While I Was Writing Wild Swans I

When He Asked My Grandmother If She Would Mind Being Poor, She Said She Would Be Happy Just To Have Her Daughter And Himself: 'if You Have Love, Even Plain Water Is Sweet.

As A Child, My Idea Of The West Was That It Was A Miasma Of Poverty And Misery, Like That Of The Homeless 'little Match Girl'in The Hans Christian Andersen Story. When I Was In The Boarding Nursery And Did Not Want To Finish My Food, The Teacher Would Say:'think Of All The Starving Children In The Capitalist World!

I Would Love Mainland Chinese To Read My Book. There Is A Chinese Translation Which I Worked On Myself, Published In Hong Kong And Taiwan. Many Copies Have Gone Into China But It Is Still Banned.

I Like To Have Chinese Furniture In My Home As A Constant And Painful Reminder Of How Much Has Been Destroyed In China. The Contrast Between The Beauty Of The Past And The Ugliness Of The Modern Is Nowhere Sharper Than In China.

My Grandmother's Feet Had Been Bound When She Was Two Years Old. Her Mother...first Wound A Piece Of White Cloth About Twenty Feet Long Round Her Feet, Bending All The Toes Except The Big Toe Inward And Under The Sole. Then She Placed A Large Stone On Top To Crush The Arch.