Book Club Kit

www.yanghuang.com yang@yanghuang.com

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Dear readers:

Thank you for choosing Living Treasures for your book club! I live in the San Francisco Bay Area

and will be happy to discuss Living Treasures with you. I can send free bookmarks, autographs,

and an embroidered tote bag for your book club.

Living Treasures tells the story of Gu Bao, an eighteen-year-old law student, during the

tumultuous Tiananmen Square protest in 1989. Bao falls in love with a handsome soldier. After

she gets pregnant, she succumbs to the parental pressure to have an abortion. She goes to her

grandparents’ house in the countryside. There she meets Orchid, a village woman hiding from

the one-child policy enforcers. Bao risks her own life to protect Orchid from a forced abortion.

Although the story takes place in China, the central conflict that the heroine faces is just as

relevant in America today. Women aspire to have both careers and families, but which come

first? Babies rarely arrive at a convenient time. The decision about the woman’s body is not an

easy choice but rather a compromise that comes with a dear price. One way or the other, a

woman has to make sacrifices or be burdened with deep regrets. Bao’s struggle encapsulates

many women’s journeys through life, as they experience the triumphs, suffer the heartbreaks,

and learn to live with the consequences.

In writing Living Treasures, I was surprised to find how different things were twenty-five years

ago—and how much they’ve stayed the same. Should a woman defy her family to love a man

whom her parents disapprove? How does she find support, if she gives up her academic career

to have a baby? To what extent should she exercise her free will in a rigid society? How should

she choose: conformity for a successful career or risking everything to seek justice?

I hope you enjoy Living Treasures, and I hope it sparks lively discussion for your group!

Yang Huang 黄洋黄洋黄洋黄洋

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Q & A with Yang Huang

Living Treasures is full of surprises, as nothing is what they seem at first. How did you plot

the story? Why did you begin with this strange scene: a panda eats a chicken? Aren’t giant

pandas herbivores?

I was fascinated with giant pandas, although I only saw them in the zoo, chomping bamboos. I

set out to write a story about a panda. Through my research I found out that panda is bear, with

the digestive system of a carnival. Pandas in the wild occasionally eat fish, mice, and birds if

they can catch them. I also learned about the mudslide and earthquake that happened in

Sichuan province in 1976. On top of that, bamboos died after mass flowering and caused the

pandas to starve. Living Treasures begins with a panda mother eating a chicken in order to

survive the winter and nurse her cub. In this world, pandas and people look to each other for

inspiration and support, persevere, and thrive in a harsh environment. The story goes on to

show people, like the pandas, are the living treasures of China.

The first half of the story is about Bao facing her dilemma as a university student. The

second half moves to the countryside. Why did you divide this story into two worlds?

China is a vast and diverse country. At the beginning, Bao lives a sheltered life. She succumbs

to the parental pressure to have an abortion. Then she goes to the country, lives with her

grandparents, tends to the bees, and makes new friends with farmers. There she learns to work

and becomes self-reliant. Bao grows from a naïve student to become an independent woman

who stands up to the bully.

There are rich details about the mountains, village, people, and food. It seems so authentic. Is

this based on a true story? Is it autobiographical?

I lived through that time and knew this world intimately. Bao is more courageous than me and

my friends. My life was boring, so I made Bao’s story exciting. I later learned that all the events

happened to real people in China. But I personally didn’t know of anyone who experienced

Bao’s ordeal.

You mentioned “grass people” a few times in the novel. Do you mean: commoners or farmers?

Is Orchid the “grass people”?

She is, and so are Bao, her parents and grandparents. In China, more than 99 percent people

have no political power, their voting rights a mere sham, for they can only vote for the

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preselected candidates. “Grass people” are not just commoners or farmers. They include the

middle-class: successful entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers, etc. Even the affluent people don’t

have the political power. This mass of humanity is humble and resilient like the prairie grass.

In the book we meet the villain: Childless Du. How did you depict this chilling character?

Initially I made the villain a cruel evil person, but he seemed one-dimensional. During the

revision, I worked hard to make him a smart person, with a sharp economic sense about his

own place in the world. He outwits all the naïve people. What makes him bad is his shrewdness,

his naked ambition, and his single-minded determination to carry out a policy by victimizing

women.

China has the world’s biggest population. Is the one-policy not an effective solution?

Let’s look at how it came into being. In 1950s, Chairman Mao banned the family planning and

encouraged women to have as many children as possible. The population increased 80% within

three decades. In late seventies the government enforced strict controls to slow down the birth

rate. Aside from some minority groups, every couple could only have one child.

The problem is: local governments all had their own rules and regulations. Some people lost

their jobs after having a second child. Others were fined. Like many policies in China, there was

abuse of power and corruption was rampant. In some villages, one-child policy worker team

hired thugs to threaten and beat up people, force collect the fines, and even kidnap the women

and their relatives. Some women had their full-term babies aborted. If the drugs couldn’t kill, a

nurse injected medicine on the baby’s temple when the mother was pushing.

I didn’t expect the book to turn into a thriller at the end. What goes terribly wrong for Bao?

At the heart of her tragedy is a metaphor for Tiananmen Square massacre. It took me twenty

years of soul searching to find a story that captures the fateful moment. Like the students in the

square, Bao cannot foresee the swift crackdown on her selfless act of heroism.

Is Bao pro-life or pro-choice?

Bao is a woman with strong convictions. She wants to keep her baby, and she wants Orchid to

be able to keep her baby. She is against the political doctrine: the rigid one-child policy. China

has 1/5 of the world’s population. Family planning is necessary to prevent catastrophic

overpopulation. Even in this environment, Bao believes women should be able to make their

own decisions. For example: in the cities, many educated people don’t want to have children.

Bao would argue: give their quotas to the people who need them. The terms "pro-choice" and

"pro-life" are associated with political movements. Bao, like many people in China, has seen

their share of political movements that lead to the government’s corruption and abuse of power:

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first the Cultural Revolution, then the one-child policy. As an individualist, Bao opposes the

political pragmatism that victimizes women.

How difficult was it for you to tell this harrowing story? I know English isn’t your first

language.

I grew up in China. At school we were taught what to think and how to feel. When I wrote in

Chinese, I felt the internal censorship that forced me to use euphemisms, symbols, and riddles

to tell a story with political implications. I didn’t want to write like a dissident. I wanted to be a

storyteller. I came to the United States in 1990, and I always enjoyed the conversations between

different cultures. I chose to overcome the language barrier and write in English, rather than

tiptoe around my internal censorship.

You work as an engineer. How does that inform your writing?

I had a BS in computer science, an MA in English, and an MFA in creative writing. I work as a

computer engineer at UC Berkeley. As a writer I have a rather optimistic worldview. I like to

tackle big social problems in my fiction, put my characters under the test, let them suffer, and in

their darkest and most despairing hours, let them use their ingenuity (much like an engineer),

and find some sort of relief or solution, not a cure-all, but a way out, so that they can move

forward to rebuild their lives.

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Discussion Questions

1. Why doesn’t Bao participate in the student movement? Does she change her mind about

student activism after the Tiananmen Square Massacre? What changes and what does

not?

2. How is the love story about a student and a soldier symbolic?

3. What do the sex scenes add to the story? How does Tong change after the abortion?

Why does he not “desire” her anymore?

4. What does Bao learn from Grandpa by tending bees? How does it affect her personal

growth?

5. With all her good intentions, why does Bao jeopardize Orchid in the worst possible way?

6. What does Bao learn from her second encounter with the panda mother? How does this

event change Bao and propel her to the inevitable run-in with Childless Du?

7. Why is Bao not prepared for the ensuing violence, even after the repeated warnings

from others? Is it her failing or other elements at work that causes the tragedy?

8. Who are the grass people? Is Childless Du one of the “grass people”?

9. Is the ending hopeful? What are the prospects for Bao and Tong’s romance and their

careers?

