippled or orphaned) to work in and manage the factories. Indusco, the fundraising arm of the CIC in the United States, was formed, and Pruitt served as its executive secretary from 1939 to 1951.
A keen observer and student of Chinese history, society, and paleo-anthropology, Pruitt was a prolific writer and the author of a number of books, stories, and articles, including several autobiographies: A China Childhood (1978), The Years Between, and Days in Old Peking: May 1921-October 1938 as well as several biographies – Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman (1945, 1967), Old Madame Yin: A Memoir of Peking Life, 1926-1938 (1979), and Tales of Old China. She also translated and edited many works, including Yellow Storm by Lao Tse (1951), The Flight of an Empress by Wu Yung (1936), Little Bride by Wang Yung, and Beyond China's City Walls by George A. Hogg, et al.
In addition to her writing, Ida filled her retirement years with travel, talks, and political activism. She returned to China twice (1959, 1972) despite a State Department ban and remained a strong proponent for U.S.-China relations throughout her life.
(from Wikipedia)
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January 12, 2019
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A humble account of a Chinese woman living at the time of the end of the Qing dynasty, as recorded by Ida Pruitt. Based on informal discussions between Pruitt and Bing Lao Taitai.
A humble account of a Chinese woman living at the time of the end of the Qing dynasty, as recorded by Ida Pruitt. Based on informal discussions between Pruitt and Bing Lao Taitai.
Displaying 1 of 1 review