Posted by Joseph Brouwer | Feb 26, 2021
In late 2020, China declared victory over poverty, marking the end of a five-year campaign to raise rural incomes above $600 per year. In the essay “The Countryside Through A Daughter In-Law’s Eyes,” though, Huang Deng wrote movingly about the harsh realities of life outside of China’s urban areas. The poverty alleviation campaign was intended to address some of those issues, yet significant questions remain about who, exactly, accrued the benefits. Nevertheless, in a triumphant speech given in the Great Hall of the People this week, Xi Jinping reiterated that the campaign was a complete victory. Bloomberg News provided
Posted by Josh Rudolph | Dec 23, 2020
The following essay was written by Huang Deng, an educated 46-year-old woman who married into a poor rural family. A PhD and currently the Deputy Director of Finance and Media at Guangdong University of Finance, Huang is also the daughter-in-law in a struggling country household. Her unique positioning and firsthand experience of life in two very different Chinas offers
The Countryside Through a (PhD Educated) Rural Daughter-in-law’s Eyes
Although I’ve always been wary of writing about those on the lowest rungs of society, I’m worried their voices are now being silenced like never before. When a family’s children and grandchildren can no longer have their voices heard, just like their older brothers, their narratives will never come to light. There will be no one to bear witness to their grief. And because of this, their experiences will be lost to history forever.