10. If you could change something about this book, what would it be and why?

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Recipe

Bean curd jelly, Bao’s favorite dish, is a tofu pudding with a variety of piquant toppings that

range from mild green onion, soy sauce, and sesame oil to intensely flavored chili oil, pickled

vegetables, and stir-fried meat mixtures.

For wonderful earthy depth, head to a Chinese markets for preserved mustard tuber (zha cai). It

is sold in cans labeled “Sichuan preserved vegetable.” Maling is a reliable brand. At home, buy

or simply prepare the tofu pudding and lay out a bunch of different toppings for your guests to

choose among.

Savory Bean Curd Jelly

Serves 6 as a snack

Sauce:

2 tablespoons regular (light) soy sauce

11/2 tablespoons chili oil, with chili flakes

11/2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn, toasted and ground

Garnishes:

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1/2 cup chopped green onion, green part only

1/4 cup unsalted roasted soybeans (soy nuts) or peanuts

1/3 cup chopped preserved mustard tuber (zha cai), rinsed if overly salty, optional

Canola oil for deep-frying, optional

4 cups tofu pudding (see recipe below)

To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, chili oil, and sesame oil. Add Sichuan peppercorn to

taste.

Prepare the garnishes. Put the green onion, roasted soybeans, and mustard tuber in separate

small dishes. Heat about 3/4 inch of oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Drain on paper

towels, then transfer to a serving bowl. Set at the table with the garnishes and sauce.

Variation: Spicy Meat Topping

Heat 11/2 teaspoons of canola oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat. Add 4 ounces ground

pork or chicken and cook, stirring and mashing the meat into small pieces, for about 1 minute,

until it is just cooked through. Add 2 tablespoons chili bean sauce and 2 minced garlic cloves.

Keep stir-frying for another minute until the mixture is fragrant. Stir in 1 chopped green onion

(use the white and green parts) and remove from the heat. Transfer to a small bowl and offer it

along with the other garnishes. Include the sauce too, if you like.

Tofu Pudding

Makes about 4 cups (2 pounds)

Heat the soymilk, then pour it from a height of about 12 inches into a deep pot containing

gypsum and tapioca starch dissolved in water. The strong gush of soymilk ensures that the

ingredients commingle well. As the soymilk sits, the coagulant solution sets it to a tender-yet-

firm texture.

Gypsum is the traditional coagulant for tofu pudding; used alone, it yields a good tofu flavor

and delicate, slightly coarse texture. However, it weeps a lot of whey. For less whey and a

silkier and firmer finish, add tapioca starch.

5 cups medium soymilk, at room temperature

2½ teaspoons packed gypsum, or 1½ teaspoons packed gypsum plus 1½ teaspoons tapioca

starch

¼ cup water, filtered or spring preferred

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Put the soymilk in a medium saucepan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring often

with a wooden spoon to prevent scorching and keep a skin from forming.

Meanwhile, choose a larger, tallish pot, such as a deep 4-quart pot, to hold the finished tofu. In

the pot, whisk together the gypsum and water to create a milky liquid. Position the pot

somewhere low enough so you can pour the soymilk into it from about 12 inches above—on a

chair seat or opened oven door.

When the soymilk reaches a rolling boil, turn the heat off. Whisk the coagulant because the

solids tend to settle. Holding the saucepan about 12 inches above the pot, pour the hot soy milk

into the coagulant; the gush of turbulence will mix the ingredients together. Cover immediately

with a lid and move the pot if necessary. Let the tofu sit, undisturbed, for 15 minutes.

The tofu can be used once it has set. Once you scoop the tofu, you break it up and it begins

releasing whey. That is its nature. The longer it sits, the more it will drain, just like regular tofu.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop if you want to leave some of the whey behind. To minimize the

amount of whey that seeps out, scoop large pieces of the tofu and do it right before serving as

savory or sweet tofu pudding.

Excerpted from Asian Tofu: Discover the Best, Make Your Own, and Cook It at Home by

Andrea Nguyen.