On the Ground in China

Hello all. My name is Miao Bing Rong I was born in 1910 on November 28 and I am Currently in my second year of college at Shanghai University. I come from a very large family. I have five older sisters and two younger brothers. I don’t see much of my older sisters due to them living with their husbands families. My grandparents died before I was born so I never got the chance to meet them, but my father would tell me stories of my grandfathers strength and toughness, and my grandmothers kindness and generosity. Moving on, my two younger brothers, my Mother, and my Father and I live right outside Shanghai in a small village called Qing Ziang. Qing Ziang is a poor farming village where my father works as a rice farmer. I grew up very poor and the only reason I am able to attend college is because my father sold all five of my sisters to their husbands who happened to come from much wealthier families. My mother spends her days taking care of the house and my baby brother. I am proud to say that I am the first member of my family to attend college and my brothers will follow in my footsteps. Not many people from my village are able to attend college, and because of that, many men from my village have offered their daughters up to me for marriage. However, I feel now is not the time to be worried about marriage, that will come after I conclude my studies.

At Shanghai University I am studying politics and one day hope to be a high ranking officer for the Chinese military. I have always wanted to bring pride to not only my family, but to all of china and I believe that this path will help me achieve that goal. However, at this time in my life I believe reporting on events occurring all across China will not only be helpful to people, but I believe that my writings will become an absolute necessity to people rich and poor to help understand what is truly going on in china in the coming years. My whole life has brought me to this point and I will not let my family and the people of china be disappointed.

Miao Bing Rong

Sept 14, 1931 – My name is Zhu Baozhai and I am a 19 year old girl born in 1913. Growing up in the rural plains surrounding Chengdu, my father sold farming equipment. Though in past generations my family had also farmed, this new family business has brought us wealth in a time of such industry. I am the only daughter of my parents’ seven children, and so far we have four generations living with us in the home with my grandmother and eldest brother’s wife and daughter, which is quite honorable.

 My parents found it best that I attend university in the city to meet a well-educated future husband, particularly with connections to the international market, as my father sees it necessary for prosperity in our changing times. I am attending Huaxi University as it has good international opportunities, and I seek to study language, history and journalism. Though fine arts is a passion of mine and said to be more befitting of women than writing, my father does not see it as practical. I am unsure about the Christian faculty at Huaxi University, but they do not seem to make so much distinction between male and female students, which is a surprise after my schooling back home.

I have taken this job as a reporter to record what is happening in China during this tumultuous period. With our history of longstanding dynasties, each political shift is incredibly important. So recently have we seen encroachment from foreigners, and there are concerns about what Japan has planned. 

Welcome to my blog! My name is Zeng Yongzheng and I am 20 years old today! I was born to a modest family in a small rural village by the name of Xinghua. My family is very close and I am struggling being away from them. Back in Xinghua, I lived with my lovely mother, father, and my two grandparents who are too old to live by themselves. Xinghua is a farming village where we work from sun up to sun down trying to make ends meet. It was very demanding work and education opportunities were incredibly limited. Luckily my father thought education was very important for a young man like me, so my father made incredible sacrifices in order to provide me with the opportunity to attend local schools.

After discovering my love for writing, I took a huge leap of faith and embarked on a tough journey to become a writer while enrolled in university in the daunting big city of Beijing. Life in the big city was a scary change of pace from my quiet humble beginnings of working in the fields. The massive amounts of people and activities has been overwhelming yet exciting. The only thing that is important to me is making my father proud and taking advantage of the opportunities he has given me.

You may ask yourself, “hey Zeng Yongzheng, why leave your family behind and attempt to create a career in journalism during such a dangerous time in our country?” Honestly, to that question I will tell you that I am still attempting to find that answer out for myself. I guess the biggest thing to me is making my family proud and representing those impoverished families who have no voice for themselves (like my own). In our nation, we are undergoing massive political and social changes with the leadership of Mao. My background as the son of a farmer who has begun to experience the life in the big city and university, I believe I can offer a unique opportunity to help bridge the gap between the ones on the country side and the ones walking the streets of cities like Beijing. I hope to be a voice for the ordinary Chinese man who wants change.

I hope that you can follow along with my journey as I attempt to report on what is truly going on in our country!

