the Broken Shoe and Little TianÆs mother (107-108). Communism, while having its own system of rank, allowed for men and women to be equals under the law in the matters of land ownership, voting, marriage, and other civil rights (198-200). If there was an individual that needed to be yielded to, it was because the Party had assigned him or her as senior cadre (official).
Despite this egalitarian system, communication of important or taboo subjects was usually oblique in manner, rather than direct. One example of this type of behavior may be seen in the interchange between Liao and Chu Hua on the train ride to the countryside. Chu
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