Documentary Literature Spreads Stories of Heroine of Poverty Relief Work

Xiao Qin (R) visits a mushroom planting base in a village in the Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Qiannan, in Southwest China's Guizhou Province. [Guizhou Women's Federation]

Xiao Qin, a writer in the Guizhou Federation of Literary and Art Circles, took a temporary post at the beginning of 2018 as Vice-President of the Guizhou Women's Federation through which she got to know Deng Yingxiang.

Deng, Party Secretary of Mahuai Village in Luodian County in the Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Qiannan, in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, subsequently became the protagonist of Xiao's documentary literary work.

Deng Yingxiang (L) leads Xiao to visit the tunnel dug by local villagers. [Guizhou Women's Federation]

Though there is a cultural gap between the well-educated writer and the rural woman, it did not prevent them from having countless heart to heart conversations.

Residents in Mahuai Village lived in isolated mountains. In order to build a road to connect with the outside world, Deng led her fellow villagers to build a 210-meter-long tunnel with primitive tools such as chisels and hammers. The tunnel linking the isolated village with the outside world was finally opened in 2001. Deng tried her utmost to lead the villagers to continue to improve the tunnel. Deng won respect for her virtues of perseverance and will power.

To honor her persistence and dedication to poverty alleviation work, Deng was given a national award for her contribution in the final battle against poverty and the titles of National Excellent Communist Party Member and the March 8th Red-banner Pacesetter, one of China's highest honors for women.

Xiao said that ordinary people's struggles and beliefs are the most valuable things worth writing about and that her idea of creating a documentary literary work about Deng received positive feedback from publishing houses.

She went to interview people in Luodian County three times. What impressed her most was a rough mountain track that she travelled with Deng. She said it's hard to imagine that the local children have to walk that road for three hours to go to school.

Based on interviews with local officials and residents, Xiao began to create the work in the winter of 2018.

The work of more than 100,000 Chinese characters was published this May, a result of her hard round the clock work.

The book illustrates some of the most inspiring stories of poverty alleviation in the province, arousing heated discussion in society and receiving high praise in literary and art circles.

It also made Deng's deeds known to the public and gained preferential treatment for the village, including being included in a tourism development plan rolled out by the provincial cultural and tourism department.

Deng hopes that Mahuai Village will grow into a beautiful village featuring an educational base and leisure tourism.

An agricultural development company was established in 2017. The enterprise now has its own brand, Yingxiang, which is Deng's given name.

In order to encourage more migrant workers of the village to work in their hometown, the agricultural development firm convinced them to join local projects. That step will ease the problem of left-behind children caused by rural labors' migration.

Shi Lei, Vice-President of the Women's Federation of the Qiannan Autonomous Prefecture, spoke highly of Deng's ability to think in big-picture terms, citing her diligence and strong political awareness.

The Jinxiu Plan, a program launched by the Guizhou Women's Federation to promote local women's startups and employment through embroidery training, will also be carried out in Mahuai Village, according to Shi.

Deng said she is looking forward to the program and plans to set up an exhibition center for participants' embroidery works and farm produce. "While tourists can be inspired by the village's spirit of tunneling, they can also go back home loaded with its products," Deng said.

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)