Moying Li's hero is her grandmother, otherwise known as Lao Lao. When Moying Li was just a young child her mother, Mama, was sent away to teach and that is when Lao Lao became Moying Li's surrogate mother. In chapter 3, Moying Li states, "As I grew a little older, I began to notice the difference between my grandma and my friends' grandmas."(22) As Moying Li begins to notice that Lao Lao was different than a lot of the other grandmas because of a number of things, including: her height, her ability to read and write, and the fact that Lao Lao's feet were not bound like the other grandmas- binding of the feet was a custom done by the Chinese as a beauty custom. Since Lao Lao's feet were not bound, finding love was hard. According to their customs, binding of the feet was something that many men looked for in a Chinese woman. Lao Lao's feet were not bound making it hard for her to find love. Moying Li's grandfather, Lao Ye Zhang was forced to marry Lao Lao. LaoYe Zhang had been in love with another woman and would sneak out to see her. Lao Lao knew of this, but was forced to deal with it because a divorce was not something she could do. She had to struggle knowing that the one person she loves more than anything, loves someone else. In addition to those struggles, Lao Lao had to deal with the Red Guards. The Red Guards were accusing people and families of going against Chairman Mao's teachings. Lao Lao's family was one family that had been attacked by the false accusations of the Red Guards. Another struggle the Lao Lao endured was living a life without her mother. Lao Lao's mother had passed when she was just a small child. Although Moying Li's mother didn't die, they still share similar stories, a life without a mom. I believe they both had suffer the life of a single parent, but Moying Li was fortunate enough to have Lao Lao. Moying Li says, "Mama had been assigned to teach at a high school far away and could not come home during the week to take care of me. Baba was a screenwriter for an army movie studio, and he, too, had to travel frequently for his job. Lao Lao became my surrogate mother." (22) From this statement we learn the importance of Lao Lao in Moying Li's life.
Lao Lao, Moying Li, and Lao Ye in 1954
Li, Moying. "Lao Lao and Lao Ye."Snow falling in spring: coming of age in China during the cultural revolution. New York: Square Fish, 2010. 23. Print.
Moying Li's Hero
Moying Li's hero is her grandmother, otherwise known as Lao Lao. When Moying Li was just a young child her mother, Mama, was sent away to teach and that is when Lao Lao became Moying Li's surrogate mother. In chapter 3, Moying Li states, "As I grew a little older, I began to notice the difference between my grandma and my friends' grandmas."(22) As Moying Li begins to notice that Lao Lao was different than a lot of the other grandmas because of a number of things, including: her height, her ability to read and write, and the fact that Lao Lao's feet were not bound like the other grandmas- binding of the feet was a custom done by the Chinese as a beauty custom.
Since Lao Lao's feet were not bound, finding love was hard. According to their customs, binding of the feet was something that many men looked for in a Chinese woman. Lao Lao's feet were not bound making it hard for her to find love. Moying Li's grandfather, Lao Ye Zhang was forced to marry Lao Lao. LaoYe Zhang had been in love with another woman and would sneak out to see her. Lao Lao knew of this, but was forced to deal with it because a divorce was not something she could do. She had to struggle knowing that the one person she loves more than anything, loves someone else.
In addition to those struggles, Lao Lao had to deal with the Red Guards. The Red Guards were accusing people and families of going against Chairman Mao's teachings. Lao Lao's family was one family that had been attacked by the false accusations of the Red Guards.
Another struggle the Lao Lao endured was living a life without her mother. Lao Lao's mother had passed when she was just a small child. Although Moying Li's mother didn't die, they still share similar stories, a life without a mom. I believe they both had suffer the life of a single parent, but Moying Li was fortunate enough to have Lao Lao. Moying Li says, "Mama had been assigned to teach at a high school far away and could not come home during the week to take care of me. Baba was a screenwriter for an army movie studio, and he, too, had to travel frequently for his job. Lao Lao became my surrogate mother." (22) From this statement we learn the importance of Lao Lao in Moying Li's life.
Li, Moying. "Lao Lao and Lao Ye."Snow falling in spring: coming of age in China during the cultural revolution. New York: Square Fish, 2010. 23. Print.