A Thousand Pieces Of Gold: Growing Up Through China's Proverbs (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
A Memoir of China's past through it's Proverbs.This book was written by Adeline Yen Mah. I have written a review on her first book Falling Leave.When she was young, her Ye Ye (grand father) taught her and told her stories of China's history through proverbs. This book i think is her dedication to her Ye Ye. With each proverb (for each chapter), tells us the stories of the rise of First Emperor (Qin) of China till the fall of his empire, in between she also wrote about her life and China during Chairman Mao's reign. I have heard of the cultural revolution but did not truly understood it until i read this book. She compared chairman Mao's rule with the rule of China's first Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi (Qin dynasty). Towards the middle part of his rule, he had books, history of China destroyed, about 400 over scholars was killed during his purged. Chairman Mao did the same thing during the 1960's revolution. He had his political 'ememies' destroyed...killed 40,000 over scholars, books destroyed..he wanted to be better than the first Emperor.The book also covered the rise of the Han dynasty, which lasted for about 400 years because the rulers were more just then the previous one. The stories of her life was covered in Falling Leaves, in this book, sort of continuation... Such as how they reacted when she wrote her book...she was disowned by her relatives because of 'face' issue. One of her brother even mocked her...'no one will publish your book, no one will read your book, why give up being a doctor....and if you did write, i will sue you'...Lucky some lady had faith in her and willing to publish it provided she cut off one hundred thousand words (for her first book) and she also warned her that once it is published some family members may not like it. Adeline went for it and never look back.She still missed her brother, the one she was closed too. She was sad that he was a pawn set up by her older sister and step mom.Men/leaders = Lust, betrayer, greed, ego, hunger for power..all covered in this book, from ancient time till modern day. Somethings just never change.
I have mixed feelings about this book and am giving it 3.5 stars. I loved the telling of ancient Chinese history through its proverbs aspect as well as the snippets comparing that history to Mao's era and today. I feel I came away from this book knowing more about China and factors that have influenced its people over the generations and interested to learn more. Where I lost interest was in her personal family outtakes. At first I enjoyed them and saw the value in continuing the explanation of the proverbs from her own life prospective but pretty soon it was evident that these were just a way for her to vent about her stepmother cutting her out of her will. She managed to bring almost every proverb back to this event some way or another and by the end I was sick of hearing about it. I haven't read Falling Leaves yet but am now hesitant to pick it up least it is just more of the same. At least in this book I had the excitement of another storyline full of murder, revenge, conquest and the shaping of China to break up the monotony of the 'I had an evil stepmother who denied me my inheritance" story.
What do You think about A Thousand Pieces Of Gold: Growing Up Through China's Proverbs (2003)?
A Thousand Pieces of Gold is essentially a commentary of Sima Qian’s Historical Records, or 史記 (Shiji). The writing is, at times, extremely tedious and the personal testimonies are unnecessary, detracting from what could have otherwise been a very elegant book. Nevertheless I respect that it would have taken great courage and determination to write this book, and that the Author’s stories about why these proverbs are so important obviously matter to her even if the point is never properly made to the audience. There’s a loose thread in there somewhere, and the tapestry gets a little muddled. The stories matter less in the end then the history, and the history seems to matter more than the proverbs, and it only serves to make you wonder if Sima Qian pulled some of his penned phrases from The Odes or any of The Four Books.The positives about this book are that it incites you to read and provides a greater understanding of Chinese history, and a cultural background, to those that might not understand that history is an ever-present being that never really falls into the past.
—Bridget
As someone who is fascinated with Chinese history, I love this book that delves into the origins of Chinese proverbs. Many of the proverbs are based on actual historical events, while others reflect universal human values. Yen Mah has created a great resource. I found her writing a bit tedious though, and have to confess I didn't read this book completely through. I will keep it as a resource though, because it references important linguistic features of Chinese that one encounters often while studying the language.
—Anne
