Under the Heavy Sun: the Working Women of Bijie’s Villages

Author: Li Yuanlong, WRIC's volunteer
Source: Women's Rights In China

Even in late September, Bijie, Guizhou’s temperature can rise to more than 35 Celsius. Walking under the sun makes you feel as if your hair is on fire. Sweat leaks out of one’s body like a leaking pipe

A city dweller stays indoors with modern air conditioning, far away from the manual labor going on in the fields. However, villagers, especially those from poor families, cannot avoid such jobs. Women and men, ranging from sixty to seventy year old grandmothers to young newlyweds, have to till the soil under the burning heat or carry heavy loads through the mountains.

On the 20^th and 21^st of September 2011, I traveled through the Haizijie, Heguantun and Zhuchang districts of Bijie. I took many pictures of women doing hard labor in the rural areas. The purpose of these photos is not to elicit instant “respect” of these women; for them, mere respect is far from enough.

Perhaps her sons and daughters have all migrated to better jobs, this old woman has become the main workforce in her fields. From dawn to dusk, who knows how many thousand pounds of corn she would have to carry. (Photo by WRIC)

Sweat, heat, sun. This Miao woman and her husband carry tons bricks every day. (Photo by WRIC)

       As her parents carry bricks to the truck, the baby sleeps under the bridge, oblivious to the flies on her face and behind. She stays quiet amidst her parents’ back breaking work. (Photo by WRIC)

       I do not know where they were from, where they were going, whether they were from the same family or only neighbors. But I do know that this was their daily work. City residents can think leisurely of retirement. So long as they can still walk, villagers would always have to work. (Photo by WRIC)

This Miao woman is using a tool unique to this region of Guizhou Hill Country to separate the bean crop. After sowing, tending and harvesting she would still have many more steps to go before she can make tofu. The soy needs to be ground into powder, boiled into a milk, and coagulant added. 

(Photo by WRIC)

     Dusk on the mountainside, this Miao woman in traditional dress leads two horses. A baby sleeps on her back, probably her grandson. She’s hurrying home. Feeding the family and their livestock are both her responsibilities.(Photo by WRIC)

      In the old days, women were prohibited in construction because they were thought to bring bad luck on the sites. After“liberation”, women now work like men in the building trade, even carrying heavy bricks up the scaffolds.(Photo by WRIC)

Six road maintenance workers with temporary employment, only one man among them.
(Photo by WRIC)

         A grandmother of over seventy could not go into the fields anymore. She nonetheless works by stringing hot pepper. The bright red strands look more like works of art from an experienced hand.(Photo by WRIC)

      When I was sent here during the Cultural Revolution, she was still a baby on her mother’s back.Now she’s a mother, and carries packages weighing over 120 pounds every day with heavy    steps.Her parents are still poor. She could but shoulder the heavy burden of a family’s livelihood.(Photo by WRIC)

      She walks in broad and rapid strides. What urgent housework awaits her that she is walking so fast while carrying so much? This style of large basket is usually associated with men. To get by, she has no choice but to carry them also. Perhaps there is some truth in the blustery propaganda that “women could carry half the sky”.(Photo by WRIC)

There are no machines, only handheld tools. Work here has not changed substantially from six or seven decades ago.(Photo by WRIC)

 

      This elderly woman is alone. Her husband is long gone. None of her three children care about her. Living in an old wooden house, “I’ll only eat as much as I can carry. When I die, just bury me in my home.” She has no hope or illusions in anybody.(Photo by WRIC)

      The men do the “technical” work of shaping the bricks. Women have to carry the raw material and formed bricks, by far the heavier half of manual labor.(Photo by WRIC)

 烈日下，看毕节山村妇女如何劳作 

  9月20日、21日，贵州毕节的气温高达35度。别说干活，就是走在烈日下，头顶也会有烈火烧烤的感觉，汗水，将有如有了沙眼的水管，从你皮肤里不断地冒出来。

  这样的天气，条件好的，肯定躲在家里享受空调带给自己的清凉世界；条件一般的，起码也可以在家里呆着，对烈日敬而远之。可是，假如你的家庭很贫困，那就是另外一回事了，别说男人，就是妇女，上至七、八十岁的老婆婆，下至二三十岁的小媳妇，也得走出家门，头顶烈日，上山下地，背背挑担。

 这两天，本人途经贵州省毕节市海子街、何官屯，以及朱昌时，随手拍下了多张妇女们在烈日下辛勤劳作的照片。需要提请你注意的是，妇女网发出这组照片，不仅仅是为了让你对这些妇女“肃然起敬”，因为，仅仅是对这样的妇女肃然起敬，这是远远不够的。
图片说明：

    一，也许，儿女都打工去了，年近古稀的她，就理所当然成了地里的主要劳动力。从清早到傍晚，真不知她要背多少背，多少千斤包谷。

二、她的解放鞋是湿漉漉的，显然，背着包谷的她需要从水里过。

对城里人，对有钱人来说，休息，意味着空调，冷饮，泳池，对她来说，只是意味着站在烈日下，在随身携带的“拐耙子”上停靠几分钟重负。

三、红色衣装，红色脸庞，红色，在中国，其无一例外，都是表示着光辉、英明这类褒义词。可是，在这位22岁的，穿着红色衣服的苗族妇女和她先生身上，红色却只是意味着一天搬运几十吨砖块，烈日，汗水。 

