Heroism is a quality that betters humanity in a way that people respect. People who carry this characteristic throughout their day to day lives show selflessness and better humanity seldom for personal reward. Chai Ling is a Chinese woman that has shown these qualities starting from when she was very young. Ling was born during the time of China’s cultural revolutions (AllGirlsAllowed.com). Growing up, Ling’s father and mother both served as doctors in the Chinese army and the family highly supported communism. The heroism shown in Chai Ling’s acts begin early on in her young adult life, through to starting an amazing corporation to save lives, and continuing on in the courage of never seeing her family again. Ling’s adventures in heroism begin when she finds herself at Beijing University. There, she discovered a love for protest politics and found her husband, Feng Congde (Library of International Biographies). As said in World Book Student, Tiananmen Square is located in the center of Beijing and was the site of a major student rebellion against the country in the 1980s. Ling had seen the action going on with the rebellion at Tiananmen Square and joined in the protest. Many others joined, making the numbers reach over a million students. Ling had started as one of those who walked amongst the crowds, making sure their protesting remained peaceful. In doing so, Ling had already shown great selflessness in walking through at least a million people and giving up rest, only to ensure that the protests remained peaceful. During the protesting, the students decided it would be beneficial to have leaders, so as to keep the students motivated towards their goal. Ling had not wanted to be in this position, but her peers had voted her in and she had gracefully taken the job. Ling had absolutely no desire in being the one to speak, but in doing so, she gracefully and charismatically changed the lives of the students in Tiananmen Square. Ling’s college life completely influenced the way many of those students protested, showing great selfless acts of heroism. Another way Chai Ling shows heroic acts in her life is due to the fact of what happened after the Tiananmen Square rebellion. One of the things Ling had to do in order to stay safe was stay in hiding for many months. For almost ten months after the rebellion, Ling had to stay away from her husband, and all of her friends and family, till she could ensure she could get away to America safely (Ling 201-220). For any woman, being away from their husband for that long would never seem possible with little to no contact. Being able to do so showed the courage this woman had in order to keep her loved ones safe. Also after the rebellion, America seemed the only safe place. Ling and her husband, Feng, knew that once they left for the States, never again would they be able to return to China to visit their families. Any person would find this amazing, that no contact or visitation to their families would kill them emotionally. Chai and Feng knew exactly what they were doing and what the consequences would be and they took
