A Moganshan Obituary
From Mark Kitto's 'China Cafe' column...
My neighbour Mr Wang Kai Xue died peacefully at home, aged 84, on 1st January 2009. His funeral was attended by 240 people. As the news spreads, many more are coming to pay their respects.
Wang Kai Xue was born in 1925 in Anhui province, one of four children. His father, Wang You Fang, moved to Moganshan soon afterwards to work as a handyman. He quickly saw an opportunity and established an ice house in the village, selling ice to the foreigners with summer houses. By the mid-1930s Wang was known as the "Ice King of Moganshan." Kai Xue came to join him when he was seven years old. In due course the news of the Wangs' prosperity reached Anhui, with the tragic result that Kai Xue's mother, who had remained at the family home, was shot and killed by bandits during a bungled kidnap attempt.
Due to the fact that the Wangs' wealth was earned from foreigners, the family suffered severe repercussions after the communist liberation of China in 1949, and during the cultural revolution from 1966-76. And because he had briefly worked in the household of an uncle who was a minor official in the pre-liberation Nationalist government, Wang Kai Xue was held prisoner for 35 days by the Red Guards.
On his release the family were “sent down to the country” where they worked as peasant farmers for five years. When they were allowed to return to Moganshan, Wang Kai Xue and his family eked out a living by digging up the roots of harvested bamboo and making scrubbing brushes for woks out of the tough tendrils. Kai Xue’s final job before retirement was as a fire watcher and guardian of the village’s bamboo.
Throughout his life Wang Kai Xue was a popular and highly respected member of the community. He leaves a widow and seven children. There is no Truth & Reconciliation Commission in China