The Oklahoma Daily (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 70, No. 116, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 23, 1984 Page: 4 of 12
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page 4
THE OKLAHOMA DAILY,
Thursday Report
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Norman. Oklahoma Thursday, Eebruary 23, 1984
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The picture ol Ping above Chen's Hower vase is
really quite breathtaking. Esen with the severe,
unfeminine hairstyle and the dull “Mao" jacket,
Ping is beautiful.
In the L'nitcd States, she could he a fashion
model. In Communist China, she is considered a
■’bourgeois tramp." using Chen’s closest transla-
tion from Chinese.
1 sen in a ‘‘liberal" China, some things cannot
be tolerated.
"Ping started wearing the Western clothes too
much, which the older people consider loss-class,"
he said. "I could still be seen with Ping, but we
would really gel some awful stares."
\s C hen explained about the Western fashions,
he pulled a color snapshot from his desk drawer.
I he picture looked like something from 196'.
Ping, wearing a mod London mini-skirt, looked
something like An Oriental Twiggy.
"Things would have been all right," he said,
"but when Ping escaped to Hong Kong I knew ms
happiness was over.”
by KREG HUNTER__
Ping Su clinches a handful of pink blossoms.
Silhouetted against the drab Peking horizon, she
looks small and powerless. As dull and gray as the
sky, her Party uniform Haps in the stiff wind.
W uh a lace like porcelain, Ping Su drills back into
the crowd. She is standing at the People's Airport.
There are no tears.
C hen I o mounts the platform leading to the
hatchway. I he aircraft, a Soviet-buih passenger
jet from the early 1960s, is perched on the pririii-
a use runway (by American standards) not 50 me
• tcrs from Ping Su. Chen gives a restrained wave.
Ping watches Chen disappear.
As (he plane reaches the end ol the pebble-
strewn airstrip. Ping Su lets the flower petals go.
I hey lloat into the Chinese sky. mingling with
crimson flags and Party banners. \ loudspeaker
instructs the girl to return to Sector B. the loading
point tor the bus ride back to the countryside.
And so ends the Orwellian love story. Except
this isn't totalitarian fiction.
Ping Su is a real girl. She works on a commune
just outside ot Canton. a relatively prosperous city
in southeastern China. She is a lovely girl by any
standards. However, her academic marks preclud-
ed a college career. Most likely she will do light
factory work lot the remainder ol her life.
I ikewise. (. hen I o exists. Chen, a 2'-year-old
"survivor'' ol Mao’s Cultural Revolution, be-
came a computer science major at Ol last seat.
He is bright and witty. His English, though bro-
ken. is quite understandable.
In a recent interview. Chen told of Ping Su. He
told of class structure in a supposedly “classless"
society. He talked ol duty and honor and love.
Indirectly. Chen primarily wove a quirky, totali-
tarian love story.
"I shall probably see her no more," Chen
sighed. He sat against the wall in a sort ot lotus
position. He looked doll-like.
Chen got up and walked over to the stove where
a cooker lull ol rice noodles bubbled As he rose,
a "Made in Albania" logo could be seen on the
sole ol his shoe. Albania is a Communist country
with close ties to the People's Republicol China.
"Peasants can't gel student visa." C hen said. A
picture of Ping Su was Scotch-taped above Chen's
Hower vase. \ single pink blossom skirted the
edge ol the black-and-white photo.
When asked it he loved the girl in the photo,
Chen did not look up from the noodles. He was
blushing. AA hile an all-American girl bounced
across the IA screen in the background, some-
thing really alien took place: a dignified, proper
young man was attempting to respond to an awk-
ward American question.
According to David Bonavia, the author ot
"The C hinese," such questions are viewed as fla-
grant displays of bad manners in the People's
Republic. I he traditional (hinese approach to
love and romance is sentimental and delicate and
I renchman Charlie Chaplin and that he had been
deported from the I .S. for being a leftist, C hen
quipped.'‘He was too tunny to be a C ommunist."
V'hcn loosened up a bit and talked about the
first date. It was like most first dates in Hie I nited
States — slightly awkward and somewhat still.
" Aller the cinema." he said, "we walked to an
ice cream store. It was raining but I was too
nervous to protect Ping from the rain. Our uni-
lorms became damp...is damp the proper word?
AAe were wet."
Somehow, the whole tale had.tiic.icd ol Middle
America, circa 1936. One could envision the movie
poster ol Chaplin vying with the Chairman. Those
dreadful. unisex Alao jackets drippTng on the floor
of the ice cream store. Comrade Andy Hards out
lot a Saturday night in Canton. Chen even de-
scribed the floral pattern that covered the walls of
the shop: pink blossoms on a white background.
AA hile al the Cantonese university, Chen ar-
ranged to meet Ping at the People’s' Park fairly
often. Still in reserved tones, eschewing the Amer-
ican male habit ol bragging, Chen 'told of his
meetings w ith Ping.
"I would meet her in the grassy middle sec-
tion." he said. "It is improper to kiss in public
places, as you may know. I would pretend to be
pulling loose weeds or grass trom her hair. It made
me leel good to touch her hair. I would try to find
her waist because the fabric doesn't allow you to
see the woman's figure."
Chen paused for a moment, perhaps embar-
rassed to be mentioning something as delicate as a
woman’s figure.
"Ping disliked the Peoples' uniforms," he con-
tinued. "One day she wore the powder and the
paint stull. Although I looked forward to being
with her. I became quite concerned of her habit's
- skin, hippie boots, too American."
