Episode Details

Echo considers this an uplifting story filled with patriotism and self-sacrifice. "Everyone who is Chinese reads it this way," she insists, warding off the collective groans of our foreign contingent, who read it as a decidedly less optimistic critique of our collective indifference to poverty and human suffering.

Whatever your interpretation of the ending, there's no question it's a great short story. It's publication cemented the reputation of Bing Xin as one of the best female novelists in 20th century China, and it remains an inspiration to charitable works to this day, with its name most recently having been adopted by a Baidu charity program which distributes books and school supplies to underprivileged children in rural parts of China.

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