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Wang Ping Book War Summary

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All over the world, the old age tradition of storytelling remains an integral part of today’s society. During the Cultural Revolution, a socio-political movement that took place in China from 1966 to 1976, Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party of China initiated the movement. He aimed to eliminate capitalist and traditional Chinese culture elements from society. Throughout this time, books that were deemed to contain Capitalist Party ideologies were heavily censored and banned in China. If the government caught individuals reading banned literature, it could result in imprisonment or death for the person and their family. In Wang Ping’s essay, “Book War”, she recalled an instance during the Cultural Revolution. Ping explained that …show more content…

Initially, Ping only believed in stories through books. Through her story, Ping recalled her secret book exchange process. Ping and her neighbor desired banned books to read, so Ping “evacuated a box of books [her] mother had buried beneath the chicken coop” (2). Ping craved a sense of imagination, entertainment, and storytelling ability. She assumed these were only achievable through reading books, which is why she was so intrigued to dig up and read the banned stories. Instead of turning to her own imagination when these desires occurred, Ping decided to risk her and her family's safety as she read banned books, which demonstrated that Ping did not believe in stories existing outside of a physical format. After Ping’s mother discovered that she was reading banned books, she ordered Ping to burn the pages of the books for their safety. Ping sorrowfully explained that her and her mother’s “hearts, turned to ashes” (3). Ping’s emotional reaction to the books being burned revealed her worry that she would not be able to experience creativity without

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