Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

By Jung Chang

Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival.

Through the story of three generations of women in her own family – the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself – Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China's twentieth century.

Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, this is a masterpiece which is extraordinary in every way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Oct 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9780007379873

Jung Chang

Jung Chang was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952. She was briefly a Red Guard, and then a peasant, a ‘barefoot doctor’, a steelworker and an electrician. She came to Britain in 1978, and became the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. Her books include ‘Wild Swans’, which won the 1992 NCR Book Award and the 1993 British Book of the Year, and sold over 10 million copies. She lives in London.

Reviews for Wild Swans

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an epic personal story of life in China over much of the 20th century, told through the stories of three generations of women in one family. The author has lived in Britain since becoming one of the first Chinese students to get a doctorate at a British university since before the communist takeover in 1949. Her grandmother's family came from Manchuria in the extreme north of China, and at the age of 15 in 1924 she was given away as a concubine to one of the warlords vying for control in this part of China in the vacuum created by the overthrow of the last Chinese emperor in 1912. Her mother, the daughter of this union, was one of the early idealistic communists in the years leading up to the 1949 revolution and for the first few heady years of the new regime when there seemed to be a genuine attempt to create a better society and reduce the oppressive and miserable life of the majority of the population, especially in rural areas. The book covers in depth the dramatic and horrific events that followed: the initially promising but quickly aborted attempt at liberalisation that was the Hundred Flowers campaign; the "Great Leap Forward", where much of the country was forced to produce steel to boost industry, to such an extent that agriculture collapsed and famine ensued, in which some 30 million people died, including the author's uncle and great-aunt; then, after a brief period of reform, the appalling "Cultural Revolution", Mao's attempt to create a personal rule, overthrowing much of his own communist apparatus, which dislocated society and economy, destroying much of the country's cultural and historical infrastructure, effectively abolishing education, burning nearly all books, banning films, theatre and sport, seriously blighting the author's teenage years and adult adulthood; and which, despite some relaxation after 1972, didn't fully end until after Mao's death and the overthrow of the Gang of Four, led by his wife, in autumn 1976.Despite this litany of catastrophe, there is hope in the love and closeness of the family, centred here around the three eponymous amazing and strong-minded women. After the death of her warlord "husband", who treated her fairly decently by the standards of the time, the grandmother found happiness married to a much older man; the mother found love with a fellow communist and, despite strains caused by her husband's principled but rigid puritanism, their marriage survived their vicious denunciations by Red Guards and others at the appalling mass meetings, and their imprisonment in labour camps until the early 1970s. The physical and mental strains of years of humiliation and subjection to forced labour and psychological pressures, killed the author's father at the age of only 54 in 1975. In the relatively more relaxed atmosphere of the later 1970s, especially after the restoration to power of Deng Xiaoping, the future paramount leader in the 80s and 90s, the author was able to study abroad and the lives of her mother and other family members, as well as that of hundreds of millions of other Chinese, improved dramatically, albeit within the framework of what remains of course a one party communist state. The afterword recounts in brief the author's life in Britain and the original publication of this book in 1991 (what I have read is the 25th anniversary edition). One thing I would like to have heard a bit more about, though, was how she was able to defect to Britain after gaining her doctorate in 1982. This is a magnificent and absorbing book, with much to say about human nature at its best and worse, and the horrors that blind adherence to an ideology can bring about. 5/5

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This memoir recounts the story of three generations of Chinese women, the author, her mother, and her grandmother. Their lives cover a very turbulent time period in China's history and it's fascinating to see the difference in choices and the huge changes going on in China. The book starts with Jung Chang's grandmother, who hyad her feet bound and as a beautiful young woman, made a very fortunate match as the concubine yof a general. The story then follows her mother who grows up during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and becomes a very powerful member of the Communist Party. But their lives are filled with turmoil as the country goes through the Great Leap Forward and the devastating Cultural Revolution. We see the transformation of the country and the drastic change to the lives of Chinese people at all levels. What I thought was especially fascinating was to see how the author changes from idealistic Communist filled with pride and love for Chairman Mao to disillusionment as she discovers the political corruption of the party, resulting in the deaths and destruction of millions of Chinese.Excellent writing and excellent story.

