Women in Zhang Ailing's Novella "the Golden Cangue"

This paper introduces Zhang Aliling, a well-known Chinese woman writer who gains a high reputation in the History of Modern Chinese Literature, and describes her wellregarded short novel "the Golden Cangue". Unlike the women writers who appeared after the New Culture May-Fourth Movement (1915-1922) in terms of women's liberation, Zhang Ailing did not focus on the liberated woman. She was more concerned about the ordinary Chinese woman who could never escape from the bondage of tradition and whose inner world had never been influenced by outer forces. To get to know her further, the second section of this paper introduces Zhang Ailing's legendary life. Born in Shanghai, well-educated and strongly-influenced by both Chinese and Western cultures, Zhang Ailing showed her great talent in writing stories when she was still a teenager. Even after her death in Americain in 1995, Ailing's fame has remained strong not only in mainland China, but also in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The third section of the paper describes the roles of women in Zhang's work "the Golden Cangue" which was published in 1943 when she was only twenty-teree. The beginning of the section details the women's marital lives. The next part explores the evil side of mother image. The last part concentrates on the complicated mother-daughter relationship which appeared in the novella