Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China — When Power Enters Private Life

Crisis in Perception · Jul 31, 2026 · 54m

History is often organized around leaders and revolutions. Wild Swans reveals what those transformations look like when they enter the body, the household, the school, and the family.

Welcome to Crisis in Perception, where we examine the systems shaping our world.

Using Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang as its lens, this Deep Dive investigates how three generations of women experienced the changing systems of twentieth-century China.

Chang’s memoir moves from foot-binding and concubinage through warlord rule, Japanese occupation, Kuomintang government, Communist revolution…