During the late 1970s, the Party had given tacit
approval of AA estern clothing. It wasn't encour-
aged. however. In fact, it was common knowledge
among the educated people that the Central Com-
mittee was considering several crackdowns: strict-
er policies on citizens who crossed the border into
the British C rown Colony ol Hong Kong, heavier
lines and penalties lor “tree speech" demonstra-
tions, and other measures which strived to “take
back someot the post-Mao ‘‘overindulgences."
Even so. Chen couldn’t find the proper words
to discourage Ping from dressing like a "AA estern
prostitute."
"She would wear the disco pants which were
much too tight and make the pony tail," he said.
"She would, however, dress in a conservative
fashion sometimes when she visited at the univer-
sity. I think she loved me to a degree. I don't know
how you Americans define the love.”
Despite his worries about Ping's behavior. Chen
remained in good spirits at the university.
"It was the happiest time of my life," he said.
"My English was improving. Ping was always a
bit restless, but I never expected her to be so
foolish."
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^^ost Americans associate the (erm with some
Revolutionary AAar figure or relegate the word to
the C old AAar when a certain L lined States Sena-
tor made a career out of using it. Traitor: it has
become almost meaningless.
However, the term has all shades ol meaning to
C hen l.o, citizen ol the People's Republic ol
China.
Shortly alter passing his college entrance exams,
C hen envisioned a bright future. He would study
and try to v isit Ping as often as possible.
"It was to be ideal. I would have taken her tor
my wife,” Chen said.
And, indeed, things were looking "ideal."
Chen, child of the Proletariat's C ultural Revolu-
tion. was finally reaping the benefits ol the post-
Mao "liberalization."
"Belore 19". the colleges were a cruel joke.
Mao allowed peasants, workers and soldiers to get
the top university positions, h was a cruel joke.”
Chen said.
I inally, with the four Modernizations lirmly in
place (the C entral C ommittee's plan to boost the
areas of agriculture, industry, science and de-
lense). academic standards started to return to
Chinese universities. By the early 1980s, Mao's
topsy-turvy view ol education had largely been
replaced by AA estern criteria.
Chen started his belated college career in 1981,
almost eight years after he had received his ‘‘al-
most worthless" Red Guard high school diploma.
He went to a university in C anton.
Actually, ( hen was quite pleased to be out ol
the factory. He still enjoyed his old friends who
had been part ol his life since 1973, the year he
secured the worker position. But. he knew the
factory promised little in the way of advancement.
"AAithoul university. I could never hope to
become an official or leader," Chen said.
He especially enjoyed his time with Ping.
1 hough reluctant to speak of romance. ( hen did
give a thumbnail sketch ol his relationship with
Ping.
"The moment I saw Ping," Chen said, "I
thought she was lovely — like a flower. Do vou
know the word ‘delicate"?
I heir first dale was secured by a mutual triend
(a very common practice in China and not un-
heard of in the AA est.)
"I took Ping to an old .American motion pic-
ture. Il was a little man with baggy pants and
mustache," he explained, asking “AA ho is he?"
AA hen advised that the movie star was the
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Si* that was it. Ping escaped to Hong Kone, the
closest "free city" to Canton.
"AA hen Ping, a very spirited girl, did not show
up at her factory job. people became suspicious."
( hen said. You know, the workers talked amone
themselves — ‘AA here is Ping? Is she sick ? Have
you seen Ping?' — things such as this," Chen
said.
I he British government ol Hong Kone found
Ping and sent her back to the People's Republic.
She was then stripped of her factorv job and sent
to the country to live w ith a relative. Good factory
jobs are prized possessions in China, accordine to
Bonavia.
Chen said all Ping can hope for now is scant,
busy work in someol theoutskirt factories.
"Ping ruined herself." he said. "She brought
shame to me. I could not possibly resume a
relationship.
Although the spark came back for a brief mo-
ment, it extinguished itself quickly .
AA hen the Euro- American concept of ‘love con-
quers all' was brought up. Chen looked uncom-
fortable. He resembled a staid bureaucrat from
the "I he Manchurian Candidate" as he brisklv
responded.
"l ove has nothing to do with it,” he said. "Alv
job would be a dead-end it I stuck with this
woman. Don't you understand?"
China has a culture that stretches back 4,()(>i)
years. In actuality, the Communist system has
little to do with ( hen’s attitude toward Ping. It is
a C hinese altitude, one which places sacrifice and
duty above personal, romantic love.
Chen, somewhat absent-mindedly, caressed the
artificial flower below Puig's picture.
“Listen. I got permission trom mv country to
study in America. I should like to forget Pine, if
you please." Chen said, firmly.
Chen turned oil the boiling noodles and said
"Did you know in China we call a girl a flower?"
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A totalitarian love story
less closely related to sexual expression than in
modern Euro-American culture.
"I had strong feelings for her," C hen finally
managed. "Even if I return to the People's Re-
public. it would be impossible to resume ms
relationship with Ping."
The mystery was about to reveal itself. Chen,
speaking in calm, reserved tones, outlined the
problem with a single utterance:
"Ping Su is very much like a traitor."
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Blum, David. The Oklahoma Daily (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 70, No. 116, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 23, 1984, newspaper, February 23, 1984; Norman, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1821774/m1/4/?q=led+zeppelin: accessed June 11, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center.