ONE-CHILD POLICY. It is estimated that there are over 218 million only
children in China today following more than three decades of a one-child
policy by their government. Under the ruling, which ran from 1980 to the
end of 2015, most couples were only allowed one child under penalty of
fines, forfeiture, and even sterilization. Government figures state that
around 400 million births were prevented in that time. But some
unforeseen circumstances caused much heartache and grief for upwards of
10 million couples who lost that only child and this book tells four of
their tragic stories. The couple whose only boy child was seemingly
abducted for resale; the 27-year-old only child who died of cancer,
leaving her parents alone and childless; the old man who adopted a
little girl some years after losing his only child; a mother who sells
up everything to give her dying daughter the best years she can.
Sensitively written by Wang Ning from all-too-common real life
situations, some of them first-hand, and beautifully illustrated by four
of the best individual talents in Chinese comics today who have all been
touched by this policy.
