讀書筆記 Parable of Plain People ( Fourteen Stories)

“ Parable of plain people “ written by Pearl.S.Buck。         This article tells the story of a hard-working and kind-hearted Chinese farmer. He set his family property on fire in despair because of the social overlords’ bullying.                 Wang is the oldest in the village, and people call him Wang the Eldest. He has his own farmland and houses! Wang lives a self-sufficient life.  He has two sons, they are married. He arranged their marriage, and his two daughter-in-laws are very good. He has many grandchildren .   He thinks that it's good to have both boys and girls and that when a man grows old, he will die and new life will emerge. When Wang was 51 years old, a famine occurred due to drought and lack of water, but his family survived it safely. He felt that if the overlords had not brought him sorrow, his life would have been good.      First overlord is the big landowner Li Yiqing, he is a powerful rich perso who charges a large amount of rent every year. Wang’s land lay surrounded by Li’s land , Li wanted his land in one great straightly flowing piece and to control crop prices. So, Li wanted to buy Wang’s land. But,of course ,Wang did not wish to sell.              The second overlord is the magistrate . Wang paid his taxes over and over again until the government was ten years in his debt, but Wang did not dare to complain against or report him for fear of revenge. His neighbor was imprisoned and was killed for complaining.  The third overlord was the warlord, who robbed everywhere, but claimed to be for the people and was supported by some people.             Wang is constantly oppressed and robbed by those overlords .     He thought: “What's the use of having this property?”  How can we get rid of these overlords? After thinking about it, he finally decided to destroy all his property.  He became a beggar.  Everyone said he was mad.                 Thought after reading :  The United States used to be a British colony，pay high taxes to the British government, British soldiers can break into American homes at will.  After the American Revolutionary War, the people formulated a constitution stipulating the organizational form of government. And the market economy system。 Production has developed rapidly and people's living standards have improved. After the founding of China in 1949, the people did not really be in charge. Later, farmers' land was nationalized, which undermined farmers' enthusiasm for production. Coupled with a series of political struggles, people live in pain. Now there are many corrupt officials in China and the people dare not criticize the government! Some extreme measures of the government, such as lockdowns, have brought a lot of suffering to residents.   Lao Wang's burning of family property is a desperate practice, which is wrong. China should learn from the United States to establish a democratic government and society.