See you next time,

Zeng Yongzheng

Hello everyone! My name is Miao Kuo shuo, and I am currently in my final year of university in Beijing. I was born in 1908 in a small town just outside of Beijing, and lived there for my entire life. I am the oldest of four children, I have two younger brothers and a younger sister. My little brothers are intelligent, but quite rambunctious and my little sister is my best friend and will hopefully follow in my footsteps and attend university as well. My family is not extremely wealthy by any means, but my parents are well-off enough to support our educational and professional endeavors rather than solely pushing us towards early marriages, like many of my childhood friends. My father is a merchant, and makes a steady living in the trade. My mother does an excellent job running our household and helping my father with his business. She is also an extremely talented artist, creating and selling pottery. My mother did not attend school, but she was educated by her mother, a tradition in her family. They desired that I have a traditional education, the same as my brothers could have and encouraged me to attend university. Though my paternal grandparents are a little more traditional, they have realized it is no use to tell me to settle down and find a husband right now. They’ve instead directed that focus towards my younger sister (not if I can help it!). 

 

At university I am studying political science, with an emphasis on foreign languages. I have become proficient in French and German, and am trying to learn a little English on the side. I have loved learning about the education systems in other nations, and am interested in seeing how similar ideals could be applied in more rural areas of my country, particularly for young women. I accepted this job because I’m entering my final year of university and feel that I need more experience to take into the real world upon receiving my diploma. I’ve been financing my education through my job at a grocery store, but this will provide me the opportunity to put my education to use. I understand that we live in a tumultuous time, and it is especially dangerous for a young woman to report on controversial issues, but these stories need to be told. 

Hello, my name is Cui Shuli! I was born August 28th, 1911. My family and I live in Anyang in the Henan Province. I am the youngest of four children, with two older brothers and one sister. My father inherited a successful wheat farm from his father, which my two brothers and other local farmers help run. Since my grandparents have both passed, my mother runs our household with the help of my two sisters-in-law. My older sister was recently married off to a young man living in the city of Xinxiang. Given that I am the youngest daughter of a relatively well-off family, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Beijing University and pursue my studies in journalism. 

Watching the cycle of my monotonous domesticity that my grandmother, mother, sisters-in-law, and now my beloved sister have endured has inspired me to carve a different path for myself. During these trying times, I am willing to risk my safety to change the traditional ways that have subjugated women for centuries. Hopefully, writing for On the Ground in China will raise awareness of the growing issues in Chinese society.

 

Greetings, 

 

My name is Gao An Zhi and I am a 19-year-old man. I was born in 1911, the year of the Pig. I was born and raised in a small town in Hunan province but moved here to Beijing last year to begin my studies at Peking University. I come from a middle-class family. My father worked as a trader who spent many months at a time away by the coasts. My mother was a seamstress and spent much of her time sewing together clothes for farmers. I have 5 siblings, 2 older brothers and one older sister, along with 2 younger sisters. My 2 older brothers finished their university studies last year, but both have fallen ill after consuming contaminated water. There is now even more pressure on me to carry on my father’s name as I am the only one capable of studying and working. My grandfather, who spent his life working as a school teacher, passed away in 1904. My grandmother is still alive and lives at our family home. 

 

I saw a paper flyer hung up in my university’s canteen looking for young students like myself interested in writing about their experiences during this unique time in our history. Times right now are tough, we have been stuck in a cycle for hundreds of years that has not permitted those of us who are less fortunate to move up in the social ladder and I envision myself as taking part in changing that. I want to write about how I see China being able to transform itself. I believe that so much can be done to change the ways in which we as a country operate. I am very passionate about politics and history and spend my free moments reading just about anything I can get my hands on.  As a young person living alone and far away from my home, I want to make my family proud and carry on my father’s name through my journalism. I look forward to sharing my experiences with you, the reader in the coming months and years. 

 

Until next time, 

 

Gao An Zhi

一九三一年，九月十四日，

你们好！欢迎我的在线期刊！我叫孙诚。我十九岁和我住在广州上大学。我家人住在成都。我的爸爸妈妈都医生在成都的医院。我出生于一九一二年。我有一个弟弟叫孙寒。他出生于十九十五年。我弟弟是我的非常好的朋友所以我在大上学的时候我想念他和我的家人。…

 

September 14, 1931,

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! My name is 孙诚 (sūn chéng). I am 19 years old and am living in Guangzhou while going to university. My family is from Chengdu, where both of my parents are doctors at a local hospital. I was born in 1912, and I have a younger brother named 孙寒 (sūn hán) who was born in 1915. He is one of my best friends, and I miss him and my family very much when I am away from home at school. I am very lucky to have been born into a family that does not have to worry too much about money. Both of my parents have worked very hard for their entire lives in order to give my brother and I the opportunity to leave home and study. We value education so strongly because it is what allowed my parents to escape poverty and make a successful life for themselves and their children. While I miss my family very much, I take my studies very seriously as I do not want to let them down.

