My 1998 - He Jiaqing's Westward Journey Diary

Author: He Jiaqing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: On February 19, 1998, He Jiaqing, a teacher at Anhui University, embarked on a journey of poverty alleviation with the 29 million yuan he had accumulated over 14 years. He traveled for 305 days, covering a distance of 31,600 kilometers, of which 8,000 kilometers were on foot. He passed through 8 provinces, 108 counties, and taught technology to taro farmers and taro enterprises in taro cultivation areas. He Jiaqing recorded his observations, experiences, and reflections during the poverty alleviation journey in the form of a diary. The 190,000-word "Westward Diary" documents his joys, sorrows, anger, grief, and fear—his joy in teaching farmers in the fields, his anger at the stubborn refusal of ignorant and corrupt officials who deprived farmers of the opportunity to acquire technology, his sorrow at the inability of technology to serve the farmers nearby, his happiness at farmers mastering the technology, his grief at his frail body being unable to sustain further work, his fear of natural disasters, hunger, cold, illness, starvation, and snake bites, and his shock at the main human trials he faced—insults, difficulties, robbery, and detention. The diary integrates political, ideological, literary, and legendary elements, reflecting the beauty and ugliness, good and evil, and the living conditions of dominant and groups in today's society through poverty alleviation. It also reflects the courage and thoughts of an intellectual in rescuing the underprivileged.