[krau0098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have had this book on my TBR pile for quite awhile. I've always wanted to learn more about China and this was an amazing read about China from the 1920's to the early 1980's. It's written in a way that is easy to engage in and deftly wraps history and the engrossing story of three women together. This is a memoir so it is non-fiction.I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. I would recommend if you love audiobooks, the narrator did a great job.This book explains a lot about China and why it is the way it is today. To say that China has had a tumultuous history would be an understatement. This is a great book that I really think everyone should read. I would recommend for older YA and older readers only; although this is non-fiction, a lot of the torture described gets very graphic (although it's not overly embellished or gratuitous). This was a very eye-opening read for me and I found it incredibly intriguing and disturbing.Overall this was a fantastic read that I could spend a lot of time talking about. The writing style is a bit rough around the edges at times. However, the fascinating topic and the engaging way it was presented made up for that. I learned a ton and really enjoyed the book a lot. I don’t read a ton of history but this book presents history in a very story-like fashion that is easy to engage with and stay engrossed in.

[m_k_m_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The amount of time it took me to read this probably doesn't reflect how interesting I found it: it's a fascinating on-the-ground account of China between the start of the 20th century and the reforms that followed the death of Mao. It begins with a woman being offered up to a warlord and ends with another going to see a West End show – if nothing else it's a wonderful demonstration of how far life can take you.With China now playing a greater and greater role in all of our lives, it's also a reminder of how, not so very long ago, the country was all but cut off from the rest of the world. Most of the major events you'd expect to crop up in a Western or even Russian memoir covering this period (the First World War, the Third Reich, the Cuban Missile Crisis) aren't even mentioned. Instead we're made very aware of how brutal, arbitrary and even absurd life was for many Chinese during the 20th century, and particularly during the Cultural Revolution. "The more books you read, the stupider you become," Mao proclaimed: so the author began work as a doctor without any training at all. Actions as innocuous as stamp collecting, looking in a mirror, and embracing under a lamppost were deemed bourgeois, either at the direction of the chairman or of some follower enthusiastically trying to interpret order in his worldview. The only thing I can think it is comparable to is Cambodia under Pol Pot (though it's also a reminder that denouncing 'experts' never ends well – *names*), and it's in stark contrast to Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia – two totalitarian regimes probably more familiar to a Western reader – which are often characterised as a brutal imposition of 'order'. I guess that also demonstrates how Western-centric our view of history is – and what matters to China is only going to get more important in this 21st century.

[yestare · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Highly recommended.

[bblum_10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The purpose and results of theChinese Cultural Revolution cannot be truely imagined or understood by the western mind until this book. It is possible to control the minds of an entire generation and the author both experienced it as a member of the Red Guard and escaped. This is a wonderful book that throws a light on this mysterious time period by examining the experiences of three generations of women in Chang's family.

[eulmulot · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very (too ?) descriptive in the first chapters, too much not necessary background is provided to the reader, which can feel overwhelmed by the my mother's mother's something. After a good third of the book, the story become really interesting and depicts the author early life and events pre/post birth which will influence her.I would not mind being advised for another reading of the same period but from someone with a much more standard and modest background (vs. politically engaged and important parents background).

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang is the story of three generations of women and covers most of the 20th Century with all of China’s upheavals and political unrest as it affected one family. These three women include the author herself, who now lives in the United Kingdom., her mother who was a Communist and tried very hard to live her life according to the party line, and her grandmother who, at a young age, was given away as a concubine to a warlord and suffered the shame of this for the rest of her life. Focusing on these women’s lives, Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China, tells a unique and harrowing story. Although I had a basic knowledge of many of these events, it was the small, personal things that I found most riveting. This book is densely packed with events, information, names and places. I found both the family tree and the map of China at the back of the book very helpful.Although I thought this was a very well done book, I can’t help but wonder how biased and/or slanted the stories are. These are one author’s views, but they certainly help pull open the curtain and shed light on this mysterious country.

[amybenevento · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1. What surprised you the most about Chinese history?2. What do we owe our government?3. How does the idea of socialism differ from what was practiced (pg. 415)4. Does society benefit from gender roles?5. Does the right of society weigh heavier than the right to the individual?6. Was the author's father a good man?7. Do you remember the first time you were disillusioned by your government?8. Compare how people view Mao with how people view Jesus.9. How long would you last as a peasant?10. How does this book relate to the Patriot Act, or does it?11. What about the government lies? (example – steel production)12. Which of the 3 daughters had the best life, in your opinion?13. Was Mao aware of what he did?14. Chang says it was very painful to write this book.......She was unable to do so for many years.......If you went thru what she did, could you have written about it?• This book (published in 30 languages) is now banned in midland China• Chang earned a Ph.D. in Linguistics in London• Chang grew to love life in Britain, especially its literature and the arts.• Chang lives in West London with her husband,...a British historian who specializes in Soviet history.• Chang retired in the 1990's to concentrate on her writing.• Chang's latest work is a biography of Mao, co-authored by her husband.

