Chapter 10 Summary and Analysis

De-hong is assigned as head of the Public Affairs Department of the Eastern District of Chengdu and the family, except Chang Shou-yu, moves into a house with a courtyard. Married couples are allowed to spend only Saturdays together. In 1954, De-hong gives birth to another son, Xiao-hei, in a very difficult delivery that requires surgery immediately after.

Extensive inquiries into the lives of party members forces De-hong to make arrangements for her children, who are all sent to boarding nursery schools when their nurses are found unsuitable for various reasons. De-hong herself is held in detention while her background is scoured. She is questioned about her brief arrest early in her days of Communist association and about her friend, Hui-ge. After six months, the process becomes bogged down and De-hong is allowed to go about her daily routine but continues to report...