The Diary of Ma Yan Read online

  Chinese national television interviewed Ma Yan and her mother no less than three times, which gave her story extraordinary impact. Her diary, described as “legendary” by the Chinese media, is now published in China itself. Even Ma Yan’s mother has begun to learn how to write.

  But this courageous and intelligent young woman has taken on these changes with modesty and generosity. When we visited her in February 2003, she gave us a handwritten letter in which she made a solemn announcement:

  I’m an ordinary pupil. I had help from certain friends. Today I want to offer love so that more poor students can enter into the world of knowledge through education. So that they can slowly make their dreams come true. So that they can build a better future for our country, our native land. If everyone offers up a little love, the world will be better. I want to give 25 percent of all my royalties from The Diary of Ma Yan to the Association for the Children of Ningxia.

  Pierre Haski

  Beijing, 2005

  Ma Yan and her mother wave farewell.

  Find out more about the Association for the

  Children of Ningxia at its website:

  www.enfantsduningxia.org

  Or write to the association at:

  Enfants du Ningxia

  45, rue Notre-Dame de Nazareth

  75003 Paris

  France

  Acknowledgments

  Our sincerest thanks go to translator He Yanping, who has also been engaged in aid work for the children of the Ningxia region; to the photographer, Wang Zheng, who was our guide; to Sarah Neiger, who was instrumental in setting up this adventure; and to all those, both in China and Europe, who have supported Ma Yan and the children of Ningxia.

  About the Author

  MA YAN was a teenager living in Ningxia, China, when she wrote these diary entries at age thirteen and fourteen. Thanks to the publication of her diary, over 350 Ningxia children, including Ma Yan, received scholarships to continue their studies through The Association for the Children of Ningxia.

  Of her own ambition, Ma Yan said, “I want to study journalism. My purpose is to keep the whole world informed, to report the poverty and real life in this area.” The success of this book gave her the opportunity to study at a university in France.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Credits

  Cover photograph © 2005 by Howard Huang

  Cover design by Alison Klapthor

  Copyright

  TED & ME. Copyright © 2012 by Dan Gutman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © May 2009 ISBN: 9780061918520

  Version 12142012

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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  * Students must bring their own materials. The school has no supplies, few teaching aids, and no library.

  * Ma Yan’s mother suffered from terrible stomach pains and sometimes spat blood.She was diagnosed with an ulcer and finally treated in 2002. At the time she wrote her diary, Ma Yan and her family did not know what was wrong with Bai Juhua.

  * There is a head student for each subject. The head collects and distributes homework and helps enforce discipline.

  * The villagers joked that as the slope settled lower and lower, the family house, located on a small hill, was moving farther and farther away—just like the island of Taiwan was distancing itself (politically) more and more from mainland China.

  * October 1 marks the start of a week-long holiday celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

  * The reference is to Ma Yan’s father, who must have had a dream like the one in a Chinese legend in which a man dreamed that the mountain in front of his house was flattened.

  *Ma Yan’s father had been away working on a construction site in Inner Mongolia for the last three months.

  * Bai Juhua’s saying means that one’s own children are the most important thing to a man or woman.

  * Ma Yan has heard through the rumor mill that she hasn’t gotten into the school. She will therefore go back to school in Yuwang.

  * The government has started a program to grow trees.

  * One of Ma Shunji’s younger brothers from the family that adopted him.

  * Ma Yan has the week off in celebration of the national holiday.

  * A famous twentieth-century philosopher.

  * A common Chinese expression of gratitude.

  * In China, this is a respectful greeting from a child to adults. Ma Yan is writing to her sponsors.

  ** This phrase was written in English in the Chinese letter.

  * Also written in English.