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Book: The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China From the Bottom Up by Liao Yiwu
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Authors: Liao Yiwu
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saying that this was the residence of the village leper. Dr. Sun ignored his advice. The hut's thatched roof was blackened by decay, several parts of the clay walls had collapsed, and on a bench outside there sat an elderly couple, astonished at the sight of a visitor. The man's name was Zhang Zhi-en and the woman was his wife. Dr. Sun told me their story and I decided to interview them. After hours of driving on a winding, red-dirt mountain road, I found Zhang sitting in his yard, dozing off in the sun.
LIAO YIWU: How old are you?
ZHANG ZHI-EN: I was born in the year of the sheep. So I should be seventy-five this year. This is my new wife. She is a horse—seventy-six years old.
LIAO: How long have you lived here?
ZHANG: Oh, for many years. I used to live down in Shimenkan at the foot of the mountain. But the village people didn't allow me to get close to them. They said I was contagious. So I just moved up here. Before Dr. Sun visited us, we hadn't talked to a living person for years.
LIAO: How did you contract leprosy?
ZHANG: My bad luck started when I accidentally killed a snake. I don't remember what year it was. I think it was before Deng Xiaoping came to power and began to give some land back to peasants from the collective farms.
LIAO: Deng's economic reform started in the late seventies.
ZHANG: OK. Early one morning I went to the mountain to dig some herbs so I could sell them at the local market. I used to make my living that way. As I was climbing, one of my feet caught on a piece of rock and I fell. While I struggled to get up, I spotted a wild azalea near my foot. The azalea root is a type of rare herb and it can sell for big bucks. So I took a berry hoe out of my backpack and carefully dug around the plant. It turned out the root was quite fat, worth a lot of money. While I was lost in happy thoughts, a snake darted out from the bushes and wrapped its body around the azalea root. It had rough brownish skin, and I saw that it was what we called a Ma snake. I was startled and began to shake. Before the snake had a chance to attack, I hacked at it with the hoe. I missed its head the first time but cut its tail off. The snake's tongue darted out and it writhed in pain. I aimed my hoe at its head and whacked it a couple more times. When I was sure the snake was dead, I dug out the azalea root and went home.
Soon after, I began to be haunted by the experience. My skin itched and I felt cold all the time. I wore a cotton-padded coat even in the middle of summer. I tried all sorts of herbs, hoping to find a cure for myself. Nothing worked. One day, I went to buy some salt at the nearby market and bumped into the head of the collective farm. When he saw that I was shivering with cold in the summer sun, he asked what was wrong. I said I was possessed by the spirit of the Ma snake.
He was shocked and his face turned ugly. Those Ma snakes are holy creatures. They're dragons on earth! It's a taboo to kill them. You're doomed.
LIAO: Doomed?
ZHANG: The collective-farm leader began to spread all sorts of rumors about my disease. Since Ma snakes sound similar to leprosy,
mafengbing
in Chinese, he told people that I was suffering from leprosy. He contacted the local leprosy clinic, but their damn doctor didn't even want to get close to me. He examined me from five feet away and said I was suffering from leprosy. I tried to argue with him. He said, Look at your face. It's as pale as ashes. If you don't have leprosy, what else can it be?
Several militiamen from the village put on face masks and gloves and dragged me to the local leprosy sanatorium. I went through several tests and everything seemed to be normal, but they wouldn't allow me to leave. Instead they assigned me to work in the kitchen, where I ended up cooking for other patients for four years. Eventually the director of the hospital realized that it was against Party policy to lock a healthy person inside a leprosy hospital. So they let me out.
LIAO: Did
LIAO YIWU: How old are you?
ZHANG ZHI-EN: I was born in the year of the sheep. So I should be seventy-five this year. This is my new wife. She is a horse—seventy-six years old.
LIAO: How long have you lived here?
ZHANG: Oh, for many years. I used to live down in Shimenkan at the foot of the mountain. But the village people didn't allow me to get close to them. They said I was contagious. So I just moved up here. Before Dr. Sun visited us, we hadn't talked to a living person for years.
LIAO: How did you contract leprosy?
ZHANG: My bad luck started when I accidentally killed a snake. I don't remember what year it was. I think it was before Deng Xiaoping came to power and began to give some land back to peasants from the collective farms.
LIAO: Deng's economic reform started in the late seventies.
ZHANG: OK. Early one morning I went to the mountain to dig some herbs so I could sell them at the local market. I used to make my living that way. As I was climbing, one of my feet caught on a piece of rock and I fell. While I struggled to get up, I spotted a wild azalea near my foot. The azalea root is a type of rare herb and it can sell for big bucks. So I took a berry hoe out of my backpack and carefully dug around the plant. It turned out the root was quite fat, worth a lot of money. While I was lost in happy thoughts, a snake darted out from the bushes and wrapped its body around the azalea root. It had rough brownish skin, and I saw that it was what we called a Ma snake. I was startled and began to shake. Before the snake had a chance to attack, I hacked at it with the hoe. I missed its head the first time but cut its tail off. The snake's tongue darted out and it writhed in pain. I aimed my hoe at its head and whacked it a couple more times. When I was sure the snake was dead, I dug out the azalea root and went home.
Soon after, I began to be haunted by the experience. My skin itched and I felt cold all the time. I wore a cotton-padded coat even in the middle of summer. I tried all sorts of herbs, hoping to find a cure for myself. Nothing worked. One day, I went to buy some salt at the nearby market and bumped into the head of the collective farm. When he saw that I was shivering with cold in the summer sun, he asked what was wrong. I said I was possessed by the spirit of the Ma snake.
He was shocked and his face turned ugly. Those Ma snakes are holy creatures. They're dragons on earth! It's a taboo to kill them. You're doomed.
LIAO: Doomed?
ZHANG: The collective-farm leader began to spread all sorts of rumors about my disease. Since Ma snakes sound similar to leprosy,
mafengbing
in Chinese, he told people that I was suffering from leprosy. He contacted the local leprosy clinic, but their damn doctor didn't even want to get close to me. He examined me from five feet away and said I was suffering from leprosy. I tried to argue with him. He said, Look at your face. It's as pale as ashes. If you don't have leprosy, what else can it be?
Several militiamen from the village put on face masks and gloves and dragged me to the local leprosy sanatorium. I went through several tests and everything seemed to be normal, but they wouldn't allow me to leave. Instead they assigned me to work in the kitchen, where I ended up cooking for other patients for four years. Eventually the director of the hospital realized that it was against Party policy to lock a healthy person inside a leprosy hospital. So they let me out.
LIAO: Did
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