March 3, 1999

Pa Chin's Family is a novel about the inner workings of a traditional Chinese family. Pa Chin uses his life as the framework to build a story based on the conflict arising from the pressure to reform traditional China. The book's themes include class-consciousness, the balance of power between genders, and familial roles such as patriarch, grandson, concubine, wife, and servant. The story is set in Chengdu located in the center of Sichuan province, during the May 4th movement of 1919. The story illustrates the ideological conflict between four generations as foreign ideas become prevalent and influence the younger generation. The plot centers around three brothers, Chueh-hsin, Chueh-min, and Chueh-hui, and the repercussions of loving women not viewed as acceptable by the family. The harsh outcomes of conflict are shown through the perspective of the younger generation, which gives the reader an idea of the personal struggle between the desire for change and the obligation to tradition.

Pa Chin establishes the Kao family and their compound as a typical wealthy Chinese family of this time period. The patriarch, Yeh-Yeh, is in ultimate control of all aspects of life in the compound. However, his eldest son's eldest son, Chueh-hsin, controls day-to-day affairs. Five households of Kaos live within the walls of the compound, and rivalries develop due to the competition for Yeh-Yeh's favor. These five households require more than one hundred servants to cook, clean, and carry the sedan chairs within the town. Strict lines are drawn between family members and servants. However, love cannot be contained by class boundaries. There are even lines drawn between family members, but Chueh-hsin defies these when he falls in love with his cousin, Mei Ping.

Their love is mutual, but Mei Ping is sent away to marry another man, and Chueh-hsin marries the bride of his family choosing, Jui Chueh. He learns to love his wife over time, especially after the birth of their son. Mei Ping returns after her husband's death and is relegated to the status of a servant. She devotes her life to serving the Kaos who are not as devoted to her. Yeh-Yeh sells her away as a concubine. The day before her departure, she takes her own life unable to face her fate. Only Chueh-hsin and his brothers are deeply affected by this loss; the rest of the Kao's proceed as if nothing has happened. Even though Chueh-hsin denies his emotions and succumbs to his family's desires, his immediate family concedes its autonomy to traditional Chinese values. Due to a Chinese superstition, Jui-Chueh is forced to leave the compound after Yeh-Yeh's death, because she is eight months pregnant. Chueh-hsin never gets to welcome her home, because she dies while giving birth to a second son. Even though Chueh-hsin has a relatively high degree of power within the family, his life and loves are hostages to traditional Chinese values.

Chueh-hsin's younger brothers, Chueh-min and Chueh-hui, fight to break away from the example of their older brother. They are educated outside the compound in a school that accepts Western culture and ideas. Initially, their education provides the intellectual stimulus to bring about change in the family, as well as in the greater community. Family opens with them leaving a rehearsal of the play Treasure Island. Chueh-hui and Chueh-min read a great deal of Western literature, which frees their thought from tradition and exposes them to the ideals of individualism. Soldiers of the provincial government ransack a theatre during a performance of a Western play. Along with several hundred other students, Chueh-min and Chueh-hui march on the governor's compound to protest the soldier's actions. Despite a valiant effort, a representative of the governor misleads the students, who return home with empty promises. This event ignites a revolutionary spark for Chueh-hui. To stifle his actions, his grandfather restricts him to the family compound, but this does not dampen his spirits. Eventually the grandfather forgets about the punishment, and Chueh-hui leaves the compound. Immediately, he returns to his rebellious ways.

His information about underground political movements comes from several magazines. To foster this spirit in their area, Chueh-hui and Chueh-min found a magazine, Dawn, that speaks out against the oppression of traditional China. After General Chang wins control of Chengdu, Dawn is shut down by military force. Chueh-hui does not lose faith in his convictions, but Chueh-min falls deeply in love with his cousin Chin and loses interest in the magazine. Chueh-min's life parallels Chueh-hsin's when Yeh-Yeh arranges a marriage for him. He is not passive, and runs away to ensure that he can marry Chin. For his impudence, Yeh-Yeh comes close to disowning him, but he acknowledges Chueh-min's wishes on his deathbed. This shows a softening of Yeh-Yeh's iron fisted rule and illustrates that keeping the family together is more important than abiding by tradition. After Yeh-Yeh's death, there is nothing to keep Chueh-hui in Chengdu, and he secretly sets out for Shanghai to further his revolutionary attitudes and continue his education.

While the brothers are struggling to break free of traditional values, the servants fatalistically accept the roles in which tradition places them. Through Ming-Feng the issues that all servants face are explored. Ming-Feng describes a bed time scene in the servant's quarter like this,

Lying in their beds, stripped of the masks they had worn all day, people took stock of themselves. They opened their hearts and examined their innermost secrets, peering into the recesses of their souls. Stricken with remorse and anger, they wept over the waste, the losses, the bitterness of the day gone by. (25)

As devoted as the servants appear, they are treated appallingly by the Kaos who abuse them emotionally and physically. During a performance on New Years, rambunctious family members throw fireworks at the performers who stoically endure the pain. Pa Chin vividly explores the story of the servants, which gives insight on the extent of class divisions.

Both the wealthy and servant classes are oppressed by the traditional culture of China. Chueh-hsin does not marry the woman he loves, and he is separated from his wife when she needs him the most. These two losses destroy his spirit. His younger brother, Chueh-min, learns from his example, and successfully fights to marry the woman he loves. Chueh-hui wants to fundamentally change Chinese society, and he escapes the stifling atmosphere of his family's compound to embark on his quest for change. The story of these brothers shows the power of tradition and the difficulty of escaping its all-encompassing grasp. This novel is revered by the communists in China for its accurate depiction of the pain caused by the China's class structure. However, Family shows something grander: it shows the restrictions that China's traditional culture placed on everyone, and the overwhelming difficulty of breaking free from them.

Bibliography

Chin, Pa. Family. Waveland Press, Inc. Prospect Heights: 1972.