Ling's Death: An Ethnography of a Chinese Woman's Suicide

Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 32(4) Winter 2002 347 2002 The American Association of Suicidology

Ling’s Death: An Ethnographyof a Chinese Woman’s SuicideVERONICA PEARSON, DPHIL, AND MENG LIU, PHD

Over the past decade, great concern has been expressed about the highsuicide rates in China, especially among women and young women in particular.However, most of the information that has been presented has considered macro-level data and speculated on why women are so vulnerable to self-harm. Thisarticle presents the detailed story of one village woman who killed herself andsuggests that motives and behavior are more complex than the cultural script andstatistics suggest. Although depression is said to be commonly present in peoplewho kill themselves in Western countries, this may not be the case in China.

Suicide in China has attracted a great deal ethnographic material on suicide in China.The material presented in this article startsof attention from Western scholars since the

mid-1990s, largely for three reasons. The to fill that gap.It is difficult to estimate with accuracyfirst is that suicide data were not made public

by the Chinese government until 1989. Once the true rate of suicide in China because thereis no nationwide disease, injury, and death sur-they were released, it became obvious that

suicide rates in China are very high and that veillance system (Qin & Mortenson, 2000).Figures produced by the Ministry of Healththe rate for women greatly exceeds that of

men, confounding one of the most consistent and those reported to the World Health Or-ganization (WHO) by the Chinese govern-tenets of suicidology. Despite the plethora of

articles (He & Lester, 1997; Ji, Kleinman & ment differ (Phillips et al., 1999). However,whatever the source, there is agreement thatBecker, 2001; Lee & Kleinman, 2000; Li &

Baker, 1991; Phillips, Liu, & Zhang, 1999; the rates of suicidal behavior in China are ex-traordinarily high. The Global Burden ofPritchard, 1996; Qin & Mortensen, 2000;

Shiang, Barron, Xiao, Blinn, & Tam 1998; Disease Study (Murray & Lopez, 1996a) esti-mated 343,000 suicides and 1.8 million at-Zhao & Lester, 1997), very little is known

about suicide from a micro as opposed to a tempted suicides in China in 1990. The esti-mated rate of completed suicide at that time,macro perspective. Lee and Kleinman (2000)

argue that there is a serious lack of detailed 30.3 per 100,000, was almost three timeshigher than that in the rest of the world (10.7per 100,000). Based on these figures, China

VERONICA PEARSON is with the Depart- accounts for 21% of the world’s populationment of Social Work and Social Administration at but for 43.6% of its suicides and for a sur-the University of Hong Kong. MENG LIU is with

prising 55.8% of the world’s female suicidesthe Department of Social Work at the ChinaWomen’s College, Beijing. (Murray & Lopez, 1996b). Rates of suicide

Address correspondence to Veronica Pear- in rural areas are three to four times higherson, Department of Social Work and Social Ad- than in urban areas. Indeed, 93% of all com-ministration, The University of Hong Kong, Pok- pleted suicides occur in the countryside (Phil-fulam Road, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of

lips et al., 1999). Rates of completed suicideChina; fax 2858 7604; E-mail: [email protected] in women are about 39% higher than in men

348 CHINESE WOMAN’S SUICIDE

(Phillips et al., 1999) and attempts among Methodologywomen are three times more common than inmen (Zhao & Lester, 1997). The women at While that study was ongoing, a young

mother with a history of being abused (knowngreatest risk live in rural areas where ratespeak in the age group 20–24 and again in in this article as Ling) killed herself. This was

the first instance of suicide in recent memorythose aged 75 and over.Such high levels of suicide must reflect in the village. The effect on the villagers was

electrifying, at least partly because it was thethe social, cultural, and economic changesthat Chinese society is currently facing. Such outcome of a family dispute and seemed to

most people a disproportionate response. Byissues seem to bite hardest in the rural areasgenerally and among young women in partic- coincidence, the second author visited the

village on one of her data collection trips forular (He & Lester, 1997), for whom suicideis a silent epidemic. Croll (1978) points out her study on wife abuse in the week after the

death. She interviewed Ling’s husband (Qiu),that suicide has long been an escape forwomen of all classes in China when their sit- Ling’s mother-in-law and father-in-law (sep-

arately), Qiu’s younger sister, the wife ofuation became unbearable. She discusses sta-tistics collected in the first two decades of Qiu’s younger brother, two neighbors who

