Chi's Experience In The Great Flowing River By Chi

War is often a unifying event in a country, arguably almost always leading citizens to express a deeper sense of nationalism than they experience in times of peace. However, living amongst war and the trauma that comes with it can forever taint a country in one’s mind. In her memoir The Great Flowing River, the traumatic events Chi experienced in China coupled with her prosperous time after relocating to Taiwan. Early on in her memoir, Chi describes dealing with several hardships in her life. When describing her birth in China, she explained that she was “born weak” and soon developed a “high fever”, whilst going on to describe that the “infant mortality rate was around 40% in those days” (Chi, 3). It is important to note the tone she uses

Chi relents to readers of her experience of having to flee Nanjing due to the bombs everywhere. She described still hearing “piercing screams [that] reverberated throughout many a sleepless night and were the beginning of my compassion, which began…to encompass all the people of my country and humanity” (Chi, 57). In describing the compassion that poured from her at hearing people die and struggle during wartime, Chi seems to demonstrate a feeling of almost pity for those injured. This is evident as she explains that her compassion didn’t emerge until she saw the pain of her people. Nationalism had not emerged throughout the bomb raids, only a pang of sadness and care for the people caught in the crossfire of China’s terror. Moreover, stating that this newfound compassion emerged throughout all nations or “humanity” hints that this compassion was not based on nationalism, but based on the shared emotional connection between all humans when someone like them is hurt. Furthermore, associating their migration of herself throughout China with the need to flee suggests that migration may make her feel more compassion or connectedness to her people, but not a sense of unity with China. She seems to be hinting that the shared trauma of the war united her with her fellow Chinese, but did not seem to garner a sense of protection for the nation of China itself. It can also be

In describing a future of peace and a new beginning for China as a massive lie, Chi further drives home that war had destroyed her Chinese nationalism. In calling the statement a lie, Chi seems to be stating that China never reached a unified, peaceful new age. Moreover, this is later highlighted when she describes her time in Taiwan. Chi describes the time her family worked on the railroad in Taiwan as “trials and tribulations” but also “a key period in which [their] lives took root” (Chi, 276). This accentuates her nationalism towards Taiwan, thus proving her lack of nationalism towards China. While she acknowledges that her life in Taiwan was not without hardships, she also describes it as a place where her life “took root”. The use of the word “root” implies that Chi felt that she was connected to the country she stood on and wanted to grow her life there. With the combination of acknowledging the hardships and still feeling rooted in herself in Taiwan, she expresses an almost intimate form of nationalism. When she began to set up her life in Taiwan (i.e. marriage, home ownership, etc.) Chi said she “no longer harbored any illusions about life” (Chi, 248). In stating that life no longer felt illusive to her, she almost implies that her life in Taiwan brought a sense of clarity to her life that China had never brought to her. She seems to be saying that Taiwan was the answer to all the questions of her life.