Human history has always indicated a tendency where the interpretation of any issue is made on the basis of gender perspectives. What a male does may be proclaimed as a noble or heroic act; but at the same time when a woman does the same thing, its interpretation may be different. Gu Long, through his work, ‘The Eleventh Sun’ postulates this idea. The actions of the characters and various episodes in this story prove his theory that decisions are viewed differently depending on gender. The male characters in ‘The Eleventh Son’ were not looked down upon when they made decisions that would have been viewed from a different angle if the same were done by females. Xiao Shiyi Lang remained very sincere and caring towards Shen Bijun throughout the story. He made sacrifices upon sacrifices for her and came close to death on one occasion where Shen Bijun herself caused his injury. He was hailed as a hero since he stole from the rich and distributed it to the poor. He would earn money through modest ways like selling fruits in order to make some money to get a mule cart for Shen Bijun to ride in. “Xiao picked some peaches and pears in the valley and sold them to a rich household in town for a few taels of silver” (Gu, 216). All of these were noble deeds. But at one point in the story, he cheated on her by sleeping with another woman in order to derive more information about his present surroundings. As a gentleman, Xiao Shiyi Lang did not touch Shen Bijun unless it was absolutely necessary. He never forced himself upon her and even slept outside in the open air while Shen Bijun slept inside the only place that Xiao Shiyi Lang called home. But as a man, his betrayal by sleeping with the woman so willingly, not even thinking about how Shen Bijun would feel about this, indicates that such acts by men were condoned and these would never impact their heroic image. Thus through various episodes and allusions in the story, Gu Long’s statement that “men who defy their fate are heroes, while women who defy their fates are sinners,” stands proved.
As discussed above, the act of infidelity on the part of the male protagonist causes no significant harm to his reputation as a hero. On the other hand, Shen Bijun refused to sleep with another man at around the same time. Xiao Shiyi Lang also did not even know why Shen Bijun was acting strangely until Shen Bijun mentioned something, “It was then that Xiao realized why she was upset” (Gu, 313). What was more surprising was how Shen Bijun acted after Xiao Shiyi Lang admitted that he slept with the woman. Xiao Shiyi Lang did not even feel the need to offer an apology but instead said he would not sleep with another woman. Bijun remains passive about Long’s action, which signifies the attitude of the society in general and women in particular that it was not a big issue if a man commits such a betrayal. More importantly, an apology was all it took Lang to win back Bijun’s trust again. There is also a subtle irony in this that if Shen Bijun were the one that cheated on Xiao Shiyi Lang, then she would have been criticized as if she committed an unforgivable crime, while the male’s act was condoned on the premise that he had a higher purpose for sleeping with that woman. A similar connotation transpires in another scene where Shen Bijun was going to sleep with Count Carefree for the noble purpose of getting revenge for her friends and family that Count Carefree has murdered.
Xiao Shiyi Lang expressed deep hurt in what he saw and says, “Why did you do this? Why did you debase yourself like this?” (Gu, 360) to Bijun. Of course, Bijun was not even close to actually sleeping with Count Carefree and had barely taken off some of her clothes when Lang barged in. In this scene, Bijun’s action was considered a sin. On the contrary, if their positions were reversed, Lang would have been justified in what he was doing proclaiming that revenge was a noble cause for a male hero.
The disparity between gender perceptions also becomes manifest when we consider the fates of Lang and Bijun and understand how differently they are viewed. Lang was meant to live his life alone as a bandit forever and always remained on the run.
Yet when he fell in love with a married woman, he couldn’t help but betray his fate and fall in love with a woman that was out of his league. Most readers would find this charming and think Lang was just trying to have some kind of a relationship in his lonely life. While Bijun was not as well off as he was since she was already married to another man and her thinking about Lang was taboo. The different treatment of females becomes evident by the fact that society insisted that she should remain fully committed to her husband whom she loved but did not feel the same love as she did towards Lang. When Shen Bijun got back with her husband, Lian Chengbi, she couldn’t help but think about Lang in a state of regret about the constant betrayal and resultant conflict she would hurt the person she did not choose. In this case, she would be looked upon as a sinner no matter what the justifications or reasons for her deeds were.
On analyzing other male characters in the book such as Lian Chengbi, we could see the hypocrisy of his fate. Lian Chengbi was an honorable man and he would never do anything that would put his reputation at stake unless he did it very subtly so that no one would notice. Lian Chengbi’s fate kept him distant from his wife Bijun and that separation between the two caused Shen Bijun’s heart to waver towards Lang.
Lian’s passion for martial arts creates a void in the relationship between him and Bijun. He remained almost detached until he finally realized that Bijun did not love him anymore. Only then does he understand how much he truly loved her and how even he must go against his fate to win her back. Readers would sympathize with Lian and acknowledge the genuineness of his remorse since he was a devoted husband and had complete faith in Bijun. On the other hand, Bijun would not get the same level of sympathy for the vacuum in her life that she sustained for her whole life until she met Xiao Shiyi Lang.
Feng Si’niang could be seen as another case where the female would be considered a sinner when she goes against her fate. Feng Si’niang was in unrequited love with Lang while Yang Kaitai fell in love with her.
Feng betrays Yang on their wedding day by deserting him and running off with Lang and Bijun. She doesn’t follow her fate and marry Yang Kaitai (even though they get back together at the end) and, instead, chose to hang out with Lang even after knowing that he loved Bijun and not her. The reader’s typical first impression would be how could she just leave Yang Kaitai stranded and embarrassed like that. While Yang Kaitai would be the faithful lover whose perseverance eventually won her heart would be looked upon as the hero since he is going against fate by trying to marry someone that did not love him as much as he loved her.
Thus, Gu Long’s statement that unhonorable decisions that men make are viewed favorably but if women make the very same decisions, then they are viewed from a different angle, can be stated as proved in the light of the above facts. We see through such male characters such as Xiao Shiyi Lang and Lian Chengbi, that if they make decisions that do not follow their fate, they are usually easily forgiven and their status as reputable people is not challenged. On the other hand, for females, things are a little harsher and they are left with a feeling of shame when they commit some folly and their honor is at stake.
The actions of various characters and the episodes in “The Eleventh Son” thus prove that Long’s statement that “men who defy their fates are heroes. Women who defy their fates, however, are sinners” (Gu, 133) is a true fact of life.