- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
The Scholar and the Tiger: A Memoir of Famine and War in Revolutionary China [NOOK Book]
Available on NOOK devices and apps
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
This is the gentle, touching story of a traditional Chinese family whose lives were shattered by war and revolution. Chang (political science, emeritus, Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh) tells of constant struggle; of struggling to stay alive through famine, poverty, and being the youngest child (b. 1929), struggling through the traditional Chinese educational system and then war, revolution, and the Communist takeover, struggling to adapt to a new life in Taiwan and the United States, and finally struggling with the reality of returning to China and the family he left behind. Some readers might be put off by Chang's often apologetic and forgiving nature toward those who hurt him (ranging from an abusive father who beat his mother and tried to smother him as a child to friends who spied on him and his family for the Communists), but others will see that his choices are clearly the product of a traditional Confucian background. Luckily, Chang's positive attitude gives the book its heart. Recommended for general readers in history as well as memoir.
—Melissa Aho
LendMe™
Overview
The Scholar and the Tiger is at once a compelling family saga, thriller, social history, and spiritual journey. Written by a noted China scholar, assisted by a writer friend, the story brings to life a tumultuous period in Chinese history while providing surprising insights into China's emergence as a global power. Wen-wei Chang was born in 1929 as famine gripped northern China, taking the lives of countless peasants, including his father. Only his iron-willed mother kept the family alive. The eldest son, Wen-po, joined the army. Eighteen years Wen-wei's senior, Wen-po fought bandits, opium smugglers, the Japanese, and Mao's Communists, becoming known as 'Tiger Chang.' Meanwhile, Wen-wei-a brilliant scholar from