Speak Softly and Carry a Law Degree

In Yang Yunbiao’s memory of childhood， his hometown featured “blue sky， white clouds， green mountains， crystal water， nice neighbors and kind village leaders.” In 1998 when he returned after studying law in Xi’an， Yang found everything changed. The village appeared bleak and decaying： young men left for work in cities， leaving only seniors and children in the fields， and the relationship between villagers and the local government weakened due to corruption and crude working style. But the villagers all silently endured this.

Angry Defender

Nantang Village of Sanhe County in Anhui Province， Yang’s hometown， was poverty-stricken. Back then， the annual income of a farmer could hardly cover their taxes. And even when villagers picked up a package at the post office， they were charged an extra five yuan. Aware that Yang had studied law， they asked him to help. At the age of 25， Yang was easily angered， in his words. He wrote letters to municipal government officials to report “village leaders increasing farmers’ taxes freely and treating villagers badly.” A few weeks later， village leaders began to make things difficult for him. Yang continued to report to higher authorities， but without results. He did not give up. He went door-to-door visiting villagers and explaining their rights. Finally， he collected over 300 fingerprints from villagers and they raised 1，000 yuan for him to head to Beijing.

“I had tried every method of petitioning，” he recalls. “I persevered because I had no choice.” Finally， Yang’s efforts paid off. In October 2000， inspectors from the provincial authority visited Sanhe County. Several months later， three village leaders were removed for embezzling a total of 70，000 yuan. The villagers became more aware of their rights and witnessed changes in the village： Poverty-alleviation funds arrived on time， village leaders became polite， and one official was punished for physically assaulting villagers. In April 2001， in Nantang Village’s local elections， Yang was voted village accountant. After taking office， Yang found a new perspective for solving problems.

Persistent Progressive

In 2004， Yang proposed the foundation of Sanhe Farmers’ Cooperative in Nantang Village. The cooperative has two functions： provide community services to the elderly， women and left-behind children and help increase farmers’ income by developing ecoagriculture and cooperative finance as well as launching business.

Without any official backing， the cooperative is void of governmental funds. So in its early days， the cooperative faced many difficulties： Its recreation group could not afford performance costumes， so they all just wore the same color. Yang and his colleagues weren’t getting paid， but had families to support. Yang once tried to set up an economic cooperative， through which farmers could directly connect with sellers of production materials to eliminate payment of the middleman. He asked two companies to provide funding， but they refused. The plan was eventually scrapped.

Money has always been a thorny issue for Yang. Most of the money of the Sanhe Farmers’ Cooperative comes from small independent donations from petitioners， journalists， college students and scholars. Because of his shortage of funds， many potentially transformative activities have never become reality. “We need both money and enthusiasm，” says Yang. “We are moved by people’s enthusiasm but we cannot maintain the enthusiasm without money.”

Countless hours of hard work on good ideas， however， eventually paid off. In 2010， the cooperative collected money from villagers to invest in the establishment of a distillery using ancient brewing methods learned from senior villagers – methods which utilized the abundant local sorghum. In its second year， the distillery produced about eight tons of liquor， earned 60，000 yuan and paid dividends to its shareholders.

Another source of the cooperative’s income derives from serving as an agent representing the farmers to suppliers of agricultural materials. The cooperative purchases seeds and fertilizer at wholesale prices and sells them to cooperative members at a thin profit margin. Additionally， when villagers leave town for outside work， leaving their land idle， the cooperative rents it from them to develop and sell organic agricultural products and rural tourism services.

Happy Reformer

At early cooperative meetings， Yang led farmers in singing revolutionary songs like Unity is Strength， but now they sing popular songs like Little Apple and perform “square dances.” As for the change， “Our hearts have become softer，” explains Yang. “Looking at the songs we selected， you can see that before， our hearts were full of anger and tension and seemed ready for class struggle. But now we have become relaxed and know better how to enjoy life.”

From petitioner to reformer， Yang admits， “When I was a petitioner， all I could see were problems. I felt pessimistic and angry with indifferent officials. But now I am happy. I see hope in our group’s growth. And I have found strength from my fellow villagers， my community and my hometown.”

However， Yang Yunbiao is still not satisfied with the current situation. He wants to rebuild a countryside society that offers not only material comfort but also spiritual. Yang is nostalgic for his childhood， when every household was poor， yet if any beggar passed by， every family would give him a steamed-bun or a bowl of rice. But a few decades later， the previously tight relationship between villagers has been swallowed by indifference. Sympathy seems like a lost tradition so much that some don’t even care about their own family members.

Yang gave an example. When a senior passes away， his or her children tend to feel relief more than anything， especially in poor families. So instead of crying， they actually hire people to cry at the funeral while they just stand there chatting. Only the wealthier villagers will hold a real ceremony with a memorial speech.

“Living and dying with dignity should not be a privilege of the wealthy，” declares Yang. Now， when a villager dies， the senior association of the cooperative will organize a respectable funeral flavored with retrospection on the deceased’s kindness and diligence， and support for the surviving family. “We are glad to see that during the memorial speech， the previously indifferent family members are moved to genuine tears.” Yang and his team have rekindled the kindness that sunk deep into people’s hearts. After many such successful activities， greater numbers of elderly villagers began actively participating in the senior association. “Perhaps the elderly lack knowledge and money， but they still deserve to live and die with dignity.”

When asked what his ideal countryside society would be， he described one where “people respect and love each other， and where everyone can afford dignity and dreams.”