Dai Sijie was born in Putian, China in 1954, to a tailor. He spent much of his youth working in his father's shop.
In 1971, Dai was sent to the Sichuan countryside for 'reeducation,' along with three other urban youths whom he knew. They stayed there for three years. Dai's best-known novel, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, was inspired by his experiences during this period. After completing his 're-education,' Dai studied art history and pursued a career as a...
GradeSaver provides access to 2370 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11018 literature essays, 2792 sample college application essays, 926 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.
In Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, Luo’s attempt to re-educate the Little Seamstress is indicative of his own participation in the class struggle. This protagonist projects his own desire to be a member of the more...
Elias Curran-Moore
Freudian Explanation for Purpose of the Narrator's dreams in “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”
Various theories of why we dream range from practical applications like facilitating encoding memories for long term storage...
Beauty - in its physical embodiments - is one of the most important overarching themes of Dai Sijie's novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Dai creates a sense of beauty in the novel by highlighting the beauty of the characters, the...
Re-education, a practice in Communist China where city youths are sent to rural villages in order for them to get in touch with the way of their ancestors and create a larger working class, may seem like a harmless system. However, re-education,...
Feminism is the equality of the sexes in social, political, and economic standards. Balzaccand the Little Chinese Seamstress shows how many assumptions and expectations there are of women, compared to those of men. This piece of literature does...
Feminism is the advocacy of equality between men and women socially, politically, and economically. In Dai Sijie’s novel, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, the narrator and his friend, Luo, are set on civilizing a young village girl who...
In life, reading is a gift. Reading often remains an instrumental component of growth, change, and influence. At times, reading literature delivers a magical power that can reveal new worlds and perspectives to people. Beginning in 1966, The...
Post-colonial theory divides the colonizer's point of view from that of the colonized; however, literature, with its promiscuous plurality of points of view can understand, contain, and even synthesize different cultural perspectives. Roberto Bola...