[dougwood57 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wild Swans tells the stories of three generations of Jung Chang's family. Any one of their stories would make fascinating reading. Chang ties them together and the result is a breathtaking and heartwrenching journey through 20th century China. Her grandmother, a concubine to the Beijing police chief, feet bound at age 2, escaped prostitution slavery with birth of her daughter. Both her mother Bao Qin, and her father Shou-yu were active members of the Communist Party and her father rose to become an important mid-level official. Chang honestly details his strict devotion to the Party at the expense of his wife's feelings and needs. Chang grew up a privileged child of Party leaders and devotedly joined the Red Guard in 1966, but was alienated by the violent attacks on her teachers. Chang's parents had opposed Mao's economic policies after the colossal failure of the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950's and early 1960's. For a time during the Cultural Revolution her parents were able to stave off grave punishment through an almost feudal system of contacts within the Party. Eventually they were denounced, humiliated, ruined and imprisoned by the totalitarian Maoist state. Shou-yu's earlier loyal adherence to the Party line makes his ultimate denouement all the more poignant. Finally thoroughly disillusioned, Chang left China (only possible after her father's post-mortem rehabilitation) for London in 1978. Higly recommended for anyone interested in China in the 20th century and especially Communism under Mao.

[robertg69_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating family memoir about life in revolutionary China from early 1900 till 1960s

[sarah0rouse87 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Still reading, but I find myself really caring for this story right now.

[marq_7 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The book includes much very interesting historical information about modern Chinese history, the communist takeover and the cultural revolution. You have to read between the lines or do further research if you are interested in those aspects of Chinese culture that brought about the terrible hardship and suffering and how they continue to manifest in modern China.However, I thought the author was completely self absorbed and unbelievably selfish. She callously abandoned her mother and seems to think the cultural revolution was something personally directed at her.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this a long time ago, I cannot write a fair review. This is the story of three generations of women in China and presents the history of China through their lives. What I remembered most is that the Chinese people feared to think because they might say something out loud that would be heard. This was a crazy world they lived in. I recommend this book every chance I get.

[1morechapter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a long, fascinating book that I'm really glad I finished. I got this after reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I absolutely loved. I didn't know it was non-fiction until it came in the mail. I saw that it was a banned book, so I used it for the Banned Book Challenge as well as the Chunkster Challenge.The book tells the life stories of Jung and her mother and grandmother. Along the way I learned quite a bit about China under Mao as well. I love history when it is presented this way. I've always felt that history was more about how people's lives were affected by their rulers than just names, dates, and events that occurred.The book is told chronologically. The first story is about how Jung's grandmother had no choice in being a concubine to a Chinese general. The "marriage" was arranged so that her grandmother's father would have more privileges of his own. Jung's mother was born from this union.Next, we learn of her mother's life growing up under Japanese occupation in Manchuria, and then after the Japanese surrender, the fight between the Kuomintang and the Communists for power in China. Jung's parents become Communist officials who very much believe in the Communist ideals. Their "faith" is eventually shattered by Mao's thirst for power and his "Cultural Revolution."Although her parents were still receiving their salaries from the government, they were also being detained or being made to go to denunciation meetings where they were yelled at and/or beaten. The Red Guard and the Rebels were encouraged to rise up against the old Communist officials and take control. Even young children were encouraged to beat up their teachers. School days consisted of reading Mao's works, punishing anyone who was a "class enemy", and tearing up the grass and flowers in the courtyards as they were too "decadent."As Jung grows up, she is at first enamored with Mao, but is eventually disillusioned with what has happened to her family and to herself. She is a bright young woman who is required several times to be "reeducated" by the peasants or factory workers. After Mao dies, eventually China changes for the better. She is able to go to the West and study, but she never permanently returns to China.I highly recommend this book if you are interested in history in general or Chinese culture. It is also a "wake-up" call to us softies in the West. Books like these really make me appreciate American freedom!

[mjiko_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it was much better written and richer than the average 'my terrible childhood in poverty stricken and despotic country' book. The combination of terror and absurdism in Maoism is alternately funny and devastating.

[datrappert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Despite the immense praise it received, this didn't strike a chord with me the way most personal stories about Chinese hardships have done.

[ohernaes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The hardships of three generations of women in China in the 20th century. Details abuse of power.

