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LOWLINESS฀IS฀ YOUNG AMBITION'SLADDER: Eighth Concubine Surnamed Ho (1910-)฀ M 'y parents had six daughters — really too many mouths to feed. I was the fifth daughter and your sixth mother-in-law was number four. My father named her "Lan" and me "Chit".' 'Really? "Lan" as in la n fa (orchid); and what is "Chit"?' I asked, hearing the sounds, not aware of the characters. Cantonese is so full of homonyms and homophones — words that sound the same but are written entirely differently and have entirely different meanings. 'No,' replied the eighth concubine in her lilting voice with a strong trace of her native Panyu. 'Lan as in "hinder", as in "an obstacle". "Chit" is as in "block". My father wanted to hinder and block the birth of any more daughters. Mind you, my parents were very good to us girls, but rice was costly. Luckily, the ploy worked. The next child was a boy — my younger brother, Ah Chiu, who has done very well for himself. Then my mother had one last child, another daughter . . .' The count y o f Pany u i s situate d i n th e Guangdon g delta , on e o f the grea t delta s o f China , th e othe r bein g th e Chan g Jian g t o th e north. T o th e wes t i s Nanhai , ancestra l hom e o f th e Kin g an d t o th e south i s Shunde , birthplac e o f Ying, m y mother-in-law. South-wes t o f Shunde i s Heshan , nativ e plac e o f th e loya l A h Hing . T o th e north - 1 5 6 AL L TH E KING' S WOME N east o f Pany u i s m y ow n hom e county , Dongguan . Becaus e o f thei r proximity o f Hon g Kong , man y loca l peopl e trac e thei r ancestr y t o areas i n the fertile Guangdon g delta . A h La n an d A h Chit' s father wa s a far m laboure r wh o worke d fo r a rice-farme r i n a rice-producin g village i n Panyu . Thei r mothe r als o wen t int o th e field s t o wor k alongside her husband. And the daughters, when they were old enough , did likewise . Th e wor k wa s har d an d unpleasant , an d durin g th e planting o f the ric e seedling s thei r leg s would b e submerge d i n water , their hand s woul d gro w calluse d an d thei r ski n wrinkle d fro m th e constant contac t wit h th e water ; thei r back s woul d ach e fro m th e constant bendin g down . 7 saw an Italian film when I was a kid,' said Mingtex authoritatively, 'it was called Ric e and starred some Italian bombshell. The water had leeches in it, and the bombshell was pregnant and gave birth in the fields. That's what they did — give birth in the fields, put the baby under a tree and get back to work again.' T saw the picture, too,' I said, 'It was called Bitte r Rice . / don't remember about the pregnancy and giving birth business. I do remember the Pearl Buck character in Th e Goo d Earth , O-lan. She had a baby and went back to work in the fields.' Life wa s reall y har d fo r H o Ch i an d hi s growin g family. H o Chi' s wife, Chit' s mother , didn't dar e get an abortion until she had succeede d in producin g a mal e child . I n a farmin g communit y lik e theirs , son s were a physical necessit y a s well as a source of spiritual an d emotiona l assurance. Th e hous e i n whic h th e Ho s live d wa s primitiv e i n th e extreme, buil t o f mud , wit h a thatc h roof . Whe n on e travel s th e Sil k Road thes e days , on e i s struc k b y th e primeva l...

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