lived close by to Qiu and Ling, and the wifethis century in Taiwan showing that youngwomen were as vulnerable to suicide then as of the cousin of the father-in-law. No medi-

cal practitioners were contacted because Lingthey are now. Canetto and Lester (1995,1998) suggest that societies with high levels had not consulted any in the year before her

death. All interviews were conducted withinof female suicide have ideologies that supportthe legitimacy of death by suicide under cer- 10 days of the death. The interviews were

taped and of an unstructured nature, the pur-tain circumstances for women. Canetto (1995)further suggests that most suicidal acts in- pose of which was to find out what had hap-

pened, why Ling had killed herself, and whatvolve some degree of cultural patterning, acultural script. For Chinese women over the the consequences had been. The content var-

ied depending on the nature of the interview-ages, this script would involve a sense of be-ing trapped in a situation they consider to be ee’s relationship with Ling. For instance, the

interview with Qiu concentrated on the rela-unjust, having been wronged or defiled, and,frequently, death by drowning (traditionally tionships between himself and Ling, and Ling

and the rest of his family, and his responsein the village well).to her death. The wife of the father-in-law’scousin was a person deeply involved in the“UNPACKING” A SUICIDEgossip networks in the village and with nodirect involvement in the family dispute.So far we have only dealt with macro-

level information. This section is an attempt Thus she was selected for her encyclopedicknowledge of village opinion and objectiveto show how the reality of a death through

suicide plays out within the village context. stance toward Ling. These interviews weretranscribed and the authors worked togetherThe research was carried out in a clan village

in Anhui Province by the second author, to translate the information into English,from which the “story” was constructed in aswhose paternal ancestors originated from that

village and where she spent many summers comprehensive and nonjudgmental fashion aspossible. Every effort has been made to pre-as a child and young person. She carried the

same clan surname as the villagers and was sent the information as it was given with aminimum of editorializing.well known to many of them. This undoubt-

edly gave her a level of access that would nor- It is in the nature of collecting infor-mation about someone who commits suicidemally be unavailable to an outsider. The in-

terviews on which this article is based were that the material is inevitably a post-hoc,constructed version of events that is shapedoriginally conducted as part of a study of wife

abuse in China. over time by telling and retelling to suit the

PEARSON AND LIU 349

purposes of those left behind until an “autho- represents the significant relationships in thisstory.rized” version generally emerges. In some

ways, particularly if the main interest lies in Ling and Qiu had met when Qiu wentto study bamboo craft under the tutelage ofunderstanding the individual motivation of

someone who chooses to die in this way, this Ling’s father, who lived up in the mountainsabout 20 kilometers away from the village,is a significant limitation. But if one works

from the perspective that suicide is simulta- which was located in a valley. Thus they hadwhat is known in China as a “love match”neously the private act of an individual and a

profoundly social phenomenon, the ways of rather than an arranged marriage, which isstill very common in the rural areas. Ling’sdealing with the aftermath by the significant

actors whose past and future responses are nickname in the village was “Mountain Girl,”which in village terms immediately announcedthe target of the suicide are worthy of study

in their own right. that she was not like them and, in particular,was ignorant of basic valued knowledge, suchas how to grow rice. Moreover, she had noAntecedentsexperience of farm labor (and no intention ofacquiring it!). For this reason, Qiu’s motherLing’s suicide occurred in 1997. Shehad opposed the marriage, but Qiu insistedhad been married to a man called Qiu for 12on going ahead. The neighbors’ assessmentsyears, and they had two sons ages 11 and 8.of the reasons behind Qiu’s determination toTheir household income was more thanmarry were not generous; they assumed thatRMB.10,000 per year, which put them intohe married Ling so that he could have a freethe “very well off” category in village terms.place to stay when he went to the mountainsThe Anhui Statistical Year Book 1996 (in Chi-to buy bamboo, which was cheaper and ofnese, 1997) gives the average annual incomebetter quality than that available locally. De-per person in villages in Anhui province asspite all these doubts, after 12 years of livingRMB.1,100. As well as farming, Qiu was ain the village, Ling seemed to have won thebamboo craftsmen, from which he earned ahearts of her neighbors. She was good at sew-good living. Qiu’s parents and Qiu himselfing shoes and at knitting and was very willingwere well respected in the village, althoughto help the younger women improve theirthey held no formal positions of leadership.skills in those areas. Her village reputationTheir house was located opposite that ofwas of being kind and generous, and she hadLing’s mother-in-law and next door to onefriends among the younger village women, asoccupied by Qiu’s younger brother, his wife,well as a small group of Christian women inand daughter. This kind of family proximitythe village to which she belonged. Evenis very usual in the village, combining, as itthough she was a Mountain Girl, she wasdoes, the desire for privacy with easy accesswell liked in the village.to close family. The genogram in Figure 1

