The Rice Sprout Song

The story took place sometime between 1950 and 1954 in a rural town near Shanghai after the central government of the People's Republic of China enacted the Land Reform Law on June 30, 1950.[5] The significance of the Chinese land reform consists in the elimination of the landlord-gentry class and redistribution of land among the peasantry.[6] In the story, characters mentioned several times that they have received goods, such as the mirror in Gold Root's house, as well as land from landlords.[7] The scene depicted in the story is a reflection of the outcome of China's land reform movement in reality at that time. During the winter of 1950-51, the land was confiscated from former landlords and redistributed to landless peasants and owners of small plots, as well as to the landlords themselves, who now had to till the land to earn a living.[5]

A man reads the Land Reform Law of PRC

After 1949, farmers classified as "poor peasants" by the Communists were given ownership to land taken away from local landlords and rich farmers. Estates and large farms were divided and peasants got small parcels of land. The seizure of land was not always easy. In some cases “certain necessary steps” had to be taken and this resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people. In many cases, villagers were executed or beaten to death by fellow villagers to get their land. By the spring of 1953, land reform was basically complete, and the peasants had achieved genuine liberation. The feudal system of land ownership that had existed for more than 2,000 years was completely destroyed and the landlord class was eliminated.[5] However, Shortly after the fields had been turned over to the tiller, preparations began to familiarize the peasantry with the next step in agricultural reform. Before long, the land that had been handed out to the peasants was slowly returned to the state. In the early 1950s, the Communists helped form mutual aid teams, the precursors to cooperatives. Later in 1955, Mao decreed that all farmers should "voluntarily" organize into large cooperatives. The cooperatives were overseen by party cadres and large portions of the output were turned over to the state.[8]

The promulgation of the Policy for Unified Purchase and Sale of Grain was closely related to the grain crisis in 1953 and the implementation of the general line for the transitional period. Although the strictly monitored relationship of supply and demand for grain in China was alleviated, the grain remained unfairly and unequally distributed. In order to meet the demand for grain in large scale industrialization and to stabilize grain price, the central government had to adopt a new measure to control the resources for production. The grain crisis in 1953 offered an important opportunity to propagate the Policy for Unified Purchase and Sale of Grain.[9]

On November 19, 1953, the Government Council had approved The Order of the Central People's Government Council on the implementation of planned acquisitions and planned supply of food. Inside the order, peasants were ordered to sell the surplus grain to the country by the National regulations' set price, set types of grain and the set amount of planned acquisitions. After peasants were to sell their grain, the surplus would then be freely stored and used. The grain can be continually sold by the peasants to the National food department or through cooperative trading at food markets which are set and regulated by the government.[10]

In the novel, due to circumstances such as bad weather, villagers did not have a good harvest, however, the planned acquisitions by the government remained mandatory, and were nonetheless ordered to sell their grain to the government, which they could not afford to sell as they were in the bouts of famine and starvation eventually leading the male protagonist to instigate a riot.

Her most productive period ended with the war, from the mid-forties to the mid-fifties, she basically remained silent. She was either neglected as a non-progressive writer lacking revolutionary zeal, or treated as controversial for publishing under the Japanese regime[13] Her notoriety came to an end when the Chinese communist party established a new regime in 1949 and the subsequent institutionalization of the spectrum of culture in China.[2] Chang was either neglected as a non-progressive writer lacking revolutionary zeal or treated as controversial for publishing under the Japanese regime.[13] During the period of Japanese occupation, after the communist liberation in 1949, Chang first decided to stay in Shanghai but due to the political circumstances was forced to leave for Hong Kong where she stayed for two years between 1952-1955. During that period, she wrote the two novels Naked Earth and The Rice-Sprout Song, in English, both of which were sponsored by the United States Information Service, and which she then later rewrote in Chinese.[1] Both the novels featured anti-Communist themes, particularly pertaining to the destructive effects of the land-reforms in Communist China. Even though both the novels did feature anti-Communist themes, particularly pertaining to the destructive effects of the land-reforms in Communist China, The Rice-Sprout Song was not considered as an anti-Communist novel by nationalists, because it also glorified communistic songs and characters throughout the storytelling unlike other anti-Communist novels. As Gu Yuanqing mentioned in the “Historical Studies of Modern Literature” 《新文学史料》, Eileen Chang was an anti-Communist Taiwanese writer, therefore, The Rice-Sprout Song could be considered as a complicated literary work, in which Chang took the stand of liberalism to depicted the idea of hate, blame, and somehow advocacy to the Communism but without the hatred of the Communism.[14] However, Chang's motivations for writing these books themselves may have been as a result of her loss of popularity and may have been for financial reasons. When Chang wrote The Rice-Sprout Song in the mid-fifties, she had neither the intention nor the resources to predict the forthcoming horrors, but in an uncanny way, her novel foretold the cruel absurdities that Chinese would experience.

