Since 1949, the media had been the mouthpiece of the Party. State radio, state newspapers, and later, state television provided the only information Chinese people had access to one the one-sided voice of the media. When Deng Xiaoping started the slow process of 'opening up' China in 1983, it was possible for journalists, if they were courageous, to try and make subtle changes to how they presented the news. It was also possible, though perhaps more dangerous, to discuss personal issues in the media, and it was in these 1980 years of 'opening up' that Xinran conceived the idea of Words on the Night Breeze, in which to allow the spirits of women to breathe through a tiny hole and cry out.
Because of her radio program which gained rapidly in popularity for its freshness of topic, Xinran began to receive a large amount of mail of voices from the public, both far and near. One of the earliest letters for help was from a boy who pleaded anonymity or his family would be ostracized by the community they had lived in for many generations. However, the boy pleaded the case of a very young girl who was shackled with irons so that she wouldn't run away from the old man who had married her. The urgency of the message sent to Xinran was interpreted by the chicken feather attached to the letter, the signal in China of an urgent distress signal. Just what was a life of a woman in China worth became clear when her radio station supervisors brushed aside her concerns for the girl. Eventually with pressure and argument, Xinran, with the very begrudging help of her radio staff and connections, went to the village and rescued the young girl, who, come to find out had been kidnapped and sold to the 60-year-old man while her distressed parents spent thousands of yuans in their desperate search for her. This was Xinran's first 'rescue' of a Chinese girl/woman. She told the story on the air and more letters of woe and distress poured in.
Xinran also met a young woman activist on a university campus who was known for her independence and outspokenness. Xinran felt compelled to meet this unusual young lady who defined for Xinran what her analytical interpretation of a 'good woman' in China was. "Good Chinese women are conditioned to behave in a soft meek manner, and they bring this behavior to bed. As a result, their husbands say that they have no sex appeal, and the women submit to oppression, convinced the fault is their own. They must bear the pain of menstruation and childbirth, and work like men to keep the family when their husbands don't earn enough. The men pin pictures of beautiful women above the bed to arouse themselves, while their wives blame themselves for their care-worn bodies. Anyway, in men's eyes, there is no such thing as a good woman."
The university student then went on to explain that men, demanding absolute control and power, had very bigoted expectations of women. "Men want a woman who is a virtuous wife, a good mother, and can do all the housework like a maid. Outside the home, she should be attractive and cultivated, and be a credit to him. In bed, she must be a nymphomaniac. What is more, Chinese men also need their women to manage their finances and earn a lot of money, so they can mingle with the rich and powerful. Modern Chinese men sigh over the abolition of polygamy. That old man Gu Hongming at the end of the Qing dynasty said that 'one man is best suited to four women, as a teapot is best suited to four cups'. And modern Chinese men want another cup to fill with money too.'"
The outspoken university student finished her discussion with Xinran by citing the types of fish men said women were. "When men have been drinking, they come out with a set of definitions for women. Lovers are 'swordfish', tasty but with sharp bones. Personal secretaries are 'carp', the longer you 'stew' them, the more flavor they have. Other men's wives are 'Japanese puffer fish', trying a mouthful could be the end of you, but risking death is a source of pride. Their own wives are 'salt cod', because salt keeps a long time and when there is no food, salt cod is cheap and convenient and makes a meal with rice." Women, according to the student, were objectified and merely had a function.
China is a superstitious land, and many superstitions surround women, particularly in child bearing. One of Xinran's colleagues had a baby and so many from the office wished to visit her in the hospital to bear gifts symbolising blessings and good luck. One colleague, Mengxing, was not to go as in China a woman who has not given birth brings bad luck to newborn children if visiting them. Mengxing went anyway, pooh-poohing the old superstition. Foods are central to ceremonies, and birthing is no exception. Presented on the young mother's hospital table were brown sugar and ginseng for her blood, pigs' trotters and fish to help her breastfeed, and chicken and fruit to build up her constitution. Mengxing was there with the rest, eating boiled eggs dyed red to symbolise happiness at the birth of a new child. For this woman, the child was a boy, which gave her a glow of satisfaction and elevated her status, as for countless generations, the following saying was held true: "There are thirty-six virtues, but to be without heirs is an evil that negates them all." When the visitors left, the young mother's mother-in-law slipped Xinran a piece of red cloth and instructed Xinran to burn it to 'drive away the evil influences brought by Mengxing'. Xinran dared not disobey and quietly noted that even citified families often retained their superstitions when it came to having and dispelling luck despite their educated upbringings.
One of the most extraordinary stories uncovered by Xinran was in the very remote village of Shouting Hill, that had neither electricity nor cell phone. In fact, the place was so barren and destitute of water that even had they wished, the villagers could not have promoted a better lifestyle through tourism because they didn't even have enough water to brush their teeth every night or wash their hair but upon special occasions. And it was here in the modern 1980s that women were the most suppressed in China, and the women were locked into previous centuries of labor and child bearing. Women there were resources to be bargained for and purchased and then to be 'used', the exact word that men used to describe the women's function. In written Chinese, the word 'womb' is made up of the characters for 'palace' and 'children'. Almost every woman knows that the womb is one of her key organs, but the women in Shouting Hill did not even know what a womb was!Women in Shouting Hill were pregnant almost every year, but there was no sense of eager anticipation for the child among themselves or among the men. Even while heavily pregnant, they labored as before and were 'used' by the men, who reasoned that 'only children who resist being squashed are strong enough'. When Xinran journeyed to Shouting Hill with other reporters, a doctor was also taken along. When examining one woman who continually miscarried, the doctor was dumbfounded to find that the woman had a prolapsed womb. The friction and infection of many years had hardened the part of the womb that was hanging outside of cutin, tough as a callus. The woman when asked what caused her condition, disapprovingly told him that all women in Shouting Hill were like that. The doctor told Xinran and asked her to confirm such an outrageous thing, but Xinran later confirmed that it was true. Xinran had wondered why the women walked with legs akimbo and the prolapsed wombs as well as the tough fibrous leaves with edges that rubbed against the thighs were the causes.
Xinran in her rambles around Shouting Hill had continually seen, secluded from mainstream traffic, leaves in a cluster and appearing to be dried for a purpose. She queried a grandmother about the leaves and found that they were the only possessions a girl was systematically given on her marriage and the only burial goods she would have. The leaves were gathered from trees very far away, and 10 were given to a girl by her mother or another woman of the older generation upon her marriage. The leaves had to be cut to the right size so they could fit in the woman's trousers. Small holes were pricked into the leaves with a awl to make them more absorbent, and the leaves which were relatively elastic would expand with the woman's menstruation and then pressed and dried after each use. These leaves, precious for their absorption and for their ability to be reused and reused, were precious in the land of virtually no water, and the 10 leaves given to her upon marriage were her inheritance as a woman.
Xinran left China after her experience in Shouting Hill. She felt the need to breathe new air, and to know what it was like to live in a free society. Four days after she arrived in London, Lady Diana died and thousands carried flowers to lay at the gate of Buckingham Palace. Unable to resist the journalistic impulse, Xinran asked a woman what Princess Diana meant to her. She and the woman talked for some time about women in British society, and finally the woman queried Xinran about the women in China. The woman had observed that for Westerners the modern Chinese woman still seemed to wear an ancient veil and she believed it was important to try and see beyond the veil. This conversation sparked the conception of an idea to write about the women of China, the "good" women of China.
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