The people at the bottom of the Republic of China are suffering, so how bitter is it? Zhang Cuishui, who was born in Nanguan Village, Shangwang Township, Baoji, told us a real Republic of China with his personal experience.
Old photo of Shaanxi in the Republic of China
In 1918, Zhang Cuishui was born in a poor family. Poor people in the Republic of China period can be poor enough to have only one life left. The Zhang family is very poor, the poor can not withstand the toss, Zhang Cuishui was 5 years old, his father had a serious illness, two years of bedridden. The man is the pillar of the family, in order to cure the disease, the Zhang family sold all the things that could be sold, and it was difficult to scrape together some money to cure Zhang Cuishui and his father's illness.
If people are unlucky, they will plug their teeth when they drink cold water. The Zhang family had just suffered a major disaster, and before they could slow down, something had happened again. At that time, bandits were everywhere, and landlords and gentry formed vigilante groups in order to preserve their family property. Vigilantes and bandits fight back and forth, often fighting and killing. That year, a group of bandits robbed the Rutted River Militia, and the militia could not swallow this breath, and they searched around in a menacing manner to hunt down the bandits.
In fact, the vigilante groups do not dare to confront the bandits, and the so-called "search for and arrest of bandits" is nothing more than going to the homes of ordinary people to smash and grab and catch some oil and water. When the vigilante group searched Nanguan Village, they did not know who falsely accused Zhang Cuishui of his father, saying that he was a bandit. The serious illness was just right, and this was taken away by the vigilante group again.
The vigilante group tied people to Baoji, tortured them severely, and could not tell the bandits' information, so they ransomed people with money. The Zhang family now has four walls, and they can't get any money out. The vigilante group had a hard time arresting people back, but they didn't get anything, and in a fit of anger, they beat Zhang Cuishui and his father to death.
When Zhang Cui's jellyfish and daughter heard the news, they hugged each other and cried to death.
Republic of China beggars
When people die, they have to be pulled back and buried. However, the mother and daughter were penniless, and they couldn't even get enough dry food to Go to Baoji, so how to pull the corpse back? There was no way but to find a way to support themselves first. His mother began to spin threads for others, and Zhang Cuishui herded cattle for the landlord's family, but he could barely starve to death.
In 1929, there was a great famine. The drought in Shaanxi began in 1927 and was most severe in 1929, with people displaced and starving. In order not to starve to death, eleven-year-old Zhang Cuishui was sold by her mother to The Three Ridges Mountain to be a child bride for a man named Yan Wenke, who was eleven years old that year. Full of thought that they could eat enough to eat at other people's homes, who knew that Yan Wenke's family had a hard time, and it wasn't long before people felt that they couldn't afford to raise this child daughter-in-law, and they sent it back.
There was no way, the mother and daughter each "beat the dog stick" and went out to beg for food. There were many disaster-stricken places nearby, and there was no food, so they went farther and farther away to beg in Huixian and Chengxian counties in Gansu.
As soon as the waxing moon arrived, the cold wind outside was biting, and it was not easy to beg for food. Fortunately, a large local family needed a maid, and Zhang Cuishui's mother went there, at least to earn a mouthful of food. What about Zhang Cuishui? Continue begging on the street. It was so cold outside, and the eleven- or twelve-year-old girl, who was so hungry all day, didn't even have the strength to catch up with the wild dogs in the alley, and was bitten all over the body.
I really couldn't stand it, that day Zhang Cuishui hugged her mother's leg and cried that she would never beg for food again. If you can't eat, you can't starve to death, right? The owner of the family, whose mother worked, sold Zhang Cuishui to Tongdongyu and gave the eldest son of the landlord Wang Hongkui as a child bride.
When I arrived at the landlord's house, life was not good.
Rural women in Shaanxi, Republic of China
When she came to Wang Hongkui's house, although she could eat, the hostess looked down on this child bride. Zhang Cuishui is not good-looking, coupled with the perennial wind and sun, he can't eat enough, and he is dark and thin. Wang Hongkui's wife looked at this child bride and became more and more embarrassed, and she was unhappy and scolded.
Zhang Cuishui couldn't stand the scolding and abuse, so he ran away at night, ate and slept all the way, and returned to his mother. When the mother and daughter met, they hugged and cried, Zhang Cuishui told her about her experience, and after her mother listened, she was completely desperate. The husband was beaten to death, the daughter had nowhere to go, and even begged for food was chased and bitten by the dog, what is the hope for this day?