The Grievance

Although Ling and her mother-in-lawwere not close, initially their relationship wasreasonable. Neighbors described them as be-having “properly” toward one another, butthere was no warmth. They rarely quarreleduntil Qiu’s younger brother got married in1994. At this time, Qiu’s parents built a two-story house for the newly married couple.When Qiu and Ling had married 10 yearspreviously, the parents had built a one-storyhouse for them. As time went on, Ling’sFigure 1. Three generations of the Liu family.


sense of jealousy and injustice grew, and she the marriage of the younger son. Part of thedifficulty in the equitable distribution ofwas convinced that her parents-in-law were

showing favoritism toward the second son property that proved such an irritant to Lingwas that the 10-year gap between the mar-and second daughter-in-law, while being

prejudiced against her (not against her and riages of the two sons also happened to coin-cide with the most rapid growth in prosperityQiu). She firmly believed that the new house

should have been given to Qiu as the older in rural areas experienced since 1949. Thusthe single-story house and the first divisionof the two sons, and because Ling (as his

wife) had produced two grandsons. The of property that took place on the marriageof Ling and Qiu, while reasonable at the timeyounger brother and his wife (who had only

borne one granddaughter) could then have (mid-1980s), seemed inadequate in light ofwhat the parents were able to give the secondhad the older house belonging to Qiu. Ling’s

parents were in their 50s and still strong, so son 10 years later. One way or another, Lingwas not a person who voluntarily let peoplethey were able to do farming work but it was

noticeable that they gave more help to the walk all over her.younger brother and his family than to Qiuand his family. Indeed, when talking to the Precursorssecond author, the mother-in-law said quiteplainly that she did not like Ling and much The information about the first time

that Ling attempted suicide (if, indeed, thatpreferred her second-daughter-in-law. Yetshe also acknowledged that Ling was gener- is how the behavior should be construed) was

given separately by her mother-in-law and aally kind and good-natured and she thoughtit strange that “Ling could get along well neighbor whose accounts were very similar.

In 1994 Ling had gone to visit her parentswith everyone in the village, except us.”When quarrels erupted between Ling and told them that she had decided to be-

come a Christian, something that has becomeand his mother concerning the issue of hous-ing, Qiu showed his support for Ling by ei- popular among rural women in the past few

years. They objected strongly on the groundsther absenting himself or remaining silent. Asa filial son, it would have been most improper that she would be forbidden to carry out the

traditional burial rites when they died andactively to support his wife’s complaints or toargue with his mother. However, during very would also be banned from participating in

the ritual aspects of other occasions when an-bad quarrels, the focus shifted from the issueof housing and became personal. At such cestors are remembered. There was a fierce

argument that was not resolved. Her fathertimes, Ling directed such foul invectiveagainst her mother-in-law that Qiu felt un- accompanied her on the return journey to

her husband’s village and stayed for a fewable to tolerate or ignore her behavior. Onthese occasions, he would hit her until she days. The morning on which he was due to

return was bitterly cold. Ling and Qiu wentstopped swearing at her mother-in-law.It has to be remembered that Ling was with him to the bus station to see him off,

and her father again raised the issue of herfighting these battles on behalf of her maritalfamily, not simply in her own self-interest. decision to become a Christian. Again she

and her father quarreled fiercely, and on theFrom her perspective, when Qiu hit her, hewas not only being unjust but also revealing way back home Ling demanded that Qiu kill

her father, for “if you don’t kill him, I won’thimself as a hypocrite because he enjoyed thegains on those occasions when she won. Al- love you.” Qiu said that obeying such a re-

quest would be impossible—he just could notthough not able to win the battle concerningthe house, Ling gave testament to her ability do it—whereupon Ling jumped into the

river they were walking alongside despite theto fight by forcing her parents-in-law into avery rare act—a second division of parental freezing conditions and her inability to swim.

