The Role of Travel in "The Story of Ying Ying"
"Your letter said that you will stay on in the capital and pursue your studies...Still it is hard on the person left alone in this far-off place" (Chi 143)
The role of travel in I-wen Chi's "The Story of Ying Ying" is one of manipulation on the part of Chang as a means of distancing himself from Miss Ts'ui. The reasons for his travel-related manipulation are not explicitly detailed by the narrator, but they are typical of an individual unwilling to commit to the other party in a romantic and/or sexual relationship. This paper will examine Chang's history with women and his travels and analyze the ideological message implied by them, as well as identifying the types of consequences that arise from them.
The first thing the reader learns about Chang in the story is that he is 23 years old and that, unlike his peers, he has never had any sexual experience with women. The narrator indicates that this state of affairs is due to Chang's "firm and self-contained" nature that renders him "capable of no improper act" (Chi 139). When challenged about his lack of experience, Chang compares himself to another young man, whom he terms "a lecher" and defends his own lack of prowess with women as being a sign that he is "the true lover" who simply has not yet met the right girl; he adds that he is "not without feelings" (Chi 139). These defenses suggest immediately to the reader that Chang is the opposite of what he claims-not just lacking the opportunity to meet the right woman but actually emotionally unprepared to establish or maintain a relationship with a woman. Soon afterward, he meets Miss Ts'ui while traveling and is completely smitten with her, in part because she at first appears disinterested in him. This first of his travels is fortuitous because it enables him to meet the woman of his dreams. Miss Ts'ui is beautiful, accomplished, and everything t
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