Her marriage to Hu Lancheng, a writer and intellectual who collaborated with the Chinese puppet government headed by Wang Jingwei during the war-damaged her career. The label of collaborator placed on Hu by the KMT (Kuomintang) government after the war made Zhang guilty by association, a fact that still affects her reception in China today. (Shen 114)

In the preface, Eileen Chang notes an incident published in the People's Literature, a Communist publication which motivated her novel. It involved a writer recounting the events in northern China during the spring famine of 1950. The peasants, desperate for food, stormed the granary, but the Party members defended it by opening fire, killing and wounding the villagers. Feeling disillusioned by the failure of the Party, the writer published the story, which caused him much criticism, and under pressure, he severely criticized himself for doubting the Party.

In the current study of Eileen Chang, most of the scholars believe both The Rice Sprout Song and Naked Earth are commissioned writing by United States Information Service. However, according to an interview with Roland Soong who inherited Chang's literature estate, he said it was misunderstood. In the interview, he mentioned Eileen Chang only admitted Naked Earth is commissioned in the Shuijing's interview "Night Visit Eileen Chang" 《夜访张爱玲》, but later in Wenbiao Tang's "Eileen Chang's Miscellaneous" 《张爱玲杂碎》he claimed both The Rice Sprout Song and Naked Earth are commissioned. Those who have read and reflected on his book believed that The Rice Sprout Song was also commissioned. After Stephen Soong (Soong, Qi 宋淇) read Tang's book, he wrote an article to criticized Tang's writing: "One book became two books, The Rice Sprout Song surprisingly became Tang's burial." Later Chang saw Stephen Soong's article then wrote him a letter said "she just roughly skimmed through the book and saw the word 'commission' even though I am not ostrich policy and I am not afraid of others' anger, but when I read it carefully, I could not write an article such as Stephen's article." The writing is really good. This is necessary for me". Here shows Eileen Chang also denied this work is a commissioned work.[15] In addition, in the interview with Richard M. McCarthy, former head of United States Information Service in Hong Kong, also denied this novel was commissioned.[16]

The male protagonist of the story, head of T'an household, husband of Moon Scent (Yuexiang) and the father of their daughter, Beckon.The male protagonist of the story, head of T'an household, husband of Moon Scent (Yuexiang) and the father of their daughter, Beckon. He was honored as model peasant initially during land reform, and became a “reactionary” afterwards.[26]

The female protagonist of the story, the wife of Gold Root (Jingen) and mother of young daughter Beckon. Before the land reform, Yuexiang worked as a maid in Shanghai, and her experiences had shaped her to be a practical, responsible person. Yuexiang understands that, to survive hunger, she has to store and ration food strictly; to that effect, she manages to cheat cadres, turn down her sister-in-law's requests, and even denies her own daughter's hungry pleas. Yuexiang, ultimately cannot prevent her husband from rioting.[1]

Young daughter of Gold Root T'an and Moon Scent T'an. Soft-spoken, dependent on her father. Due to her mother's long absence working in the city, Beckon lacked a motherly figure for the majority of her young childhood and upon her mothers return, the dire situation makes it hard for Beckon and Moon Scent to rebuild that relationship.

Boisterous and outspoken aunt of Gold Root, however her husband Big Uncle, Gold Flower and her all rely on the T'an's financially.

Gold Root's uncle. Soft-spoken compared to his wife.

Veteran cadre in charge of enforcing the land reform regime and overlooking the peasants of the agrarian village the story is set in, who was clinging to the pursuit of ideology of Communism.[27]

A director-writer who had been sent by the Literary and Artistic Workers' Association all the way from Shanghai to this village to experience and observe the life of the peasants in the countryside during the communist regime and collect material for his next film. He initially was assigned to lodge at Big Aunt and Big Uncles house but due to a roof leak, he moved to the T'ans house.

A Kan-pu (Cadres who joined the party during the Long March period or the years before 1936),[28] who worked in the telegraph branch. Past love interest of Comrade Wong, who intended to marry her but Ming was forced to escape from the Japanese-held areas into northern Kiangsu, where the New Fourth Army operated, and was separated from Wong.

Gold Root's sister who marries Plenty Own Chou, and lives with her husbands family in the neighbouring Chou village.

Big Aunt's daughter-in-law, and the sister-in-law of Gold Root. She lives at Big Aunt and Big Uncle home which neighbours Gold Root and Moon Scent's home. In the novel, she is referred to as the sister-in-law of the family.