Qiu jumped in after her and pulled her out.property between the sons that occurred on

PEARSON AND LIU 351

By the time he had got her home, Ling was tween Ling and her mother-in-law duringwhich Ling’s language became increasingly in-almost unconscious and Qiu and his parents

revived her by soaking her in a hot bath and sulting. At the point when Ling called hermother-in-law a whore who sold it all overpouring hot water over her. The authors hes-

itate to overinterpret when faced with limited town, Qiu hit her.In the face of Ling’s rage her mother-information and no access to Ling’s own un-

derstanding of her actions. However, her be- in-law locked herself in the house, whichLing tried to break into but failed. Eventu-havior on this occasion is so extreme that it

calls for a possible explanation, namely, that ally, Ling returned home and sat in thekitchen crying. Her husband fed and washedshe had a violent temper and when she lost

it, she became impulsive to the point of being their sons and put them to bed. He decidedto have a bath himself, but because the lightirrational. Furthermore, she was willing to

take extreme measures to force her husband bulb broke, he went to buy another one thatturned out to be defective, so he had to goto do as she wished, even when her wishes

defied reason. back to the store and exchange it. All of thistook about half an hour. When he returned,Then in 1995, Ling left home after a

particularly vicious quarrel with her mother- he noticed that Ling was no longer sitting inthe kitchen. When he finished his bath, hein-law when her husband intervened on his

mother’s side. She traveled to a neighboring saw that she was not in their bedroom. Heassumed that she had gone back to her par-province and took a job as a domestic ser-

vant. She missed her sons desperately and ents’ house, as she had done in the past insimilar circumstances.after about a month, she asked her employer

to write a letter to her natal family and they The second day after Ling’s disappear-ance, Qiu rose very early and gave his sonsin turn sent a message to her parents-in-law,

at which point her husband and father-in-law their breakfast. He then intended to visitLing’s parents and bring her back. As theywent to get her. It is not uncommon in China

for daughters-in-law to be killed, kidnapped, were finishing, a neighbor burst in and toldQiu that Ling’s body had been found in theor sold with the connivance of their in-law

families. Thus, when she had disappeared, river, whereupon Qiu rushed to the river andpulled her body onto the riverbank. Accord-her parents had been very suspicious and had

nagged and harried Qiu and his father to give ing to several reports from neighbors, he cra-dled Ling’s dead body in his arms for over anan acceptable explanation about where she

had gone, or to produce her in person to hour, sobbing and repeating again and againthat he had had no choice but to hit her be-prove that she was unharmed. Her parents’

response, as it was doubtless meant to, had cause of the bad language and insults she hadthrown at his mother; “I didn’t want to hurtcaused Ling’s in-laws a great deal of trouble.you, but I had to . . .” The Mother-in-law’sstory was slightly different, in that sheThe Final Actclaimed she and Qiu had searched for Lingthe night she disappeared, but none of theIn 1997, during the rapeseed harvest,

Ling’s younger sister-in-law had collected a neighbors corroborated this, although Qiuhad asked around the village the next daylarge amount of rapeseed stems, which make

excellent fuel for the cooking stove. She whether anyone had seen Ling.needed a place to store them and, as the fam-ilies lived next door, she went and asked Ling The Aftermathif she could store them in a shed near Ling’skitchen as a favor. Ling refused and the sec- The villagers reported the death to the

township officials, who in turn informed theond daughter-in-law then appealed to theirjoint mother-in-law, to make Ling behave police. The situation was complicated by

Ling’s natal family, who complained to thereasonably. This started a lengthy quarrel be-


police that Ling had been murdered by her and new clothes; they also had travel ex-penses and made phone calls. After the fu-in-laws. When the police visited the village,

the villagers told them many good things neral, the natal family also had to performother rituals (once a week for 7 weeks) to ap-about the family; that the parents-in-law had

a very good reputation (which was true); and pease Ling’s spirit, to protect the family fromher spirit, and to transfer it from the waterthat Ling’s misfortune must be attributed to

her Fate and to supernatural intervention. back onto land. To facilitate this, various rit-ual objects had to be purchased and a shamanThe police were only concerned whether

Ling’s death was murder; having established had to be paid to perform the rites. Equallynaturally, Qiu’s family had to pay. The totalthat it was not, they went away.

