Crude, twisted justifications were offered during this period of time that both upheld family values yet reflected the desperation of the era -- such as the defense that it was better to eat one's relatives, than to let the whole family starve, or the idea that if one consumed one's relations, then they lived on, at least a little longer.
Spence admits that he is operating with certain difficulties regarding the sources of his chronicles, given that few documents remain behind of the Chinese peasantry of this period. However, he says to give voice to the voiceless was one of his primary motivations in writing the text. The lack of documentary evidence, rather than being perceived as a hindrance, as might be the case with some historians, merely spurred him on to reveal what was left for posterity. He deploys a variety of sources including a Confucian civil servant and a writer of fiction who admired "Biographies of Virtuous Women."...
However, given the complexity of the tales of women like the Woman Wang, even if the telling is imperfect, enough of their deeds are filtered through to provoke admiration in the heart of the reader. Furthermore, Spence at least creates some kind of a historical monument for the ages of the terrible indignities suffered by the peasants of this period, as well as some of the cultural practices that arose for these peasants, especially women, to deal with seemingly insurmountable economic, social and political pressures and expectations.
Works Cited
Spence, Jonathan D. The Death of Woman Wang. New York: Penguin, 1998.
