The content of this article is based on authoritative historical data, and there are citations at the end of the article.
At the end of a remote mountain village in Chengxian County, Longnan City, there is a castle made of waste standing, silently telling an untold story.
There, Zhang Suying devoted five years of hard work, working tirelessly every day to sort out usable stones and broken prefabricated slabs from nearby garbage dumps.
But when her dream project was finally nearing completion, why was her hopes shattered in an instant by a government notice? In the face of the sudden blow of fate, how should Zhang Suying respond?
Zhang Suying, wearing an old cotton jacket, stepped into this small mountain village along the mountain road in Chengxian County. She walked firmly, and with a few worn-out pieces of luggage and a black earth dog, she found a land that had been abandoned for a long time. Far from the centre of the village, the area is overgrown with weeds, the land is barren and almost uninhabited.
She began to clear the wasteland, turning the hard soil with her hoe and removing weeds and stones. After a few days of hard work, the weeds on that land were cleared and revealed for what they were.
Subsequently, Zhang Suying set up a simple tent on the cleared land as a temporary residence.
Zhang Suying starts her daily routine every morning, first going to the abandoned garbage dump not far away. The dump is filled with all kinds of construction waste, from broken bricks to discarded asbestos tiles, which have become a resource for her to build her home.
She searches the rubble for the right material, and whenever she finds a suitable prefabricated slab or a stone of the right size, she stops and tests her hands to see if the material can be used again.
The rocks she chooses are usually harder granite or river pebbles, which provide good support and stability in the building.
She is especially careful with asbestos tiles, because although the material is lightweight and waterproof, it is also fragile. Prefabricated panels, on the other hand, are often used as the main structure of walls or roofs due to their large area and load-bearing capacity.
Each time she carried these heavy loads, Zhang Suying had to tie them up with hemp rope or old strips of cloth, and then carry the heavy load and walk slowly down the gravel road from the dump back to her residence.
It's not a long journey, but every step is challenging for a woman who carries a heavy burden on her own. Still, she persevered in completing these heavy tasks every day.
Once she arrives at her residence, Jang will begin her other job: making mud. She would take a large iron bucket and go to a nearby creek to fetch water.
The water of this small river is clear, which is suitable for mud preparation. After filling the bucket with water, she carefully moved the bucket to a flat place and began to add the soil to the river. The soil in this area is soft and fertile, rich in clay, which is ideal for making construction mud.
The process of making mud requires careful mixing of soil and water to ensure the viscosity and stability of the mud. Zhang Suying will stir repeatedly with a shovel until the mud is uniform and grainy.
When she's done, she'll start using the mud to build the walls with the stones and prefabricated slabs she has at hand. She uses simple tools such as levels and mallets to ensure that each stone is placed in the correct position evenly.
This process is time-consuming and requires precise technical and physical support. Zhang Suying was alone in measuring, adjusting, and even trimming the stones and prefabricated slabs to ensure that the structural pieces would fit perfectly.
The walls she built were gradually raised, and the completion of each floor marked one step closer to the completion of her home.
With Zhang Suying's unremitting efforts, the humble residence, which was originally only one floor, has gradually expanded into a three-story structure. She used the same materials and techniques for the construction of each floor, ensuring overall stability and aesthetics.
As the height of the house increased, she had to climb up and down every day, carrying more stones and prefabricated slabs, which undoubtedly increased her physical exertion and difficulty in her work.
During the construction of the second floor, Zhang Suying fixed the foundation of the first floor with more prefabricated slabs and reinforced the walls with mud and stones. This layer not only has to keep the structure strong, but also to ensure that the lower layer can withstand the weight of the upper layer.
In the process, she used wire and wooden stakes to make supports to ensure that the walls would not collapse during construction.
When building the third floor, Zhang Suying faced more challenges. She needed to build an improvised scaffolding so she could work safely in a higher position.
She used the trees around the village to cut down some long, straight branches to use as support. She then fastened the branches to the wall, creating a solid working platform.
Although Zhang Suying's construction work was very heavy, she handled every detail very carefully. She left space for the windows on each floor, using leftover asbestos tiles to make window frames that not only let in light, but also protect them from wind and rain.
With each additional layer, she reassesses the stability of the entire structure, making sure that all the pieces are firmly connected together.
