My Sister’s Red Shirt by Tie Ning, beautifully translated from the Chinese by Annelise Finegan, is an unusual bestselling semi-autobiographical novella written through the lens of a young woman reflecting on a family in crisis with a particular focus on her younger sister’s life. It touches on the universal themes of generational conflict, tradition vs. modernity, academic success, saving face in public, class divisions and more.
The narrative begins with the two sisters, Anjing and Anran, out on a shopping spree in the city of Pingyi. When they return to their family apartment in “an old fashioned, grey, two-storey building” dating from the 1950s, their parents are arguing as usual.
The sisters’ father is an artist and teaches art appreciation at a college. Their mother teaches English at a technical school, and does not like having to do housework, one reason for the frequent quarrelling. “Should mothers always be housewives? I’ve done my share of serving. I served for ten years, day in and day out while still worrying about our basic needs, having to follow and shout, shout holding up a red flag, shout holding up The Little Red Book, shout holding up a brush, holding . . . holding . . . shouting!”
The family dynamics are shaped by traditional Confucian ideals, and the parents, particularly the mother, embody a sense of duty and decorum, often prioritising appearances and social standing over emotional honesty. The sisters struggle under these expectations.
The two sisters are close despite having very different personalities. Anjing is beautiful, kind and graceful and is far more constrained by the expectations and limitations imposed on women than her younger sister who is an outspoken rebel. “Anran was a typical girl, even though she loved to argue, loved to wear jackets, loved to set off firecrackers, loved to laugh out loud, and sometimes loved to whistle when people weren’t expecting it. Her behaviour may have seemed like that of a typical boy, but who made a rule saying girls weren’t allowed to be interested in these things?”
Anjing remembers how before the Cultural Revolution, “Dad had done his own thing focusing on painting; Mum had been a translator for an agricultural research centre”. Her parents had changed irrevocably after the “family entered the ranks of the five red revolutionary types.”
Anran’s head teacher, Wei Wan, is Anjing’s classmate from primary school. They bump into each other in the street after many years. It turns out that Anran is viewed as being something of a disruptive force at school. Anran’s buttonless red shirt with a zip down the back is seen as being part of the problem given how it symbolises passion and rebellion, (contrasting with societal expectations that women should be modest, obedient, and self-sacrificing). Students are expected to wear a standard Dacron shirt with a dog collar. Anjing had bought it for her little sister during a work trip south to enhance her femininity, and is dismayed to be told that is it inappropriate.
Although Anran dreads the final exams at school, what she dreads more than anything is the selection process which follows when classmates vote for “the most excellent student” based on three criteria: health, studies and morals.
Anjing works as an editor for the poetry magazine Constellations. When Wei Wan submits a poem Spreading Our Wings for publication she decides to include in the forthcoming issue, regardless of its literary quality. But Anran finds out . . .
Running alongside the central familial relationship are those involving the sisters’ social worlds involving schoolmates, employers and romantic interests. Their experiences reflect the limited space women have to express autonomy, especially regarding education, ambition and romance. Anjing’s reflections are entertaining and spirited yet tinged with a certain melancholic understanding.
Will Anran’s classmates honor her as “the most excellent student,” or will moral scrutiny lead to her disgrace? Will Anjing be permitted to visit her suitor in the provincial and escape the limitations of her environment? Can the sisters’ parents find reconciliation, or will they continue to save face in public and fight behind closed doors, in order to maintain family honour? Ultimately, is it possible to break free from the weight of familial and societal expectations?
Tie Ning builds the web of relationships in this unusual young adult novella by layering character interactions with nuance, conflict, understanding and contradiction, mimicking the complexity of real human connections. The relationships are vivid and three-dimensional underpinned by the core question symbolised by the red shirt: what is a fulfilled life, as opposed to one that is crushed by autonomy and drab conformity?
Join us at Veranda Books, London W1H 5BA on Tuesday 19 Aug 6:30-8:00 pm to celebrate women in translation month
Annelise Finegan and Nicky Harman will be in conversation with Georgia de Chamberet discussing My Sister’s Red Shirt by China’s premier author and head of the China Writers Association, Tie Ning, and a translation of short stories of the 1930s author, Ling Shuhua
Podcast: Translating China with Nicky Harman
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