BANANA GARDEN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BANANA GARDEN - Essay Example In most cases, while men were travelling around to attend to their official duties, women were left behind to cater for their in-laws, children and farm activities. Gu Zhiqiong a member of the banana club used poetry to express her feelings to her absent husband. Despite them being apart for a long time, she missed him and wondered why her travelling husband should not come home. Her beauty was neglected by a husband who had gone to search for fame, but she feared that the search might not be successful.The neglect caused a lot of pain to Gu Zhiqiong, which resulted in weight loss and increase in illness. The stressful moments she was undergoing made her turn to drinking to alleviate the pain. Gu Zhiqiong’s belief that the quest for fame for her husband will not be successful showed an aspect weakness in males who at that time were regarded as superiors over females. Another member of the Banana Garden Poetry Club members was Chai Jingyi. In most of her poetry works, she avoided sections of more stereotypical feminine moods and topics. In her poem titled Huangtiandang: On Lady Liang, she showered praises to a lady beating the drum and argued that no one would believe that the person playing the drum was a beautiful woman (Berge, 2008). Despite women’s freedom of expression and movement being restricted it is clear that women have the capability of doing best what men could do. In 1129 during the Huangtiandang battle, Han Shizhong the Song dynasty general inflicted a decisive win over Jurchen Jin dynasty troops. The general’s win was mainly attributed to Liang Hongyu, who was his wife. Liang was a former courtesan and tirelessly played the drum, inspiring the Song army to superior efforts. The name of Liang often appeared in poetry in the seventeenth century as an example of devoted loyalty. Though men’s freedom of expression and movement was not restricted like the case in women, some of them