I am currently studying history and politics at university in Guangzhou. I have always been interested in the history of China as well as the world. Through my studies, I have noticed the changes that have taken place over the decades and centuries in both China and the rest of the world. Everything seems to be shifting away from what was a more traditional system of the past. Just in my time growing up, I have noticed a great many changes in the system here in China. I believe that our nation is on the brink of something big, and I took this job as an opportunity to report on these changes from the perspective of someone who has grown up through the initial changes, and will continue to live and experience the change that is almost inevitable to come in the near future.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little about me. I can’t wait to publish more soon!

孙诚

 

Hello! I am Ran Ang-Rui, born in 1912. Currently, I am a college student in Beijing, a bit rare for women like me from my hometown. I come from a family of farmers in Shaoshan, Hunan, China who do well enough for themselves. I have three older brothers, the last of whom just got married so my house was getting pretty crowded with both of my parents still alive and grandchildren on the way. One of my brothers just graduated from university and even found his wife while at school, so my impressed parents agreed to let me leave and go to school on the condition that I pay for part of my education by myself, hence me taking this job. 

Coming to the city after spending my entire life in a rural area has been eye-opening to not only the problems China is facing right now but also the possible solutions for them. I’m interested to see how my classes in school support or refute what I’ve been told growing up about China and its history. College has given me the chance to hear many opinions about national issues, even the less conservative ones that don’t usually make it back to my village. The tension in the city is palpable and I’m concerned that this talk of revolution will cause more problems than it will solve for my country. As a woman especially, I can see that some big changes need to be made here but I’m worried about the dangers along the road to a more egalitarian society.

Hello, my name is Hu Fan and I would like to share a little about myself. Born on April 1st, 1911,  I grew up in Dongzhou, a coastal subdistrict in the Guangdong province. I lived with my father, a seasoned fisherman who ventured into the sea to provide for our family. My mother would also contribute to our livelihood by selling her embroidered goods. She would also manage the household along with my grandmother. My grandfather passed away before I was born. I think that saddened my father, as my grandfather seemingly had a large legacy in our family, but my father valiantly tried to shield us from his sorrow. We are not affluent but we made enough to get by. My younger sister is married and lives with her husband. Her marriage strengthened our family allowing me to attend college. I am currently attending school in Guangzhou studying psychology. I want to learn about my country, the part I never saw living in the countryside. Also being a reporter will help me with my psychology studies. I am willing to take the risk of reporting in such a treacherous time as I believe in uncovering the truth. I am concerned for the future of our nation, I hear the rumblings of change and worry that a drastic revolution will cause the shaky ground that we stand on will collapse. Thank you for reading.

 

Hi,

My name is Mi Man Tian and I am a 19-year-old college student at Sichuan University. I was born into a very well-off family, both my parents’ Mi Fang (Father) and Mi Ying (Mother) are doctors at the local hospital. I have a younger brother still in upper secondary school in Chengdu where we live. I also have an older sister who is also in university at the University of Electronic Science and Technology in Chengdu. She excels at math and science just like she always has and has aspirations to become a doctor to follow in the footsteps of our parents. My grandparents passed when I was young so never had a relationship with them but I was told they were from rural Wenjingjiangzhen just on the outskirts of the province of Sichuan. As I’ve alluded to I am from Chengdu in the province of Sichuan, it is a city that is a top wealthiest city in China.

The reason I chose to become a reporter during this time in the nation is because education was highly valued in our family, and my parents instilled a deep love for learning in us. I attended the local school my father attended and he made sure I knew the importance of education. We poured over classical texts, studied calligraphy, and debated the writings of Confucius and Sun Tzu. In 1932, China was at a crossroads, facing political instability and the impending threat of war. As I grew older, I became increasingly aware of the larger world around me. I big part of that is my grandparents having to be a peasant farmer and it took my father leaving his village to provide a comfortable life for our family. My dream was to become a diplomat and contribute to China’s future on the international stage as well as to inform the public about the many failures of Confucianism with accurate and unbiased information, empowering them to make informed decisions in this system where information is often tightly controlled or manipulated by those in power.

I hope in the coming years I can provide such information for you the readers and inspire real change in Chinese society.