The Natal Family. In fact, the family cost was more than Rmb10,000, approxi-mately the family’s entire annual cash income.had much more to fear from Ling’s natal

family than from the police. Immediately The Husband. The second author in-terviewed Qiu about a week after Ling’safter reporting Ling’s death, knowing that

they could expect an imminent visit from her death. Qiu was in bed and had eaten very lit-tle for a week. His voice was quiet, and trem-family, Ling’s in-laws spent the best part of a

day removing all their valuable household ulous, and his face looked pale, thin, anddrawn. In the view of the second author, Qiuitems from their own homes and distributing

them around their friends’ houses for safe- was genuinely grieving and both very sad andvery guilty about Ling’s death. He kept re-keeping. According to custom, Ling’s family

had the right to destroy the in-laws’ houses peating that he could not believe that she wasdead, that she was not a human being any-and possessions in order to avenge their

wronged daughter. Although there was noth- more. He wanted to talk about Ling and toldthe second author of the many kind thingsing that Qiu’s parents could do to hide their

house and those of their sons, they could at she had done for him. A few days before herdeath, she had bought him 12 cans of beerleast protect their furniture and electrical

goods. but had told the shopkeeper not to tell Qiubecause he would scold her for spending soWhen Ling’s family arrived, it was in

strength, 30 in all—more than enough to in- much money on him. Ling thought that thebeer would be good for him because he wastimidate. The villagers took a very active part

in persuading Ling’s family not to destroy her too thin and needed fattening up. As he re-counted this story, Qiu wept. The relation-in-laws’ property. One old woman pointed out

that it would be wrong to destroy the house ship with his wife as he described it was aclose and loving one, she was good andfor the sake of the dead when at the same

time they should be preserving what re- kind—as long as you said nothing to upsether. This was corroborated by the neighborsmained for the sake of the living; that is,

Ling’s two sons. Qiu’s father later conceded who said that in recent months the couplehad been getting along with each other verythat the villagers’ active engagement with

Ling’s family was a major factor in saving well.The Mother-in-law. The mother-in-their homes and that through his family’s

good reputation and good relationships with law aged 10 years in the 3 months followingLing’s death. She was very open about howthe neighbors an even bigger disaster had

been averted. guilty and responsible she felt, even thoughshe had not liked Ling. But most of all sheThis is not to say that Ling’s family in-

tended Qiu’s family to remain unpunished. regretted the money that the death had costthe family. Building a new 2-story houseAll 30 of them stayed for 3 days, and then all

of them went to the city to pay their last re- would have cost about RMB20,000, andwhen the other consequences of Ling’s deathspects to Ling and to attend the cremation.

Naturally, they needed accommodations, food, were added to the equation, the mother-in-

PEARSON AND LIU 353

law could not avoid the conclusion that it man lives, is accepted as commonplace. Veryquickly stories began to circulate that spokewould have been better to have given in to

Ling’s financial demands. There were other of various “proofs” of the supernatural causa-tion of Ling’s death. Apparently, before sheconsequences in addition to the financial

ones. The mother-in-law’s reputation was se- went to the river, Ling had called in at aneighbor’s house and asked him to give mes-verely tarnished, and she had the additional

responsibility of having to raise her two sages to two people. One was to anotherneighbor (from whom she had borrowedgrandsons.

The Neighbors. Although the neigh- RMB40 to buy a pair of rubber shoes) to ex-plain that Qiu would pay him back. The sec-bors had done their best to support Qiu’s

family publicly when dealing with outsid- ond was to Qiu to explain that she really hadborrowed the money and, please, would heers—the police and Ling’s family—their as-

sessment of events in private was more criti- return it.This neighbor had “forgotten” to passcal. The neighbors were saying that if only

Ling’s mother-in-law had let Ling into her on either message and said that he hadwanted to, but that somehow whenever hehouse instead of locking her out, Ling could

have vented her ire by smashing some crock- wanted to say the words, it was as though hislips were stuck together and no sound wouldery and breaking some furniture. With her

angry emotions spent in such a way, she come out; and then he had forgotten therewere messages to deliver. In retrospect, thiswould not have acted so impetuously. They

criticized the mother-in-law for taking her seemed very strange to him. His explanationwas that the ghosts involved did not wantbelongings more seriously than her daugh-

ter-in-law’s body, referring to her attempts to him to speak in case it prevented Ling’sdeath. Other neighbors said that a few dayshide valuables from Ling’s relatives immedi-

ately after she learned of Ling’s death. They before Ling’s death, they had seen ghostsdancing and crying in Ling’s courtyard. Morealso were united in their belief that Qiu’s

mother had shown favoritism, obviously pre- proof came retrospectively from Ling herself.A distant relative told the second author thatferring her second daughter-in-law.