The mother could not bear that Zhang Cuishui did not have a mother, and she still had to live, so she went to the mountains and became a nun. Zhang Cuishui could not enter the nunnery, so he could only continue to beg for food, and when he had time, he would go into the mountain to see his mother. However, the mountain road is not easy to walk, Zhang Cuishui is busy begging every day, and rarely has the opportunity to see his mother.
Later, Zhang Cuishui was fierce and returned to his hometown. After all, there are still some relatives in the hometown, zhang Cuishui let people help introduce, to work in the rich family. In order to stutter, she worked hard, carrying water, chopping firewood, and was willing to do heavy work, and finally she could eat enough.
When he was fourteen years old, Zhang Cuishui was tall and strong, and he could support himself by working in a rich family. Unexpectedly, the third uncle suddenly came to the door and said that he would let her become a child bridesmaid. Doesn't Zhang Cuishui know how bitter the child bride is? She didn't want to go, so she didn't say a word and ran away.
Running to The New Street in one breath, Zhang Cuishui sat on a large rock, the more he thought about it, the more sad he became, and he couldn't help but cry. At this moment, a fourteen or five-year-old boy drove a mule to sell grain in other places, Zhang Cuishui thought, girls go out to work is really troublesome, why not "women dress up as men"?
Zhang Cuishui did not hesitate to find someone to cut his own hair and changed his name to Zhang Deshui.
Rural women in the Republic of China
Becoming a "boy", Zhang Cuishui was much more convenient to find a job, and he first went to the home of a landlord surnamed Wang in Xinjie as a long-term worker. There are many long-term workers in the Wang family, and Zhang Cuishui must not only hide his identity, but also work hard and work hard. She and the others worked together to cultivate the land, collect grain, cut firewood, and do all the heavy work, and did it for three years.
However, the landlord's heart is fierce, Zhang Cuishui gets up early and works greedily, never calls for grievance, and in his eyes is an honest person who is a good bully. Because the landlord scolded from time to time, Zhang Cuishui couldn't stand it, plus it was close to his hometown, maybe one day he would be recognized, just leave.
She heard that the people in the Beishan area of Longxian County were better, so she went there. It was late autumn, and zhang Cuishui could only temporarily work in a mule and horse shop when he encountered rainy days halfway through. After working like this for three months in a row, the treasurer of the mule and horse shop saw that this Zhang Deshui was good and could bear hardships, so he persuaded him to stay and work for a long time.
Zhang Cuishui thought about it, the mule and horse shop was full of people all day, there were people in the south and north of the sky, and he was a seventeen-year-old girl, who was easy to be recognized. Therefore, she still left the mule and horse shop and ran to Baishi Village in Hebei Township, Longxian County, to give Zonghua a long-term worker. The landlord's family already has four long-term workers, all of them are men, Zhang Cuishui in order to hide his identity, everything is followed by these four long-term workers, how others work, how she works, others smoke dry tobacco, she also smokes dry tobacco, others flirt with women, she also follows two sentences.
"Women dressed as men" is not easy, Zhang Cuishui worked hard, tired and sick.
Landlord gentry of the Republic of China
Even so, the landlord was still unhappy, always felt that the long-term workers were lazy, and scolded when they were not happy. Zhang Cuishui is also a character who does not recognize it, and cannot stand scolding. That winter, the landlord's family did not have much work, and the long-term workers did not have much to do. One night, the landlord was unhappy and grabbed Zhang Cuishui and scolded him. Zhang Cuishui's temper also came up, and he drew out the long cigarette bag pot in his waist and smashed it towards the landlord's head!
The landlord was beaten to the head and bled, screamed, was angry, and did not pay Zhang Cuishui for his work. If you don't give it, don't give it, Zhang Cuishui doesn't want to do it yet. Coincidentally, during this time, other long-term workers also sensed that Zhang Cuishui was not quite right, and she simply came out of the landlord's house and married Li Yinxiang, who worked as a long-term worker.
As long as it is still the old society, the poor people will not have a good life. After Zhang Cuishui got married, she worked hard with her husband, but every time La Zhuangding had her husband's name, as soon as her husband left, the family all relied on her to carry, which was still very hard.
It wasn't until after liberation that Zhang Cuishui really lived a good life. She divided up the land and became a representative of the people of the county, and the suffering experiences of the old society were widely reported by newspapers and radio. Her experience was also written into the language textbooks of the time, and even written into a script and performed everywhere.
In 1972, Zhang Cuishui died of cerebral hemorrhage. Her experience tells us how bitter the people of the Republic of China period lived.
Therefore, don't think that the Republic of China is a fan of wind and snow, paper drunk gold fans, the vast majority of ordinary people, can not live that kind of life.