博主注解：我现在写的书稿暂时不能帖在博客里，因为我还要修改，而且有版权问题。那我就晒晒我得了满分的作业吧，供准留学生们参考。这个作业全部靠自学，我们自己读书，然后找资料回答老师的问题。关键是，我们要用书中的例子说明问题。所以这种作业必须要自己理解书中的内容之后，才能写出来。而且这个作业有字数限制，不可长篇大论说废话。

老师要求：

In his introduction to the excerpt from Li Ruzhen’s novel Flowers in the Mirror, editor Tony Barnstone asserts the following: “As is often the case with fiction that takes you to exotic locations, the real target of the story is much closer to home” (364).  What exactly is the target of the excerpt we have read from Flowers in the Mirror (pp. 363-370 in Literatures of Asia)?  In what sense is the social commentary of the novel relevant not only to Chinese readers in the early 19^th century but also to reader around the world in the 21^st century?  Support your analysis with specific details from the novel excerpt. 

我的回答：

To my understanding, the exact target of the excerpt we have read from Flowers in the mirror (pp 363-370) is to explore the equality between men and women. In this chapter of the story, the main character Tang Ao arrives at the Country of Women when men and women reverse their social roles, as stated in the textbook, “ …They call men women, and women men.  The men wear the skirts and take care of home, while women wear hats and trousers and manage affairs outside.”

After reading this chapter of the novel, the author’s idea of Feminism is very obvious.  Woman’s talents and capabilities in the story break the old concept of gender roles.  Although “The Country of Women” , where a woman is the center of all, does not exists in the real world, it reflects the author’s idealism of equality between men and women. The hidden message of the story is  a revolutionary idea that a woman’s capability is not less than a man's and that women can do just about anything that a man is capable of. This chapter opens my eyes on gender roles and also reminds me of Mao ZeDong’s saying, “ It is not an old dynasty any more. Men and women are equal in these days. Women are capable of handling tasks that are usually done by men( 时代不同了，男女都一样。男同志能做的事，女同志也能办得到)。

In this chapter, there is a detailed description of how male Merchant Lin is treated by several “men” in “The Country of Women”   to get his feet bound, how he is dressed up as a women and how he suffers from the piercing of his ears, as stated in the book, “Lin screamed with pain.”( pp 367)  This part of description and following story below might suggest author’s sympathy on women because  real women suffer all the pains that Lin suffers as a “woman” in “The Country of Women”.