Ling did not escape unscathed from Ling had confided in her that whenever shehad a quarrel with her mother-in-law, she felttheir analysis. In the eyes of the neighbors,

her behavior constituted gross overreaction. very frightened and would sleep lying acrossher husband’s chest because in the night sheAfter all, she had two sons and a husband

with high earning capacity; she did not need could hear voices calling her, saying, “Ling,Ling, come with me. Why don’t you cometo work in the fields because she did not

know how; and her fine qualities in keeping with me? I will take you away from here.”The in-law family (with the exceptionhouse, sewing and knitting, and helpfulness

were widely recognized. With so many ad- of Qiu) publicly supported the link betweenghosts and Ling’s death that was becomingvantages, what good reason did she have to

kill herself? the preferred explanation to account for thistragic event. Some of them may even haveIt is in the nature of small villages that

an event like Ling’s death draws in everyone believed it. But it is also possible to see thatghostly intervention would have made thevia new interpretations of previous behavior,

the desire to express an opinion, to analyze death more tolerable for everyone because itmeant at least partial absolution from re-causes, to exonerate, and to blame. All of this

is important in structuring what will become sponsibility for those involved. This is partic-ularly important in a situation like this wherethe “received memory” of the event. Among

the villagers, a belief in the supernatural, par- public opinion finds no reason to excoriateany of the major actors. After all, what canticularly in malevolent forms and in the di-

rect interference of spirits and ghosts in hu- mere mortals do when their best efforts and


good intentions are thwarted by the malevo- Survey. By Western standards, this was aston-ishingly low. However, there were markedlent inhabitants of the afterlife?gender differences. The point prevalence male/female ratio was 1 : 1.35 for affective psycho-sis. The male/female ratio for reactive psy-SUICIDE AND MENTAL ILLNESSchosis was 1 : 3.4 (Cooper & Sartorius, 1996).Women were nine times more likely thanLing’s death raises questions about the

relationship between suicide and mental dis- men to suffer from depression and anxietydisorders. Desjarlais, Eisenberg, Good, andorder. It is a common belief among Western

psychiatrists that mental disorder (especially Kleinman (1995), in their review of womenand mental health in the developing world,depression) is present at high levels in suicide

victims (Cheng, 1995; King, 1998), although cite more than a dozen studies that implicate“relative powerlessness” as a risk factor forthis view has been challenged (Bronisch,

1996). A number of recent psychological au- depression among women.The tendency of Chinese doctors totopsy studies have found levels of mental ill-

ness in those who have committed suicide at underdiagnose depression and bipolar disor-der is well documented (Cheung, 1991; Liu,90% of the sample or more (Appleby, Cooper,

Amos, & Faragher, 1999; Beautrais, 2001; 1980: Yan & Xiang, 1984; Yuan & Peng1987), although Phillips et al., (1999) claimCavanagh, Owens, & Johnstone, 1999; Le-

sage, Boyer, & Grunberg, 1994). But it is far that this changed somewhat during the1990s. This may be due to Kleinman’s (1986)less certain that this characterizes suicide in

China (Ji et al., 2001; Lee & Kleinman, 2000; study of depression, which focused nationaland international attention on these phe-Phillips et al., 1999). Interestingly, in contrast

to the views of Western psychiatrists, psychi- nomena. It has been suggested that someonewho is quietly depressed, withdrawn, and un-atrists in China do not perceive mental illness

as a primary cause of suicide. Thus “mental communicative is relatively acceptable in aChinese society that values self-containedillnesses are considered independent condi-

tions, not psychological states that could be and decorous behavior (Lin, 1981; Tseng,1973). Those that come to the notice of doc-caused by social stressors or that could exac-

erbate the effect of social stressors” (Phillips tors are those whose behavior brings them topublic attention. Thus, in China, we seem toet al., 1999, p. 36). Indeed the official diag-

nostic manual of the Chinese Society of Psy- have a situation of low rates of depressioncombined with a cultural blindness to the ex-chiatry (Chinese Medical Association, 1995)

specifically states that most persons who istence of the disorder in both doctors andthe general public. Yet, although women arecommit suicide do not have mental illnesses.more likely to be diagnosed with depressiondespite low prevalence rates, the extraordi-Women and Depressionnarily high suicide rate among women is notmirrored by correspondingly high rates ofOne of the most comprehensive stud-

ies of psychiatric disorder in China is known depression.Empirical evidence concerning the re-as the Twelve Region Epidemiological Survey of

