CHINESE CIVILIZATION by Patricia Buckley Ebrey

Author:Patricia Buckley Ebrey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SIMON & SCHUSTER
Published: 1993-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

The 4th. As the sky was clear, the sun shone hot, and the bodies began to smell. Everywhere around us the dead were being burned; the smoke gathered like a mist, and the stench permeated the area. On the day I burned some cotton along with some bones of the dead and used the ashes as a salve for my brother’s wounds. Unable to speak, he could only nod to me through silent tears.

The 5th. By now those who had remained hidden were beginning to reappear. Upon meeting one another, people would cry but were at a loss for words.

We five, although less apprehensive than before, still did not dare to stay home. Early in the morning we got up and, after eating a little food, went out to a deserted field. We dressed in the same fashion as before because of the hundreds of foragers roving about. Although they carried no swords, they intimidated people with clubs and seized their possessions. Anyone who tried to resist them was clubbed to death, and any woman they encountered was molested. At first we did not know whether they were Manchu soldiers, our own guards, or commoners-turned-bandits.

That day my brother’s wounds festered, broke open, and he died. Words cannot express my grief.

When this calamity began there had been eight of us: my two elder brothers, my younger brother, my elder brother’s wife, their son, my wife, my son, and myself. Now only three of us survived for sure, though the fate of my wife’s brother and sister-in-law was not yet known.

From the 25th of the fourth month to the 5th of the fifth month was a period of ten days. I have described here only what I actually experienced or saw with my own eyes; I have not recorded anything I picked up from rumors or hearsay. The younger generation is now fortunate enough to enjoy the blessing of peace and has grown lax. Reading this account should wake them up.

Translated by Patricia Ebrey

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