July 2016
Chun Cao
by Qiu Shanshan
Chun Cao is the story of an ordinary woman in the countryside who, apart from hard work, has nothing to be happy about. However, she does have one personality that affects her whole life: unyielding obstinacy. With the dream of living a better life in her heart, she is not reconciled to her destiny. Instead, she struggles with all her might. She marries a man she has chosen for herself, braves the world, goes to work in the city, and establishes her own business. She experiences repeated failures and hardship. From the countryside to the city, from a petty peddler to a cleaning woman and nurse, she struggles, bears hardship, keeps her chin up, and never vents her grievances. Her praiseworthy quality lies in the fact that she wants to be the master of her own destiny. She has thus been labeled as the Chinese “Oshin”. This book, after being introduced to Japan and the United States, has become a textbook for Advanced Chinese at the Ohio State University of the US.
