Ceteris Paribus

Overview

River Town, by Peter Hessler, is a wonderful story about his time spent in China as a Peace Corps volunteer. Peter worked in Fuling, a small town located in the Sichuan province at the intersection of the Wu and Yangtze Rivers. For years, Fuling had been closed to waiguoren, the term used for people from outside the country. Peter taught English and American Literature at the Fuling Teachers College along with fellow volunteer Adam Meieras. Together they were the only white people in Fuling.

River Town provided excellent insight into the true Chinese culture. Since Fuling was so far removed from more westernized areas of China, they had almost no contact with waiguoren. Peter and Adam experienced a roller coaster of treatment from the townspeople. At first, the school where they worked tried to do everything they could to please them. This included telephones, air conditioning, and even an earnest attempt to “bring tennis” to Peter. Typical encounters with the local townspeople included yelling, laughing, and forming massive crowds anywhere the duo went. Being the only two white people in Fuling, it was difficult to blend in and assimilate with the culture. Adding to the problem was the fact that they spoke little of the local dialect which limited communication to the few who spoke English.

Throughout his two years in Fuling, Peter was able to learn much about the culture and gain insight on the local opinion of the communist party. The classroom was a valuable resource where students could express their ideas and teach important lessons to Peter about their culture. Peter soon discovered that many topics cannot be discussed. One of his most dreaded moments was the unanimous head bow that students performed at their desks when Peter introduced one of these taboo topics.

When Peter departed on the same river that originally brought him to the small town of Fuling, he had experienced a wide range of incidents which provided a blunt and open view into the Chinese culture. He left with a much better understanding and now provides a means for all to reach this level of understanding through River Town.

Application

There are many insights from the book that can be used to better understand the Chinese culture. One of the most apparent contradictions when reading River Town is how loved Mao Zedong is even though in America he is seen as evil. The townspeople would often quote that Mao was “70 percent correct and 30 percent wrong.” This ratio was enough for them to respect and idolize him. When Peter tried to dig further into why Mao was well liked, it seemed to be from the initial culture change that arose, which brought many out of poverty (although many would argue that a significant number of those impoverished were made so by Mao’s initial policies). While many here in the Unites States would expect the townspeople to be against Mao, it is actually quite the opposite.

“China is a democratic country.” Most people would violently disagree with this statement, especially those outside of China. But when Peter asked townspeople about the government, most described it as democratic. They argued that even though the government is run by the Communist Party, the party knows what is best for and acts in the interests of the people. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China even states, “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession, and of demonstration.” The scenes that Peter saw did not align with this statement and he continued to feel that China was far from democratic.

Another application of River Town was its ability to show how important questioning and searching for the truth is. Many of the townspeople seemed to be almost brainwashed by Communist Party propaganda, and if you believed everything they told you, you would have a much different view. Peter met an “Old Hundred Names”, an individual who is against the current practices and favors a more democratic society, who provided an alternate view. He claimed that Hong Kong would have been ruined just like the rest of China had it not have been British. While this was probably the extreme opposite of the townspeople’s views, it is important to take all the different views and build it into your own coherent thesis.

Critique

Peter Hessler did an excellent job of taking the reader along on his journey through the different stages of acceptance, rejection, anger, fear, and the plethora of feelings that occurred during his two year stay in Fuling. He provides a frank view and clearly states his opinion at all times. While the book provides insight into the rural culture, it is important not to generalize the findings across all of Chinese society. I would be interested in finding out how different rural views are from urban views, but I feel that there are many similar themes. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the rural culture of China and the root views that many local people have about their community, government, and society.

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