Bound Feet: Stories of Taiwan in Transition

A writer struck with writer’s block seeks the assistance of the wild drunken god—Ji Gong. With his help, lives are revealed and secrets spill out from behind the “face” everyone is so eager to preserve. This collection of short stories covers a period from when the United States ceased to diplomatically recognize the Republic of China on Taiwan in 1979 to the end of martial law in 1987. Freedom is both desired and feared, and Taiwan must create a new national identity. Families try to adjust to shifts of power as traditional roles are shed, yet linger, and new ones are tentatively broached or bravely adopted. Individuals struggle between private dreams and collective aspirations. Among them, a model-turned-photographer supports her father’s former master from China; an American sinologist learns everything about Chinese culture except how to keep his Taiwanese wife; a Taiwanese businessman struggles with the mental illness of his eldest son. Interweaving their stories, the writer overhears a mad neighbor shouting her torment to the stars in indecipherable fragments. Ji Gong offers no solace other than to lift his liquor-filled hulu gourd and laugh.

收錄二十篇短篇故事，背景描寫民國七十年代、正處於台美斷交後與解嚴前夕的台灣社會。在人心與大環境均充滿不安躁動的這個年代，台灣人如何尋找新的身份認同？又如何在個人追求與集體取向之間找到平衡點？Bound Feet: Stories of Taiwan in Transition呈現了在這個台灣社會轉型期間的台灣眾生相。