Rae Yang

Rae Yang (Chinese: 杨瑞; pinyin: Yáng Ruì, born December 1, 1950) is a Chinese-American professor emerita and writer. Her book, Spider Eaters, chronicles her experience during the Cultural Revolution.

Early life

Yang was born in 1950 in the People's Republic of China at the start of the Communist Party of China's rule over the Central government. Her parents were enthusiastic followers of Mao Zedong, having joined the party in the 1940s.[1]: 9  When she was one year old Yang moved with her parents to Switzerland, where her parents served at the Chinese Consulate. During this time she grew to have a close relationship with her nanny "Aunty", who lived with Yang's family in Geneva and provided her with the parental love and care while her parents were away. Yang later returned with her family to China to attend Beijing 101 Middle School.[1]: 89  During this time Yang was an enthusiastic follower of Mao and eventually joined the Red Guards. She became disillusioned by the movement after being sent to the countryside where she had gruelingly worked in peasant conditions on a pig farm in Cold Springs, a life in which she was not accustomed. After three years on the farm, Yang returned home to find her parents "had both changed literally beyond recognition."[1]: 208  After these experiences, Yang began to question the Cultural Revolution as she felt deceived by the political struggle for power.[1]: 217 

Leaving Cold Springs left Yang without a valid hukou, which meant she lived as an undocumented resident in her own country. Yang had to return to the countryside to bribe an official with "Big China brand cigarettes and Maotai brand baijiu" to grant her a hukou,[1]: 270  before moving to Shijiazhuang to return to her studies. After gaining permanent residence in Beijing, Yang was accepted into the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, majoring in journalism. In 1981, Yang was accepted into the University of Massachusetts in the United States, studying comparative literature.[1]: 283 

Career

Yang became an associate professor, later the Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.[2][3] In 1997, she published a memoir about her experience in the Cultural Revolution, Spider Eaters, the title a reference to a quote by Chinese writer Lu Xun: "Since someone ate crabs, others must have eaten spiders as well. However, they were not tasty. So afterwards, people stopped eating them. These people also deserve our heartfelt gratitude."[4] The experience of her generation, the "spider eaters" of her book, would therefore serve as a warning to the later generation not to repeat the same thing. The work chronicles her role as both a victimizer as well as a victim in the Cultural Revolution, and won praise from the critics.[5]

Bibliography
  • Reflections and Recollections (1989)
  • Spider Eaters (1997)[6][7]
  • China: Fifty Years Inside the People's Republic (1999, photographic catalog)[8][9]

See also

References
  1. Yang, Rae (1997). Spider Eaters. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISBN 9780585070285.
  2. "Rae Yang". Dickinson College. Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Rae Yang, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature (1990)
  3. "East Asian Studies Department Faculty". Dickinson College. Retrieved July 30, 2020. Rae Yang, Professor Emerita of East Asian Studies
  4. "Zeal of the spider woman". Times Higher Education (THE). April 4, 1997. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  5. Guiyou Huang, ed. (September 5, 2020). Asian American Autobiographers: A Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Greenwood Press. pp. 397–400. ISBN 978-0313314087.
  6. "A Cautionary Tale And A Sensual Poem Of Protest About Life In China". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  7. Bai, Limin (January 1, 1998). "Spider Eaters. Rae Yang". The China Journal. 39: 118–120. doi:10.2307/2667707. ISSN 1324-9347. JSTOR 2667707.
  8. Glueck, Grace (October 8, 1999). "Photography Review; With Pleasure and No Pain, a Most Apolitical China". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  9. Conlogue, Ray (2000). "Images of harmony and horror". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
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