Mental Illness and was carried out with the lationship of mental illness to suicidal behav-ior in China has recently become available.advice and assistance of the World Health

Organization (Co-ordinating Group, 1986; The research is being carried out collabora-tively by the Beijing Hui Long Guan Centersee also Cooper & Sartorius, 1996). The in-

cidence of depression in China appears to be for Epidemiological Research and the Chi-nese Academy of Preventive Medicine (Li etmuch lower than in Western countries. Only

29 cases of affective disorder (female and al., 2001). One hundred and fifty two peoplewho had attempted suicide and subsequentlymale) were found in the overall sample of

38,136 in the Twelve Region Epidemiological came to the emergency room of a general

PEARSON AND LIU 355

hospital were interviewed. The researchers her other behaviors. Yet her behavior interms of its high levels of impulsivity and le-found that only 37% could be clinically diag-

nosed with a mental illness. Assessments were thality is entirely typical of female suicidalbehavior in China. She threw herself into aundertaken by an attending-level psychiatrist

using the Structured Clinical Interview for river at night in the full knowledge that shewas unable to swim, knowing that nobodyDSM-IV (SCID; First, Spitzer, Gibbon, &

Williams, 1996). Thus it seems reasonable to knew where she had gone and that it wasmost unlikely that she would be rescued. Insuggest that in China mental illness is an im-

portant but by no means a necessary factor these circumstances, we have to assume thatshe knew the probability of death was veryin suicidal behavior. For many people who

demonstrate suicidal behavior, it is an impul- high.Although the price is high, in destroy-sive act in response to an acute life stressor

(Li et al., 2001). ing themselves, those who die by suicide alsoinflict damage on their persecutors and be-come infinitely more powerful in death thanWomen and Other Emotionsthey ever were in life. Many people still be-lieve that the unquiet spirit of a person whoSuicide is not only a gesture of despair

but also frequently one of anger, moral out- commits suicide will return to haunt thehousehold (Wolf, 1975). On the corporealrage, and revenge, or the ultimate means by

which to express a deeply felt sense of having level, a suicide reflects very badly on the fam-ily and often involves officials in an investiga-been wronged. It permits the weak to affect

the behavior of the more powerful, or at least tion, thus exposing family troubles to com-mon scrutiny. In the routine life of a village,to take revenge on those who have made their

lives intolerable (Canetto & Lester, 1995). As even with the advent of television, gossipabout one’s neighbors is a major form of en-Ji et al. (2001) point out, Chinese children

are brought up to have more concern for tertainment, and a suicide is guaranteed toget the village talking—a sweet revenge intheir honor and reputation (and that of their

families) than for their lives. This is not to such a “face”-conscious society. As Wolf re-marks, when seeking an explanation for a sui-suggest that suicide is taken lightly in Chi-

nese culture. Indeed, it is viewed with horror, cide, people in China do not ask “Why?”,they ask “Who?”but it is precisely this that makes it so power-

ful, for it is the ultimate rational moral act asopposed to the irrational behavior of a dis-eased mind. Thus it can be extraordinarily PHILLIPS ET AL.’S MULTIFACTOR

MODEL OF SUICIDE IN CHINApowerful and may be particularly attractive tothose who perceive themselves as wieldinglittle power and having little voice. Phillips et al. (1999) argue that no sin-

gle factor provides sufficient understandingThe argument for anger or revengebeing the predominant emotion is supported of the interacting causes of suicide in China.

Instead, they have devised a multifactorialby the evidence on the impulsivity of muchsuicidal behavior among young rural women. model based on research undertaken in China.

