📖 She Who Became the Sun

This book is a lot better if you read it as a history buff. No, seriously. There's so many little tidbits and references in here. It's one of those little details that make you point at the page and go "Ohhhhhhh!" I'm not much of a historian myself, but we did just get to this history point in my AP World class, so the book did make me feel much more educated on the topic than I actually was. By God, understanding history references are so refreshing. Oh, yeah. Onto the book. She Who Became the Sun is a reimagining of a Chinese time period in around the 1300s. During this time, the Yuan dynasty finally fell, and in its place was the Ming dynasty. Specifically, it reimagines the story of the Ming dynasty's founder, Zhu Yuanzhang. In She Who Became the Sun, Zhu Yuanzhang starts out pretty similarly: They're born as a peasant and rise up through the ranks of the rebels fighting against the Yuan. A couple differences, though: Zhu Yuanzhang's name is Zhu Chongba, and Zhu is a girl. The opening isn't too complex. Under the rule of the Yuan dynasty, many villagers are starving, resorting to catching bugs, lizards, or rats to survive. Apart from the food shortages, crops are failing, houses are collapsing, people are dying of sickness, and hordes of bandits stalk the land. Enter the Unnamed Girl, who, just like her fellow villagers, is starving to death. She lives in a small enclosure with her unnamed father and brother Zhu Chongba. The Unnamed Girl spends her days digging around empty tree stumps and patches of dirt in the hope of finding any edible pests. At home, she's in charge of cooking for the rest of her family using an old, battered pot and whatever her father has managed to scrounge back from the fields. On this particular day, her father has managed to find a melon, which she cooks with some beans. As it so happens, there's a chunk of melon leftover from dinner, and it's Zhu Chongba's birthday. Later at night, her father takes his children to the village's old fortune teller, where he uses the melon to pay for the telling of Zhu's destiny. The fortune teller does some fortune teller things and tells of a great future for Zhu Chongba. He claims that Zhu is destined for greatness, and will do things that will bring honor to his family name for generations to come. When her father and Zhu both leave for home, thrilled at the prospect that Zhu is destined for greatness, the Unnamed Girl asks the fortune teller for her fate. The old man took one look at her and proclaimed that her fate was "Nothing." Fast forward some time, and a group of bandits have decided to raid the village. Her father cannot offer anything except a jar of beans and a vase, but the bandits aren't very satisfied. They're so unsatisfied, in fact, that they beat him to death and leave his children to fend for themselves. Despite being destined for greatness, Zhu Chongba eventually succumbs to despair and dies, although it's ambiguous what exactly he did perish of. Anyway, the Unnamed Girl remains the last living member of her family line, and she realizes something. If her brother took her fate of nothingness, then could she take his name and therefore his fate of greatness? You can imagine where the story continues to go. I think what I liked most about the book was its loyalty to being accurate to actual history. Despite being a reimagining, a lot of little details are kept true to the story. For instance, Zhu Chongba was famously unattractive, and that was implemented into the plot. Xu Da, a close friend of Zhu Chongba, was also present. Furthermore, I saw something in this book that I don't see too much in others, too. Zhu has this deep determination inside of her, a deep desire to seize her due of glory. It's an underlying motif that's present throughout most of the book, and this one's done really well. It's kind of like the determination motif in Undertale. Otherwise, a very good book! Recommended for history buffs or just people obsessed with historical reimaginations.

如果你是个历史迷,这本书读起来会好很多。 不,认真的。这本书里有太多细枝末节的小典故和引用了。那种让你看到某一页忽然指着书大喊:"哦——原来如此!"的细节特别多。 我自己不算是什么历史学家,但我们刚好在 AP World 课上学到这段历史,所以读这本书的时候让我感觉自己对这个时期了解得比实际多得多。能看懂历史梗真的太爽了。 哦对,说回书本身。 《She Who Became the Sun》(《她成了太阳》)是一部对大约 14 世纪中国历史的再创作小说。当时元朝最终覆灭,明朝建立。更具体地说,书中重塑了明太祖朱元璋的故事。在小说里,朱元璋的开局基本类似:出身贫寒,通过反抗元朝的起义军一路往上爬。不过有几点不同:朱元璋的名字变成了朱重八,而且朱是个女孩。 开头并不复杂。元朝统治之下,许多村民都在挨饿,只能抓虫子、蜥蜴或老鼠吃。除了缺粮以外,庄稼歉收、房屋倒塌、人们病死成群,还不断有盗匪四处横行。 这时登场的是"无名女孩"。和村里其他人一样,她也快被饿死了。她和她未具名的父亲、兄长朱重八住在一个小破屋里。每天她都在空树桩和干地里刨来刨去,希望能找到几只能吃的虫子。 在家里,她负责用一口破旧的锅,为家里煮饭。父亲能从田里找到什么,她就用什么做菜。那天,他找到一个瓜,她便用瓜和豆子煮成了晚饭。恰好饭后剩下了一块瓜,而那天是朱重八的生日。晚上,父亲带着两个孩子去找村里的老算命先生,用那块瓜作为算命的报酬。 算命先生念念叨叨一番后,说朱重八将来必成大器,会让家族世代荣耀。 父亲和朱听到后喜不自胜,一路乐呵呵地回家去了。等他们走后,无名女孩才问算命先生自己的命运。老人看了她一眼,淡淡地说,她的命是"无"。 时间快进一段,一群土匪决定洗劫村庄。她父亲拿不出什么值钱的东西,只有一罐豆子和一个花瓶。盗匪对此非常不满——以至于直接把他活活打死,丢下两个孩子自生自灭。 尽管被预测为"大有作为",朱重八最终还是在绝望中死去了——书里也没明确交代他到底怎么死的。无名女孩成了家里唯一的幸存者,于是她突然意识到:如果哥哥带走了"无"的命运,那么她能不能拿走他的名字,也顺带拿走他"伟大"的命运? 你可以想象故事之后的发展。 我最喜欢这本书的一点,是它对真实历史的忠实程度。虽然是再创作,但许多小细节依旧保持真实。例如,朱重八历史上长得很不好看,这也被写进了书里;朱重八的挚友徐达也在书中出现。 此外,我在书里看到一个其他小说里不常见的主题:朱心中那种炽热的决绝,一种想要抓住属于自己的荣耀的强烈渴望。这是贯穿全书的底层意象,而这里做得非常好。某种程度上有点像《Undertale》里的"决心"主题。 总之,这是一本非常棒的书!推荐给历史迷,或者所有喜欢历史再创作的人。