Read Online Will the Boat Sink the Water?: The Life of China's Peasants by Chen Guidi, Wu Chuntao - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Chen Guidi, Wu Chuntao
Tags: Asia, History, Politics & Social Sciences, Social Sciences, Economics, Ethnic Studies, china, Poverty, Human Geography, Asian, Politics & Government, Specific Topics, Economic Conditions, Communism & Socialism, Specific Demographics, Business & Money, International & World Politics, Ideologies & Doctrines, Political Economy, Special Groups
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a shelter.) As for two other inventions of Deputy Village Chief Zhang—the “birth-control” and “child-care” fees—no one could decipher their meaning. The amount of the fines for violations of the one-child policy depended on his whim. Moreover, he would casually issue a piece of paper instead of a regular receipt for payments and he never made a record in the books. On the other hand, he himself never contributed to the village cash-reserve fund, and even less would he pay the “five taxes and one fee” personally invented by himself. In a word, he invented ingenious ways to fleece the peasants.
Relying on his enforcement power, this deputy village chief encroached on public lands; appropriated fish ponds, public property, and public funds to himself. He stopped at nothing. He would not tolerate the slightest sign of discontent on the part of the villagers, not to mention any attempt to defy him. For instance, one day Zhang Chaohua, the wife of a demobilized army veteran, got into a quarrel with him over the allot-
the Xia Dynasty, around 2200 B . C . More can be learned about the grain tax in Peter Morris, “China to Abolish Age-Old Grain Tax,” Asia Times , March 12 , 2004 (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FC12Ad03.html, accessed
November 27, 2005).
the village tyrant
ment of threshing ground.* The woman started arguing with him, while standing on a bridge. To him it was absolutely outrageous that anyone could talk back to him like that, much less a woman. In a fit of anger, Deputy Village Chief Zhang pushed her off the bridge. She lay there unconscious for hours and appeared to be dead. Later she regained consciousness, but she remained paralyzed for life. Her husband dragged Deputy Village Chief Zhang before the Guzhen County Court and the court ruled that Zhang must pay 8,000 yuan to the family for damages. Of course, Deputy Village Chief Zhang refused to pay anything at all. Finally, when the issue came to a head and could not be evaded, Zhang embezzled the sum out of the village public funds.
How could such a villain get to be a leader in the village? Granted, he was only a deputy village chief, but where were the village chief and the Party head? Were they working hand in glove with him, or did they look the other way? It was one of the mysteries that we hoped to solve through our investigation. The more we learned about Deputy Village Chief Zhang’s background, the more preposterous the whole situation appeared. It turned out that the problems in Zhang Village were not limited to shady finances. Organizational irregularities at the grassroots level were extremely alarming. On May 20, 1992, this same Zhang had been convicted of embezzlement and rape and sentenced to one year in prison by the Guzhen County Court, with two years’ probation. During the two years’ probation period, Zhang Village’s administrative area was redistributed and Zhang Guiquan got himself into the position of deputy chief of the newly formed Zhang Village. The vil-
*“Threshing ground allotment” refers to the fact that after the agricultural communes were gradually broken up, the land was divided and contracted to individual households. The threshing ground was also divided into sections for individual household use, and there could be disagreements as to how these divisions were undertaken.
will the boat sink the water ?
lagers complained that no one had elected him to the position, that there never had been any consultation, and that Zhang Guiquan’s appointment had been forced on the people by the township Party boss and a few individuals within the village Party organization.
The fact that a criminal and sociopath could actually be appointed by two levels of the Party organization, township and village, to a position of power while still on probation for a court sentence, in effect set him up to commit more atrocities. The behavior pattern of Zhang Guiquan presents the charac-teristics of the village
Relying on his enforcement power, this deputy village chief encroached on public lands; appropriated fish ponds, public property, and public funds to himself. He stopped at nothing. He would not tolerate the slightest sign of discontent on the part of the villagers, not to mention any attempt to defy him. For instance, one day Zhang Chaohua, the wife of a demobilized army veteran, got into a quarrel with him over the allot-
the Xia Dynasty, around 2200 B . C . More can be learned about the grain tax in Peter Morris, “China to Abolish Age-Old Grain Tax,” Asia Times , March 12 , 2004 (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FC12Ad03.html, accessed
November 27, 2005).
the village tyrant
ment of threshing ground.* The woman started arguing with him, while standing on a bridge. To him it was absolutely outrageous that anyone could talk back to him like that, much less a woman. In a fit of anger, Deputy Village Chief Zhang pushed her off the bridge. She lay there unconscious for hours and appeared to be dead. Later she regained consciousness, but she remained paralyzed for life. Her husband dragged Deputy Village Chief Zhang before the Guzhen County Court and the court ruled that Zhang must pay 8,000 yuan to the family for damages. Of course, Deputy Village Chief Zhang refused to pay anything at all. Finally, when the issue came to a head and could not be evaded, Zhang embezzled the sum out of the village public funds.
How could such a villain get to be a leader in the village? Granted, he was only a deputy village chief, but where were the village chief and the Party head? Were they working hand in glove with him, or did they look the other way? It was one of the mysteries that we hoped to solve through our investigation. The more we learned about Deputy Village Chief Zhang’s background, the more preposterous the whole situation appeared. It turned out that the problems in Zhang Village were not limited to shady finances. Organizational irregularities at the grassroots level were extremely alarming. On May 20, 1992, this same Zhang had been convicted of embezzlement and rape and sentenced to one year in prison by the Guzhen County Court, with two years’ probation. During the two years’ probation period, Zhang Village’s administrative area was redistributed and Zhang Guiquan got himself into the position of deputy chief of the newly formed Zhang Village. The vil-
*“Threshing ground allotment” refers to the fact that after the agricultural communes were gradually broken up, the land was divided and contracted to individual households. The threshing ground was also divided into sections for individual household use, and there could be disagreements as to how these divisions were undertaken.
will the boat sink the water ?
lagers complained that no one had elected him to the position, that there never had been any consultation, and that Zhang Guiquan’s appointment had been forced on the people by the township Party boss and a few individuals within the village Party organization.
The fact that a criminal and sociopath could actually be appointed by two levels of the Party organization, township and village, to a position of power while still on probation for a court sentence, in effect set him up to commit more atrocities. The behavior pattern of Zhang Guiquan presents the charac-teristics of the village
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