Life Course, Care, and Buddhist Self-Cultivation: Asymmetrical Aging in Charles Johnson’s “China”

Drawing on literary gerontology, feminist theories of care, and Buddhist thought, this article situates Charles Johnson’s “China” within historical currents and reconsiders its representation of aging in midlife. It argues that the protagonist’s Buddhist and martial arts practices recast aging as a project of self-renewal, while the gendered and racialized care labor that accompanies this project remains hermeneutically marginalized. Read alongside American literary traditions from “Rip Van Winkle” to Emerson, the story ultimately exposes the persistent tension between Buddhist relationality and American ideals of autonomous selfhood. By examining a well-studied work through an intersectional lens, the article expands the discussion of aging and demonstrates how literary imaginations of middle age can shed new light on understandings of selfhood, care, and relationality.