[stephxsu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

WILD SWANS is my first serious foray into twentieth-century Chinese history. For one, I am not all that big on history and memoirs. For another, I have ambiguous feelings on contemporary China, due to my Taiwanese background and my current job in Shanghai. WILD SWANS, however, was an eye-opening look into the horrors of Mao’s China and the importance of keeping history—even the bad parts—in our memories.Chang writes with a narration that is largely devoid of drama—the only way that a writer can give this horrifying historical period the respect and literary justice it deserves. At times this type of narration can make the distance between reader, writer, and events feel greater, but I appreciated this style for this tale: there is no need to play up the actual events of the Cultural Revolution with forced or extravantly elaborated prose. The result is that there is no writerly manipulation of emotions, instead just the clean human reaction to scenes of inhumane horror, and a strengthening of the bond of humanity between all sorts of readers.Whether you’re not big on nonfiction but are interested in reading about twentieth-century Chinese history, or if you enjoy memoirs but know nothing about twentieth-century Chinese history, WILD SWANS will be a heart-wrenching and searing read.

[freyytag · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sehr empfehlenswertes Buch für jeden der Interesse an Chinas Geschichte hat. Trotz des großen informativen Gehalts verliert die Erzählung nicht an Spannung und auch die Charaktere sind gut und zum Teil detailliert gezeichnet.

[schmerguls · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this 1991 book, the author, who was born in1952 in Yibin, China, of her grandmother, her mother, and her own life in China. She relates the bizarre events that Mao put China through, and tells how brain-washed she and millions of Chinese were. I found the stuff which Mao forced the Chinese people to do mind-bobbling. One is amazed that a people could be so bamboozled so long. Not till shortly before Mao died in 1976 did the author come to see that he was a thoroughly evil person.. I found the major part of the book not good reading, since there is so much detail of things hard to believe. Not till the author comes to relate how she finally became enlightened did I start to enjoy the reading--and that was near the end of the book..

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This biography of three generations of women in Jung Chang's family is also a history of China and its politics from the early 20th century through the end of the Cultural Revolution and Mao's death in 1976. Chang's grandmother was the concubine of a warlord and was among the last generation of women to have bound feet. Chang's mother joined the underground Communist movement in her teens. She married a fellow communist who became one of the top Party officials in the province of Sichuan. Chang's mother also held a leadership position until the Cultural Revolution changed everything. Both of Chang's parents were denounced, lost their positions, and underwent years of physical and mental persecution. Despite the separation of the family – Chang's parents were sent to separate work camps and she and her siblings were required to live at their schools with their classmates – the family maintained strong emotional ties.Chang's father deeply believed in the principles of Communism, and he lived as he believed. Social privileges were determined by a person's rank in the Party, and Chang's father would not allow his wife (who had a lower Party rank) or his children to benefit from the privileges that went with his status. Unfortunately, when he was denounced as a “capitalist-roader”, his status attached to his family and limited their future prospects.It was too dangerous for Chang's parents to teach their children anything contradictory to the Party line (even though the Party line constantly changed and often contradicted itself). Any doubts they had about Mao's leadership were not communicated to their children. As a child, Chang unquestioningly accepted Mao's teachings, and when her experiences and observations contradicted what she had been taught, she questioned her experience rather than the doctrine. Her disillusionment with Mao's Cultural Revolution was gradual but irrevocable. In the words of one chapter heading, Chang finally realized that “if this is Paradise, what then is Hell?” In the course of the Cultural Revolution, Chang witnessed the destruction of thousands of years of China's cultural heritage – its landscape ravaged, its architecture and monuments destroyed, and its books burned.I wasn't as engaged with the first part of the book that describes the life and experiences of Chang's mother and grandmother before Chang's birth. I kept wondering how Chang could possibly know so many details about things that happened before she was born. I spent a lot of time with my parents and grandparents and heard many stories about their early lives, but I doubt that I could write their biographies in such detail. There's a qualitative difference in the writing once Chang begins describing her personal experiences, and the book became a page-turner for me at that point. In the afterword, Chang mentions that her mother spent several months with her in England ten years after Chang had left China, and her mother spent most of that time talking to Chang about her life and Chang's grandmother's life. She left Chang about sixty hours of recordings. I wish that had been communicated in an introduction rather than an afterword. I would have appreciated that part of the book more if I hadn't been questioning Chang's source of information.

