A Study Guide for Zhang Jie's "Love Must Not Be Forgotten"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Zhang Jie's "Love Must Not Be Forgotten," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Jul 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535827799

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Love Must Not Be Forgotten

Zhang Jie

1979

Introduction

In Zhang Jie's Love Must Not Be Forgotten, a woman discovers her deceased mother's diary and, along with it, a romantic secret from her mother's past. The narrator, who is debating whether or not to marry, learns that her mother had long been in love with a married man. As a child of divorced parents, the narrator is naturally concerned with making the right choice in terms of potential husbands. Her decision is complicated by the cultural atmosphere in communist China during the 1970s, when marriage is considered in terms of duty and tradition. It is a practical matter rather than something related to feelings of love or romance. The story is concerned primarily with the mother's relationship with the man she loves, as it is described in the mother's diary. The relationship between mother and daughter is explored more subtly. Through these bonds, Zhang explores themes of duty, integrity, and the nature of love. The work is often studied using feminist and political ideas, as Zhang advocates a woman's right to love whom she wants to love and the right to remain unwed despite the cultural and political pressures to marry. These pressures were suffocating during the time period when Zhang was writing, and modern Western readers should understand how strong they could be. Zhang was heavily criticized for undermining the moral values that her socialist government advocated through the exploration of love and marriage that she undertakes in Love Must Not Be Forgotten.

In 1981 her novel Leaden Wings was published in China (translated into English in 1987). Love Must Not Be Forgotten was originally published in Chinese in 1979 in a collection of stories by the same name. The collection was translated by Gladys Yang and published in 1986 by China Books.

Author Biography

Zhang Jie was born in 1937. (In China, the family name or surname is listed first, followed by the given name. Zhang Jie's family would call her Jie. When her work is discussed by critics, she is referred to her by her surname, Zhang.) Zhang's parents separated during China's anti-Japanese war (1931-1945). Zhang was subsequently raised by her mother, a school teacher, in a village in Liaoning province. The province was at the time known as Manchuria, and Zhang's mother was by birth Manchurian royalty. Her family, however, had been impoverished by the ongoing war with Japan and by China's