Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Supporting your high street Find out how »
The Ugly Wife Is a Treasure at Home : True Stories of Love and Marriage in Communist China, Paperback / softback Book

The Ugly Wife Is a Treasure at Home : True Stories of Love and Marriage in Communist China Paperback / softback

Paperback / softback

Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks

Description

“The ugly wife is a treasure at home” is not just an idle expression in China.

For centuries, Chinese marriage involved matchmakers, child brides, dowries, and concubines, until the People’s Republic of China was established by Mao Zedong and his Communist Party in 1949.

Initially encouraging citizens to reject traditional arranged marriages and wed for love, the party soon spurned ”the sin of putting love first,” fearful that romantic love would distract good Communists from selflessly carrying out the State’s agenda.

Under Mao, the party established the power to approve or reject proposed marriages, to dictate where couples would live, and to determine if they would live together.

By the 1960s and 1970s, romantic love had become a counterrevolutionary act punishable by “struggle sessions” or even imprisonment.

The importance of Chinese sons, however, did not wane during Mao’s thirty-year regime.

As such, in a world where nobody spoke of love, 99 percent of young women still married.  The Ugly Wife Is a Treasure at Home draws the reader into the world of love in Communist China through the personal memories of those who endured the Cultural Revolution and the generations that followed.

This collection of intimate and remarkable stories gives readers a rare view of Chinese history, social customs, and Communism from the perspective of today’s ordinary citizens.

Information

Save 12%

£15.99

£13.95

Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
Add to Basket
Sign in to add to wishlist
 
Free Home Delivery

on all orders

 
Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Information