A Quest for Kin on the Loess Plateau

In 1941, Feng Shouyi was seized and forced to serve in the war against Japan for four years. When he returned home, he found his family shattered and gone: famine had taken his father and young son, while his wife and daughters had fled in search of food and been sold in northern Wei. His eldest daughter had even been sent far away in a marriage arranged in exchange for another bride. He spent more than thirty years searching the loess lands for his family. First he found his wife and second daughter; after thirty-nine years, he finally saw his eldest daughter again, only to die at her home and be buried on the loess slope by his second daughter’s house. The hope he had cherished all his life was ultimately turned into a regret by the Zhao brothers.