The first chapter of Guidi and Chuntao's "Will The Boat Sink The Water?" really sets the tone for the rest of the novel. The injustices and suffering that the Chinese peasants are put through is extremely disheartening; at times, I actually find it hard to believe that the human conscience is capable of such cruel, coldhearted treatment of fellow human beings--but I guess that's just what power and money will do to people.
They book's frist story, that of the peasant Ding Zuoming, kind of shocked me. Now, I wasn't super surprised that the peasants were being mistreated and that officials may be turning a blind eye to some of the injustices. I already knew a little bit about what peasantry might be like, just from assumptions and things I've read previously. What really shocked me, though, was the extreme degree of these injustices. I couldn't believe how corrupt the officials really were; it was disgusting. The behavior of officials, such as the Party boss or the deputy village chief, seemed almost inhuman. In fact, these officials treated the peasants as if they were not humans at all. They completely disregarded all the peasants' legal rights and exploited the fact that there was almost nothing they could do about it.
The first chapter is very appropriately named "The Martyr." From what I know, a martyr is one who honorably gives his or her life for a just cause. A sacrifice, in other words. A sacrifice is exactly what Ding Zuoming made, and a very noble one it was. Ding didn't just speak up for himself, he spoke up for his whole commune. Unfortunately, this just ended up resulting in let down after let down. I can't even imagine the feeling of deflation that the people must have felt when they were basically ignored by the township leaders and then by the county leaders as well. I think it would feel so awful to hear from these officials that the issue would be looked into and action would be took, thus getting their hopes up, and then realizing that the officials were actually not going to do anything about it at all. That fact that township leaders such as Ding Yanle took up a personal vendetta against Ding Zuoming simply for him expressing his right to demand an audit of the town books is so revolting. It is corruption, immaturity, and egocentricity at its highest degree. Did Yanle honestly think his actions were justified? How can anyone with any sense of dignity and self worth at all subject himself to such actions? It baffles me. The "fight" he picked with Ding Zuoming was ridicuolous--almost to the point of comedic value, if it weren't for the grave consequences it had on Zuoming. Anyway, I can't believe that Yanle actually got what he wanted out of that encounter. It just goes to show the level of corruption in that government system at the time. One level of government turned a blind eye, the next level turned a blind eye, etc. And all for one innocent, hard working man who wanted to help out his community.
The second story presented in this novel, the one about the Zhang Village, was even more heart wrenching and disgusting as the one about Ding Zuoming. Deputy Village Chief Zhang Guiquan is a frenzied brute. He has zero thought for anyone except himself, and he thinks nothing of devastating someone else in order to get what he wants. This chapter is again one about "martyrs." Four of them, this time. These four, Zhang Jiaquan, Zhang Jiayu, Zhang Hongchuan, and Zhang Guimao, do not break any laws, yet end up being fatally punished for trying to demand justice. The fit of rage that the deputy village chief broke into that launched the killing spree really took me by surprise. This time, the peasants' deaths weren't purely because of an act of selfishness, as was the case in the Ding Zuoming story, but they were because of Zhang Guiquan's brutish lack of control. What was he thinking? Again, I'm just failing to comprehend the logic that could possibly provoke one to do something like Guiquan did.
One of the most awful aspects of this incident (and others like it) are the ripple effects it has. Of course, we know about the tragic, unfair death's of the sacrificial peasants, but think about the kind of effect an incident like this has on family members and other people of the community. The moral of the townspeople drops to an all time low, and they may even be provoked to take up arms and go after government officials, which would obviously spell disaster for them in the future. Familes of the victims would be absolutely crippled, especially if there are no able bodied members to work the fields.
These first two chapters really did a good job of opening my eyes to the extreme oppression and mistreatment of China's peasants. Like I mentioned earlier, I already knew that they weren't treated very well, but I had no idea that it was even close to this bad. It disgusts me that one could treat fellow humans with such blatant uncaring.
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You write: "I actually find it hard to believe that the human conscience is capable of such cruel, coldhearted treatment of fellow human beings--but I guess that's just what power and money will do to people."
Not bad insight for a teenager. :-) Yes, when people treat each other in such horrible ways, it is quite an eye opener for us in America. Get outside our borders, (especially in Asia) and it becomes clear right away that the value of human life and dignity are very different than how we view things. It is sad the way they treat each other in this book, no doubt.
Such corruptions seem to occur quite frequently in China's history. It is not too far fetched that a local tax collector or mayor might be on the take (take bribes), so I would assume such activity is normal in some ways.
As for ignoring the peasants, well that is also par for the course. Obviously these folks did abuse their power though. Good connection on the Martyr play on what Ding Zuoming stood for. Great questions you raise about Yanle and his expectations for such outcomes. As you say, dire consequences though.
Zang Village does sound sad, and the barbarity of these thugs to bully their fellow villagers is quite pathetic as far as human beings go. This is the type of "mental baggage" China struggles with all the time. When we look at them and see that they don't respect human rights, this book gives us good insight as to WHY that might be, or where they are coming from.
As you rightly point out, once the villagers see what happens, they are further intimidated and fearful to act or report such behaviors. Very sad indeed.
Mr. Farrell
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