Chinese Literature

MOTHER WANG

Lo Pin-chi

In the hilly part of Southern Shantung Hu-lung Hill does not stand so very high, but its name is very well known, because the militia the people had set up for local defence there was well-organized and very efficient. The bandit-like troops of the Kuomintang, as well as the “Home Guards” hired by the landlords, gave the hill a wide berth. Even wolves did not dare show their noses in the date groves around the place. In the dead of winter, whether it was in the small town south of the hill, or in the market-place in the valley north of it, whenever one met a militiaman with a gun over his shoulder and a dead fox dangling from his grip, one would know without asking that this man was from Hu-lung Hill.

Nowadays Hu-lung Hill is known to everybody because the mutualaid team at Big Stone Bay works so well. It owns the biggest flock of sheep, gathers the biggest harvests and its members lead the best life.

In the winter of 1951, when this team put up a building for a busyseason creche, the tales about it among the people at the foot of the mountain were many. Some said this building was like one on a beautiful picture. Some said it was even grander than the Catholic church in the town south of the mountain.

In reality, the busy-season créche of the Big Stone Bay mutual-aid team consists of two rooms only. The wall base is built of white stone. The upper part is made of red bricks that form a design. There are big windows facing south with glass panes to let in the sunlight. Though it has a thatched roof, in its environment it really does stand out.

People from the foot of Hu-lung Hill say that the building is nice; but the people from all the villages on the hill praise Mother Wang, who is the head, whenever the créche is mentioned.

Everyone who passes Big Stone Bay on his way to market knows