[dreesie-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is Chang's memoir/biography of her life and those of her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother had been a Manchurian concubine (and had bound feet) before the Kuomintang came to power. She then lived to see the Communists and Mao take over. Her mother, daughter of a warlord and accepted daughter of a doctor, lived most of her adult life under Mao, and was moved to Chengdu. Originally a minor official married to another minor official, they were then declared "capitalist roaders" and dealt with denunciations, beatings, etc, as part of Mao's constant upheavals to keep the populace infighting for power and food.This book is quite terrifying and very frustrating and infuriating. What kind of leader starves his own populace in the name of building up industry? Or who deems education a bourgeois desire, wanting their populace to be illiterate and uneducated (yet expects to grow their industrial output?). Some of the language, though, is very MAGA-ish. Frightening.

[davetherave_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If anyone is in doubt about the brutality of the Chinese regime for greater part of the twentieth century then they should settle down and read this majestic work, covering a family period from 1870 to 1978. this was when, according to her family timeline the author came to England.

[andrewlorien · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In my mid-20s I read this book along with Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and War & Peace. Three generational histories set on different continents in my grandparents time. I was working at an international airport at the time, and it changed the way I understood all of the thousands of people who arrived and departed every day. When I looked at their ages and nationalities, I started to wonder "what have you lived through? which oppression did you survive? will your children have a better life than you have?"20 years later, they are questions I still ask.

[bibliobbe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I knew things were bad in China, but before I read Wild Swans, I had no idea just how bad. This true story of three generations of Chinese women (told by the granddaughter) made me weep for the pain of the individuals swept up in the maelstrom of Chinese society. For such a populous nation, they really do espouse the personal is political mantra. There seemed to be no time throughout the 20th century when anyone could live a normal life. China really is totally different from the West, but it takes books like this one to remind us that when we wonder why their thought processes and political philosophies are so different to ours. Don’t read this if you’re feeling miserable. It’ll just make you want to slit your wrists.

[davidroche_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For those that like history but can't stomach non-fiction, this is one of several books here that I have flagged. But definitely the best. Amazing

[labibliophille · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Wild Swans:Three Daughters of China is the fourth book I’ve completed for the Book Awards Reading Challenge. This memoir won the British Book Awards “Book of the Year” in 1994. Wild Swans tells the story of three generations of women in Jung Chang’s family: her grandmother, her mother, and herself. It spans the years from 1909, when her grandmother was born, to 1978, the year Jung Chang left China to study in Great Britain.Wild Swans encompasses the personal history of Chang’s family, as well as the tumultuous history of China. At the age of 15 Yu-fang, the author’s grandmother, became the concubine of a warlord. Jung Chang’s mother, De-hong, was born 7 years later. After the war lord’s death in 1933, Yu-fang married Dr. Xia. De-hong was raised in his household, as one of his children. Jung Chang was born in 1952, the second of 5 children born to De-hong and her husband, Shou-yu.This book details the family’s struggles, as China itself struggles. Some events that impact the family include: World War II; the rise of Mao Tse Tung and the Communist party,;the founding of the People’ Republic of China; the Great Leap Forward; the Cultural Revolution; and China’s eventual opening up to the West.Chang’s parents are loyal Communists, yet they suffer denunciation, re-education and imprisonment. The entire family is subject to the daily indignities of life in a totalitarian society. As children, Chang and her siblings rarely see their parents. Fortunately, Yu-fang is able to care for them.Wild Swans is a very long and complex book. The appendices include a brief chronology of modern China juxtaposed with Chang’s family’s milestones. There is also a very helpful family tee and a map of China. I referred to these often. This memoir is quite thorough. I learned a tremendous amount about modern China.Unfortunately, it did get a bit repetitious. We read numerous times that De-hong was upset that her husband put his very strict Communist principles before his family’s well-being. And the family’s constant struggles with other Communist Party officials, while important, are also tedious after a while. Some of the language seems a bit stilted. Chang did not learn English until her early 20’s, and the awkwardness shows. Overall, this memoir was quite good. It took me a very long time to read it, and I think it would be improved greatly by skillful editing.

[lamson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book. It is the experience of three generations of Chinese women. Grandmother - before the revolution, mother- during the communist take over, daughter (author) - during the Cultural Revolution. It is a good look at how the whims and wishes of one man, Mao, could bring a country to the brink of meltdown. These experiences may explain why the author wrote a biography critical of Mao that some LTers were not happy with.

[lindawwilson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked the book and was pleased to learn so much about China under Mao. It was not a page turner, though, more of a history lesson, but still I am happier for having read it. Personal details that would be interesting are left out, like her relationship with Jon Halliday and other possible boyfriends in China and if she has children and more about her smart eldest brother, i.e. the really personal things instead of just a description of all the bad things that happened to people under Mao. And still even with all her attempted explanations I have trouble understanding how a billion people could be brainwashed so completely by a hypocritical fat little peasant like Mao.