Looking past social class, the women of China in the 1930s faced many of the same issues as each other. A female’s life in a male-dominated culture can be tough no matter how much wealth she has. Women who worked hard would not receive credit for their work. Instead, their husband’s name was used in place of theirs. They lost a sense of identity. In addition, if the women wanted to speak up, they were viewed poorly as a woman’s silence is perceived more positively in the Chinese culture (“Chinese Women”). Clearly, the true circumstances of the lives of women in this time period of China brought a great influence upon Tan’s writing of the Joy Luck Club, as the mothers she wrote about faced many of the same trials and tribulations, which in return…show more content… Because Suyuan had passed away recently, Jing-Mei narrates her mother’s story from memory. Suyuan’s story revolved around the Second Sino-Japanese War which lasted from 1937 to 1945. The war originated from a small battle at the frontier between the Japanese and Chinese troops which is known today as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (“Sino-Japanese War”). As the war grew, not only the troops, but the Chinese civilians suffered as well. “In the 1930’s the Chinese suffered continued territorial encroachment from the Japanese...The whole north of the country was gradually taken over...This meant the Japanese encountered virtually no resistance...” (Sino-Japanese War). The land that the Japanese were taking over were places where everyday Chinese civilians lived. Because of the Japanese, around “thirty million Chinese” had to leave their homes and became refugees in fear of being killed (Schoppa). This is the same background information given for Suyuan’s story. Suyuan had become a refugee as well. Her husband, who was an officer, brought her and their children to Kweilen in hopes that they would be safe there, as he helped fight the war. In reflection of how the people at the camp were, Suyuan stated, “‘We were a city of leftovers mixed together. If it