Zhang Suying's presence in the village has always been independent and marginal. Her home sits on the edge of the village, far from where most of the villagers live.
In her daily life, Zhang Suying rarely participates in group activities in the village, such as village celebrations or joint labor. She spends most of her time on her own construction projects, moving materials from dumps or tinkering and improving them at home.
Although she kept her distance from the villagers, she always maintained a polite attitude towards them. When villagers occasionally pass by her home, she stops what she is doing, nods her head, and continues her work.
The children of the village would sometimes stand curiously from a distance and watch her manipulate the intricate tools and materials, waving to them, occasionally bringing a small stone or broken wooden board out of the toolbox for the children to play with.
In a rare interaction, Zhang Suying's daughter travels from the city to this remote village, hoping to convince her mother to return home. The daughter was very worried when she saw her mother living alone in such a difficult environment.
They had a long conversation at Zhang Suying's home, and the daughter tried to explain the convenience and comfort of city life, as well as the thoughts and care of her family. But although Zhang Suying listened to her daughter's words, she finally decided to stay in the home she had built with her heart's work.
Ms. Zhang's choice sparked some whispered discussion in the village. Although the villagers expressed varying degrees of understanding and respect for her choice, they were also curious about the decision to stick to living alone.
Her lifestyle and persistence became a topic of discussion in the village, especially on winter evenings, when the villagers gathered to warm up, and would mention this strong woman to discuss her pursuit of freedom and independent attitude to life.
In 2017, the arrival of director Meng Xiaowei brought a little change to Zhang Suying's life. The director took a keen interest in her story and documented through his lens Jang So-young's interactions with the village, with nature, and with the home he had built.
Meng Xiaowei spent several days photographing Zhang Suying's daily life, including how she maintains her house, how she collects materials around the village, and the occasional exchange between her and the villagers.
During this time, Zhang Suying's life seems to have been magnified, and her persistence and attitude to life have been demonstrated through the director's lens.
Meng Xiaowei's camera not only captures her work scenes, but also records her surroundings and other aspects of the village, connecting an independent and strong woman to the social environment in which she lives, showing a unique and authentic state of life.
At the end of 2018, Zhang Suying's home, the three-story "castle" she built single-handedly, was almost completed.
She spent five years on her own on the edge of the village, gradually transforming the waste materials she had collected into a sturdy and unique place to live. However, just as she was about to enjoy the fruits of her labor, misfortune struck.
The local government's urban and rural planning department discovered Ms. Zhang's house during a routine inspection. After review, her home was found to be an unapproved illegal building. Government officials and law enforcement teams soon arrived at the scene, and Zhang Suying's "castle" was ordered to be demolished.
Within a few days, the stone and prefabricated slab walls she had built with her own hands over the years were torn down, and the fruits of her hard work were reduced to rubble.
In this sudden change, Zhang Suying was placed in a rescue station in the city. It is a place dedicated to providing temporary accommodation for the homeless, providing basic life support and medical care.
Despite the best efforts of the staff to help, life at the shelter was particularly limited for Ms. Zhang, who was accustomed to living independently.
One night, when everyone else at the aid station had already fallen asleep, Zhang Suying saw an opportunity and quietly slipped out of her room.
She made her way through the long hallway, climbed over the fence with her hands and fled the aid station. She didn't have a specific destination, but just followed the route from memory to her demolished home.
Despite the late day and the cold temperature, Zhang Suying resolutely walked through the streets of the city and then onto the country roads.
She walked through the fields, crossed the creek, climbed over the low hedge, and the familiar sights along the way made her both heartbroken and resolute. Eventually, after walking about five kilometers, she arrived at the place where the home she had worked so hard to build was located.
It was in ruins, and the walls and roof she had built herself were now scattered stones and broken planks.
Standing in the midst of the ruins, Zhang Suying carried her few pieces of luggage, smoked a cigarette, and looked around in silence. Although her "castle" no longer exists, her resolve has not changed.
At this moment, a passing villager saw her figure standing in the ruins and asked curiously, "Zhang Suying, where are you going?" This sentence broke the silence of the night and also brought Zhang Suying back to her senses from her memories. She didn't answer, just raised her head, looked firmly ahead, and continued on her path.
LI Dongdong,SU Tao. Philosophical Interpretation of Zhang Suying's "Castle"[J].Audiovisual Studies,2023(9):98-101