China: How China's Mothers Faced the Temblor

By Zhan Yan and Rong Jiaojiao

When William Shakespeare wrote: "frailty, thy name is woman", he may have had no idea of what women are capable of in times of extreme adversity. On the afternoon of May 12, 2008, as an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale rocked the mountainous Sichuan Province in southwest China, it demonstrated not only the devastating power that lies under the earth, but also the incredible strength in women.

The epicenter of the earthquake was 80 kilometres west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. The townships of Qushan and Leigu were hit particularly hard, as concrete structures turned to dust and there was general destruction because of the landslides. Such was the intensity of the quake that its effect were felt even in far away Beijing (1,500 kilometres away) and Shanghai (1,700 kilometres away), where office buildings swayed with the tremors.

Official figures (as of June 23) state that 69,185 are confirmed dead, including 68,636 in Sichuan province, with 374,171 injured and another 18,467 listed as missing. The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless - a conservative estimate. This was the deadliest and strongest earthquake to have hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed at least 240,000 people.

Amidst this dance of death, the women of Sichuan displayed rare courage and helped inspire and give hope to those around them.

Take the case of a two-month-old baby discovered under the ruins in Longwan Village, Chenjiaba Township, Beichuan County, on May 12. She survived because she was shielded by the body of her mother, who had died protecting her.

Huang Lingli's body was found in a kneeling position, with her right hand pressed to the ground and the left holding the baby tightly. A thick roof beam lay across her back. The baby was found crying but safe in the space formed by her mother's curved body.

Consider for a moment the story behind that death. Just two months before the quake, Huang had deliberately opted for a difficult natural delivery instead of the less painful caesarean. "It's for our baby's health," she had told her husband, Mu Jianfeng. She had fainted several times during her 25-hour labour. Every now and then her husband had asked her whether she would settle for a caesarean, but she had refused each time. Her husband later recalled that she had told him that she won't give up, that she wanted their baby to be as healthy as possible.

"Marriage and giving birth are important moments: I've experienced both and good days always follow," the husband recalled her saying. However, she could only spent two months with her baby, Mu Qianqi. "Our daughter laughed in her sleep and woke up giggling," said her last text message to her husband. Her husband says he will keep this message in his phone for the rest of his life, and would show it to their daughter when she is old enough to understand.

Li Diyan did not know that her husband had always carried her photo with him. "I thought he knew nothing about romance. "He never told me 'I love you' in all those years," says Li. She found out how wrong she was, but only when it was too late. One month before his scheduled retirement, Colonel Qiu Guanghua was killed in action - his helicopter crashed while carrying a dozen trapped and injured villagers from a remote mountainous location. Collecting his belongings, rescuers found a yellowing photo of his wife in his breast pocket. It was his 64th flight in the 17 days after the quake. She is still proud of him, the boy from a backwater village who became a pilot.

"They are suffering. I can't sit watching. I want to do my part," he had told his wife, when he could have been excused from joining the rescue team as he was so close to retirement.

Li Diyan has now set up a memorial hall at their home. Every night, she pours two cups of liquor before his picture, toying with the jade necklace pendant she wears which was a token of her betrothal to him. Another of the same kind he had around his neck.

Then there is the message Li Jia, 26, put on the blog she dedicated to her mother: "Mum, you gave me life, but I am sorry I coudln't sustain yours. How I wish I could be your mother. If there was an afterlife, then I could take better care of you."

Jia, an art editor with an advertising company in Chengdu, was having an on-line chat with her mother, who worked in Beichuan County, when the tremblor struck. Her mother went suddenly off-line and couldn't be reached on her mobile. Finally word came that her mother's workplace had been flattened during the quake and her body wasn't found. Jia couldn't believe the news. She had met up with her mother on May 1 and they had danced together to celebrate Labour Day. It was the last time they were to meet.

Memories of her mother haunted her and so she decided to start a blog. She wrote that she meets her mum every day in her dreams and hopes to see her often in this way. She has also confessed her regret at not having told her mother how much she had loved her.

"The blog allows me to give vent to my emotions. It is also a way to talk to myself and gain the strength to move on," said Jia, adding that her mother's biggest wish was to see her daughter healthy and happy.

When Li Jia arrived in Beichuan County on June 21 to see her once-comfortable home in ruins, she couldn't help but weep silently. But she soon regained her self-composure. As she wrote in her blog, she just knew that her mother was watching her.

(With inputs from Zhang Yanping, Zhu Yu and Bai Ruixue.)

(Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com