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From A Daughter of Han

From “A Daughter of Han” by Ning Lao T’ai-t’ai

“The life of the beggar is not the hardest one. There is freedom. Today perhaps there is not enough to eat, but tomorrow there will be more.” (635)

Word Count: 292

I thought this part of the excerpt where she’s talking about the life of a beggar was really interesting. This entire excerpt was a little sad to me seeing the struggles she faced when her husband sold her daughter twice and the second time, she was unable to get her back. She was almost forced to become a beggar because the man that she was married to was addicted to opium and was unable to keep a job, so she was forced to “come out” of her house and into the streets to beg. It must have been very hard for her after her child was sold from her without her consent, having to leave her husband, and then must be a beggar on her own. It makes me wonder when she talks about at the end how she was the first woman in her family that had to “come out” if that means that she was one of the first women to have to get a job. I’m assuming during this time that women did not tend to be the person in the house who worked and that was the men’s duty. From this, I think that she was forced to stop begging on the streets because she said that she could no longer live in her house anymore. This makes me think that she couldn’t afford to live there anymore, she didn’t want to be homeless, which led to her being forced to go out and get a job. 


Comments

  1. Davis RitenourJanuary 31, 2023 at 8:24 AM

    I also wonder what the author means by she was the first woman to have to get a job in her family. I think you did a great job of inferring what the author is writing and having to do. Additionally, I think it's just a powerful story to share about a woman going out to support her other child and getting them both out of a terrible situation.

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  2. CaseyJanuary 31, 2023 at 4:23 PM

    I also had the same question about when she mentions how she had to "come out". When it came to the end, I took that as her getting a job to get out the house as well, because woman didn't have a lot of freedom, as she mentioned, which is also why she didn't want to leave her husband earlier. But I agree, the circumstances Ning were put under was awful and honestly gut-wrenching to think about when it comes down to her own husband selling their child... twice!

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