Once illiterate, 87-year-old granny cherishes undying writing dream

HARBIN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Jiang Shumei learned the first Chinese character at the age of 60.

Now, at the age of 87, the granny in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is a proud author of six books.

"I never imagined, even in my wildest dreams, that I, who received no education in my childhood years, would one day publish a book," said the writer in Suihua City. In her published books, the wartime chaos, the hardship during the famine, and anecdotes throughout the decades were recounted vividly.

Born in 1937, Jiang left her hometown in east China's Shandong Province at a young age and migrated to northeast China, spending most of her life scraping a living in a brick factory.

She learned the first Chinese character in 1996, when her husband died after a car accident. To appease her devastated mom, Jiang's daughter Zhang Ailing suggested that she learn reading as a distraction from loneliness and sorrow.

Zhang recalled that, unlike other beginners, her mom "drew" every single character like drawing pictures.

In fact, the elderly lady had her own way of learning. She composed lyrics for songs, and asked children to write them down, so that she could recognize each character while singing the songs again and again. Whenever she saw characters she didn't know on pamphlets, bus stop signs, or shop plaques, she would find someone to ask.

As Jiang learned enough characters, Zhang started giving her literary works to read. Attracted by the stories in the books, Jiang told her daughter that she wished to share her own stories with a pen.

"It sounded unbelievable, and my brother used to laugh at my 'daydreaming'," the granny recalled.

She began to put pen to paper in 2012, at 75.

It was not easy. Sometimes completing one sentence would take a day, Jiang said. As a writer herself and a college teacher, Zhang gave her a lot of words of encouragement and help. She told her mother that, while writing, she could imagine herself telling stories to an audience, so that her stories could be easier to understand with interesting details.

The educated loving daughter was also the "first editor" for her dearest mother. Every time Jiang finished her writing, Zhang would discuss and check the manuscript with her, before transcribing it with the computer.

"Mom's writing is always concise and straight to the point, so I only need to correct the grammar and improper words, preserving the originality of the work," Zhang said.

The support from her daughter became a strong motivation for Jiang. She usually started writing at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., and revised the pieces several times until she was satisfied. She also traveled back to her hometown in Shandong to conduct interviews with other senior citizens.

Zhang first published her mother's stories on social media platforms in 2013, before they drew attention from her writer friends. Therefore, Zhang and Jiang made a bold decision: to publish them.

The first book, titled "Time of Trouble, Time of Poverty," was published later that year, which proved to be a success. Some critics even hailed it as the "live history of the nation plagued by war, death, and hunger."

With the book, Jiang garnered lots of fans, to whom the writer said: "don't feel sorry for me. The hardship as mentioned in the book is now the past. Without all the hardship, I could never have finished this book."

So far the old lady has published six books, with 600,000 plus characters in total. In her spare time, she is also learning painting and calligraphy. "I would like to be a writer, a painter, and a calligrapher," said Jiang, adding that her dream now is to have her own art exhibition at the age of 90.

She illustrated a book written by her daughter which was published in June last year. In the book, titled "My Mom is Eight and A Half," Zhang wrote: "I taught my mom the skills of writing, while she taught me the wisdom of life."

Jiang said: "It is never too late. The knack is not to be lazy."

The granny is now living a healthy life, doing exercise every day, drinking milk and soy milk, as well as having massages regularly. "If I could live as old as 130, would you still say it is too late for me to start after 60?" she asked, jokingly.