It contains five factors that collectively deter-Li et al. (2001) report that those in their sam-ple without a psychiatric illness considered mine the suicide rates in a community:committing suicide for a very much shortertime than those with a psychiatric illness 1. cultural beliefs in the afterlife and

the acceptability of “rational suicide”(median time 1 hour vs. 48 hours, p < .001).The impulsivity involved in Ling’s death (and as a solution for a variety of social

problemsthe sense of it as an overreaction to the stim-ulus) is startling to the outsider, as are the 2. the prevalence of social problems

that place individuals in morally am-levels of impulsiveness reported in some of


biguous or socially constrained cir- Chinese women, suicide gives them in deathinfinitely more power than they ever enjoyedcumstances

3. the prevalence of psychological prob- in life. Ling’s punishment of her mother-in-law will last until the old woman goes to herlems such as depression and substance

abuse that limit individuals’ ability to grave. The mother-in-law’s reputation is sul-lied permanently, a family grievance has beenadapt to stressful circumstances

4. the availability of convenient and ef- dragged into full view of the villagers, andshe feels deeply guilty. Forevermore, whenfective methods of suicide

5. the availability and comprehensive- there are unusual noises about the house,when the wind howls through the eaves, orness of suicide prevention serviceswhen misfortune befalls the family, it will beattributed to Ling wreaking vengeance indeath for the injustices she believed she suf-

CONCLUSIONS

fered in life.In Ling’s case, suicide may be seen asthe final outcome of a power struggle within People who kill themselves are obvi-

ously dissatisfied with their lot in life. But tothe family. Other scholars have pointed outthat suicidal women are often involved in re- go on to assume automatically that they are

depressed in a clinical sense is not warranted.lationships in which their ability to negotiateis seriously restricted, not necessarily because A high suicide rate in any group of people in

a society is a clear indication of their particu-of their lack of assertiveness but because ofrigid social and family structures (Canetto, lar vulnerability within that social structure,

but it is not proof of their depression. There1995). This seems to apply to Ling. Yet, atthe same time, it is too simple to argue that are individual cases where the predominant

emotions could be sacrifice, revenge, angershe was “an oppressed Chinese woman.” Suchan argument misses the complexities of the (possibly directed inward rather than out-

ward as is supposed to typify women), or anevents that took place in the Liu Village andreduce Ling and the other actors in this drama attempt to seek posthumous justice. What-

ever we know about the mental health ofto pawns in a predestined game. There wereno signs that she was truly oppressed, cer- women in China has to be interpreted within

a societal framework that remains signifi-tainly not by the standards of the village, andthere is evidence that she was a determined cantly hostile to them (Pearson, 1995). Yet,

in Ling’s case, the objective conditions of herand controlling person within the family.There was never any hint or suggestion from life were good, especially for a rural woman.

We cannot argue that she was oppressed oranyone who knew her that Ling’s mood hadbeen low around the time of her death, or enslaved within the family. So why did she

choose this method of problem solving? Partthat she had been tearful or seemed sad. Theemotion most clearly linked with her death of the answer may be that because women’s

lives in China tend to be devalued in compar-was anger. This can be seen, for instance, inthe villagers’ surmising that if Ling could ison with men, the cultural script includes

suicide as a solution for women. Thus thehave vented her rage on her mother-in-law’spossessions, it would have burnt out without idea was available to Ling as a possibility,

even though her circumstances to an outsiderharming herself or anyone else. Ling tookthe time-honored route for Chinese females do not seem to justify her actions.

It is noticeable that Ling, who may bewho want to protest against injustice thatthey believe has been committed against reasonably called a modern woman (in her

fearless behavior in front of her mother-in-them and for which they have received noredress. Whether Ling was justified in doing law, successful demand for a second division

of property, and espousal of Christianity),this, whatever our interpretations of her as aperson—these issues are not really relevant was nonetheless using ancient justifications of

precedent to bolster her nuclear family’s caseto the point being made here. Among young

PEARSON AND LIU 357

for preferential treatment; that is, that she low. In this way, harmony was supposed to beassured. People being what they are, har-was the senior daughter-in-law as wife of the

older son and had produced (the only) two mony was never quite universal, but the sys-tem worked reasonably well and providedgrandsons to carry on the family name.

The traditional mores and culture of structure and predictability. The changes in-troduced in the latter half of the twentiethChina are changing, albeit slowly. China was

a society that dealt in certainties. The rules century have seriously undermined these cer-tainties and have created ambiguities andof “li” (propriety) ensured a place in the

structure for everyone and a set of rules and space that can be manipulated for individualand family gain.obligations for each person-in-a-role to fol-

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Ling's Death: An Ethnography of a Chinese Woman's Suicide

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