Introduction to the novella "On the Back"
This article is based on a true past incident at Poyang Lake in Duchang, Jiangxi Province. It tells the story of Zhang Zhifang, a young man suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He was diagnosed with a stubborn disease at an early age and his leg muscles continued to deteriorate. In the fourth grade of elementary school, he completely lost the ability to walk on his own. His parents were forced to work in other places due to their financial situation, and his elderly grandfather Zhang Songbai shouldered the heavy burden. For nine years, rain or shine, he carried his grandson to and from school on his back day after day through muddy country roads. During the muddy rainy season, the scorching heat in midsummer, and the frost and snow in winter, the winding polder path bent the old man's back, and his grandfather's back turned into a mobile desk for teenagers. Faced with difficulties and adversity, the young man was unwilling to bow to his fate and knew that studying was the only way out. He stayed up late at night and studied hard, putting all his grievances and obsessions into pen and ink. After more than ten years of hard work, he broke through the shackles of his body and sprinted for the college entrance examination. With excellent results, he was successfully admitted to Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. The novel uses the Poyang Lake countryside as the background, and unfolds the narrative around the long journey of the grandfather and grandson to study. It depicts the suffering and tenderness of the lower-class families, interprets the most profound power of ordinary family ties, and also writes about the path of pursuing dreams for students from poor families who resist fate and break through against the wind.
