Three Love Nets

Author: Zhang Fulin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: In the eastern part of Nanwan County, Minhai City, there is an ancient town called Anfu Town. This town has a history of over two thousand years and was originally named Yongshu Town. It is said that during the Ming Dynasty, the town produced Fang Delin, a renowned (local administrator) who did many good deeds for the people. To commemorate him, the town was renamed Anfu Town, and a large Fang Gong Temple was built. According to folklore, Fang Delin, even after his death, never forgot the people and often appeared in visions to cure illnesses, expel evil spirits, and help the suffering, so the temple was always crowded with visitors.
When Fang Delin was three years old, his parents passed away (one after the other), and he was raised by his aunt and uncle in Meicun. They sent him to the city to study, and later Fang Delin passed the imperial examination and became an official. His uncle, Qin Yuantai, and Meicun also became famous as a result.
Meicun is a remote mountain village in Anfu Town. Although it is not far from Minhai City—only about sixty kilometers away—it is a poor, backward, and isolated small village. From the ancient town of Anfu, it takes over two hours of mountainous road to reach the village. For miles around, there are only forests, and you can see only one or two houses along the way.
Meicun is located on the western bank of the Xi River, at the foot of Jinfeng Mountain in the Daiyun Mountains. It faces the Xi River and is backed by Jinfeng Mountain. The village has a low elevation of only two hundred meters, but Jinfeng Mountain reaches over one thousand eight hundred meters in height. The Xi River, which winds around the village, is not actually a river but rather a large stream. Surrounded by high mountains and lush green trees, the stream flows eastward year after year.
Several hundred years ago, people from Henan, Nanyang in the north—such as the Chen, Tao, Qin, Duan, and Ouyang families—moved to the area and lived by the stream. Although they belonged to different families, intermarriages were common, making most villagers relatives. Thus, they lived in harmony. However, before the liberation, the five or six landlords in the village were not good people. Poor farmers were cruelly exploited by the landlords, and class conflicts were extremely sharp.
In the late 1940s, the People's Liberation Army liberated the ancient Anfu Town, and the poor and oppressed people were finally free. Red flags fluttered everywhere. In the spring of 1951, the town sent a land reform team to Meicun. The villagers welcomed the team with colorful decorations and drums, and the quiet Meicun was suddenly alive with excitement.
As soon as the land reform team arrived, they vigorously promoted the Land Reform Law of the People's Republic of China and mobilized the people to fight the landlords and redistribute land. Within a few days, all six landlords in the village were arrested, criticized, and executed. The tyrannical landlord Ouyang Qiu was shot to death, and the people cheered for justice.
After three and a half months of hard work, the team completed the land reform task. Over one hundred households, with more than eight hundred poor people, received land from the landlords. Farmers became the masters of the land, each family owning their own mountain fields, and everyone celebrated with joy, thanking the Party and the government.
For Qin Xinyong, who lived in the western part of the village, the land reform was even better. Not only did he and his mother receive land, but he also became a village leader. He had never imagined that his family, which had been poor for generations and had suffered constant oppression, would finally have a chance to rise.
Qin Xinyong lived in two dilapidated rooms in the western part of the village. He was the descendant of Qin Yuantai, the uncle of Fang Anfu. When he was seven years old, his father died, and he relied on his sick mother for survival.