Growing up

In 1929, China was still at war. It was a very poor country and my grandmother was born at this time. My grandmother and mother experienced many things, such as wars, the government important to farming, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. What surprised me most was that in 1966, China carried out reforms which was the famous Chinese Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution initiated by the then Chinese leader Mao Zedong. This is not a good revolution. This means that knowledgeable people have suffered the most severe persecution. During the Cultural Revolution, the college entrance examination was canceled and many intellectuals were forced to settle and work in rural areas. This was the political and ideological persecution of the Chinese people at that time. My grandmother and mother were victims of this revolution. My grandmother was an ordinary housewife, and her life experience had a profound impact on me.

During the war, many people really liked boys. In 1894, Sun Yat-sen and others founded the revolutionary organization Xingzhonghui. This was the first starting point of the Kuomintang. The reason for this organization was to resist the dictatorship of the Qing Dynasty. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Communist Party and the Kuomintang began a civil war. China was very poor at the time. Many families could not raise children, and more families really liked boys. My grandmother was born at that time. I heard from my grandmother that her parents were farmers, and they were very poor farmers. My grandmother was almost sent to someone's home when she was a baby because My grandmother had an older brother. My grandmother was old enough to go to school. Due to war and poverty, my grandmother never went to school. Instead, her brother went to school because he was a boy. In 1927, Mao Zedong proposed that the victory of the war depends on the peasants. Due to the importance of agricultural policies and the influence of girls not being taken seriously, the uneducated grandmother had to become a farmer, a female farmer.

 

After the civil war, affected by the "Great Leap Forward", my grandmother had seven children. Many people don't understand why grandmothers have so many children. There are two reasons. First, in 1958, the Chinese government proposed to increase the labor force and population to increase farming production and encourage people to have more children. This policy is called the "Great Leap Forward". Many people would say that maybe my grandfather liked the Chinese government, so he agreed whit this policy. The fact was that my grandfather really liked boys . My grandmother's second child was a boy. My grandfather thought it was not enough. My mother was the seventh child. After the Great Leap Forward passed, my grandfather and grandmother moved to Shenyang with their children. My grandfather worked in a factory. My grandmother took care of seven children at home because my grandmother never went to school.

The most serious effect was the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution began in 1966. My mother was born in 1968. The Cultural Revolution lasted for ten years. My mother experienced the Cultural Revolution. My mother only has a high school diploma. Although the Cultural Revolution stopped in 1978, it still had an impact in the following years. My grandfather told my mother that learning was useless for a girl, and that she could take over my grandfather's work when she was sixteen years old. My mother study time is not to read books, she slept at class. After graduating from junior high school, my mother stopped studying and took over her father’s job. She became a worker. After graduating from elementary or junior high school, not only my mother but also her sisters started to work. Everyone becomes a minimum wage worker. As time passed, China began to pay attention to knowledge and culture. The most common saying is that knowledge changes destiny and knowledge is power. My mother missed the best time to study. So she could only be a low-paid and low-educated worker. The work in the factory is very hard. I remember when I was in elementary school, my mother always got up early to go to work, and didn't come home until I went to bed. I put a full marks paper on the table and put the certificate on the photo wall of my house. I hope to tell my mother through my various formal and full marks that I will study hard and change my life.

When I was young, my grandmother told me all of these stories about my family and the country. I was born in 1992, and at this time, the Chinese government was paying more attention to knowledge and culture. Through my grandmother's experience, I realized the importance of opportunity and knowledge. When my mother’s friend suggested that I go abroad for better development, I agreed. I succeeded, and I seized the opportunity. After I came to the United States, I never asked my family for money again, because the money I earned from work was enough to support myself and improve my family. Before I came to the United States in 2011, my grandmother passed away. She didn't see the changes I brought to her family. All my efforts are for my grandmother and mother to live a better life. They have experienced much life, and everything they have experienced has affected my life and choices.