四、爸妈在车后搬运砖块，我在桥下躲阴凉。苍蝇叮咬我的小脸蛋，定要我的小屁屁，顾不得了。肚子咕咕叫，也关系不大，我还可以将手指当棒棒糖哄哄肚子呢。

我不能哭，我乖乖的睡觉觉，爸爸妈妈，比我难受，也肯定比我饿……

五、我不知道她们从哪里来，不知道她们要到哪里去；我也不知道她们是一家人，还是邻居。我只敢肯定，这样的生活方式，对他们来说，绝非一朝一夕。当乡下人就是不好，城里人兴退休，乡下人只要还“趖得动”，就得做活路，祖母曾经说。是的，只要她们还走得动，这样的生活，就将进行下去。

六、这位苗族妇女使用的脱粒工具，是贵州山区特有的，叫“梁盖”。我实在不知这两个字怎么写，只好来个“音译”。但我知道，这位妇女的家人要想吃到豆腐，她除了先前数月的播种，薅泼，收割，以及现在用“梁盖”将不肯自己从豆壳里掉出来的豆子打出来外，她还得用“风簸”将杂质吹拂干尽，还得用石磨将豆子磨成豆浆，再放进底下有大火的铁锅里，再用酸汤或露水“点豆腐”……

七、夕阳衔山，这位衣装古朴、漂亮的苗族妇女，不知从什么地方牵回了两匹马。五十来岁的她的背上，还有一个几个月大的婴儿。我估计，那是她的孙辈。回到家，她还够得忙，家里人畜的吃喝等等，都要她这个“一把手”操持。

八、过去修建房屋，妇女可不许参加，说是怕不吉利。现在好了，妇女给“解放”了，他们可以参加修建房屋，并且和女人一样的搬砖，甚至爬到高架上劳作。

九、六位打零工的养路工，只有一个是男的。也不知道，这是男人将挣钱的机会留给了妇女，还是妇女们更经受得住烈日的暴晒。
    十、老奶奶年逾花甲了，年轻人下地种庄稼、外出打工，她不能“吃干饭”，就坐在家门口，将红红的辣椒串在一起，便于晾干。看她串好的辣椒，多像一件夺目的艺术品。
   十一、 我在这里知青的时候，她还是母亲背上的婴儿。如今，她也是孩子的妈妈了。为了孩子，她肩挑百十斤重的灰浆，一次次艰难地跨上土坡，跨上石坎。她的父母如今还很贫穷，她在重复着祖祖辈辈艰辛的生活之路。
    十二、一提起大背箩，我们首先想到的，就是气饱力壮的男性。可是，为了维持自己的“小糠”生活，她不得不背上这大大的背箩，以实际行动说明“妇女能顶半边天”的语录所言不差。
   十三、 她的头发，与她抱着的包谷草一样乱。但是，最让人不忍心细看的，则是她的面容，她的眼光。这是一付受尽劳作艰辛的，对生活不再抱有幻想的神态。
   十四、 她的步伐大而快。是猪还没有吃早餐，快将猪圈拱坏了，还是家里的事物太多，不多背快走就不行？
   十五、 没有风簸，就用簸箕将灰渣簸掉。我的祖母、外婆她们就是这样劳作的，这让我觉得，她还生活在六七十年前。
    十六、这位朱昌宋武的老人年近80，老伴早没了，有三个儿女，可是一个也不管她。她倒是有低保的，可是等于没有：他和另一个人“打伙”一个低保证，一个季度100元钱。他一个人住在一个破旧的木板房里。“背得起多少吃多少，那天死了埋在家里就是”，老人对谁，也不抱希望。
   十七、 别和我说什么矿泉水、冷饮，口渴了，喝口自来水，就是最爽的享受，再背砖块，也有力气了。
    十八、男人们砌砖，干技术活；女人们搅拌灰浆，背砖，干笨重活。这，就不仅仅是“半边天”的问题了，简直有点“公鸡抱窝、母鸡打鸣”的问题了。
    结束语：
    过去有个民歌：七怪哉来八怪哉，螺蛳背上长青苔。螺蛳无脚会走路，老板睡觉会发财。
世事就是这样的奇怪：坐阴暗办公室，太阳晒不着，泥巴沾不着的，兴评先选优。而站在太阳光辉底下工作的，却没有人给她们评选什么。就连收入，她们也差着“办公室”一大截。明摆着的，不是她们不勤劳，不是她们不智慧，只是因为：她们出生在乡村，身份是农民。事实胜于雄辩：勤劳不能致富，只有“勤捞”，才能致富，迅速致富，轻松致富，致大富。

说明：上面图片说明都有编号，照片也有相应编号。没有编号的，就是没有再网上发出过的。