Wow, talk about a complicated family history. My mom has told me a bit about China and my great-grandparents before but I just learned a whole lot more.
My parents are from Canton, China, a city next to Guangzhou, China. I knew they were very poor and lived in very rundown houses that couldn't even really be called houses. I went to visit China about 7 years ago and they looked more like shacks than houses. I also saw the small village where my mom lived in before she moved out into the city and man oh man was it a scene. Not in a good way. I'm sure it's gotten worst since they moved out because most of the people have moved on and only some elderly people stayed there but, it couldn't have been any better.
Awhile ago, my mom told me about what happened during the extremely hard times in China. A long time ago, maybe 40 years or so ago (guessing this since my mom said this was when she was a kid), people that owned any property or land were considered somewhat wealthy. The government would take this property away or punish the owners. My great-grandfather from my dad's side was shot to death; my great-grandfather from my mom's side was forced to kneel on broken glass and starved to death; and my grandfather from my dad's side committed suicide due to some pretty messed up personal matters.
My mom also told me that her and her sisters were bullied in school and around the village because of this "property-owning" issue. They would always be taunted by kids, getting called "property owner daughters." One of my aunts only had one shirt to wear and it was a patterned shirt. Bullies would throw stones at her and say that she was always wearing the same stupid shirt and the stupid patterns were hurting their eyes, making them dizzy. The crops that they grew were also stomped on by other people -- WHILE they were standing there. Same with peanuts and whatever snacks they had -- they would just take them...while my mom and her family where standing right there!
I'm sure there's a whole lot more ancestor history and drama to learn about..the drama hasn't even stopped now. But then again, which family doesn't have a complicated, drama-filled history? There's that saying: "You don't know what happens behind closed doors of every family."
I'm off to take a nap, considering I've been up since 4am. Then off to school again in a couple hours.
Have a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment