"The Several blessings of Wang Ta-nien"

The introduction of the short story was rather significant for me. Usually, in short stories, the first part was one that foreshadowed the rest of the stories. This story, on the other hand, had an introduction that was contradictory to the story, that not only did it contribute to the settings of the story, it characterized the characters as well, particularly Ta-nien. The schedule that was taped to the wall mirror was ironic. According to his schedule, he was seen as a fit man, as he planned to do push-ups twice a day. However, as characterized later in the story, he was a man with a big belly who broke a chair and fell as he laid back in his chair. Also, by referring to his schedule, he seemed to be a rather educated man, but his plans later showed that he was rather far away from one. Similar to his schedule, with an unstuck tape that hung more loosely by day, Ta-nien's rationality (and wisdom) was worn off as the days went by. Later in the story, his wife, Wen-chin mocked him on his numerous but fruitless plans. I could see that the plans got more ridiculous as time progressed. And yet, none of them came true and both Ta-nien and the Sage still remained teachers and did not become "independent".

Despite being rather silly, Ta-nien was blessed with a few things. First, he had upgraded from a single room to two due to the bonus that he received along with the certificate of merit which he proudly flagged to his wife. Even though his house was not luxurious, he was better off than the Sage. He could host the Sage to weekly dinners, but the Sage could hardly express his desire to ask them over. His hardship was further explained by Wen-chin, as she asked him to save money for a new suit as his was worn with time. To add to the irony (and somewhat absurdity) of the story, the Sage wanted to treat them to delicacy such as Peking duck, whereas Ta-nien merely served pork ribs and wine to his guest, despite his hardships. Wen-chin's advice showed that she was the most rational of all the characters. She was the other blessing that Ta-nien had. The Sage's flashback to their younger days showed that she also had great looks. Again, the irony of this story was that she chose to marry Ta-nien who seemed rather unwise as compared to her. Their marriage budded off to a family, which was still expanding. Last, but not least, Ta-nien was blessed with people around him - his wife, his children and his friend, the Sage. His wife remained beside him, and even continued to bear children for him although she was perpetually angry at him in which I found rather hard not to, as he was rather absurd in aforementioned ways. His child, Little Oak, was happy for him, even though he did not know what was happening. He was happy to see his father happy. The Sage was willing to lose his job for Ta-nien's plan (which might not even happen). His willingness showed that people around Ta-nien were really blessings to him. However, as irony as this story was, it might also be because he was not very wise himself (despite both of them being teachers, and the one who proposed The Plan was one who was recognized for outstanding service) as Wen-chin said, "I can't say that between you two, I had a wide choice."