Family Of Free China (1962)

[Music] [Applause] my name is Wang Shen I live in Taiwan known as free China originally Portuguese explorers this is the flag of our country and we are very proud of it Taiwan is an island in the Pacific Ocean it lies on the Tropic of Cancer this is about the same Lev attitude as Hawaii and Cuba Taiwan is north of the Philippines east of the Chinese Mainland and Southwest of Japan the famosa Straight separates Taiwan from Red China only about 100 miles away our island is smaller than your state of Indiana yet over 10 million people live here high mountains cover a large part of our country along the western coast is a plane about 20 M wide where most industrial and agricultural life is found our small village of ping thong is [Music] here a tropical climate helps our Fields produce some of the best rice grown in the world this is our home and also that of my uncles aunts and cousins we all found safety here on Taiwan when we fled from communist persecution in China we built our homes in groups or compounds so that we could all help each other with our work my father is a farmer and loves the soil here as free people we can own our own land we use commercial fertilizers in our Fields with weed controls and better farming methods our harvests have more than doubled in the past few years however some of our methods are still oldfashioned for example during the dry season my father w are vegetables by hand we grow sweet potatoes cucumbers and other green vegetables in the corners of our rice fields my sister cuts grass for our animals she wraps her legs and arms against sunburn for it is very hot in the summertime rice is grown on hillsides as well as on level ground here the entire Hillside is planted in Terraces that look like a giant stairway the rice patties must be flooded before planting after plowing each plant is placed separately in the Patty [Music] the rice fields are always beautiful some are still green While others are turning yellow this field is almost ready to harvest my mother and sister help my father bind the rice sheets after which it will be threshed there are only a few threshing machines in our village so they are carried from one Farm to another some Farmers live where there is no threshing machine so the grain must be separated by H the main highway is a handy place to do this in town the rice is spread out on the pavement the women rake and turn it over and over until each grain is absolutely dry all Although our small island country is densely populated and rice is the main part of our diet we are able to grow more than our people need so we export much of it to Japan and other Asian [Music] countries some Farmers take their own rights to Market but others of us join together and send it to the warehouses in wagons drawn by our faithful water buffalo at this Warehouse the rice will be [Music] H rice is also made into long white noodles that must be dried in the sun they are delicious when cooked my mother does all the cooking for our large family on a brick stove she uses rice hes brought from the warehouse for fuel because they make a steady hot fire when the rice is cooked to just the right stage she Scoops it into a large bowl and carries it into our dining room the large bowl is placed on a a small side table and we all go there to F our own small [Music] bowls most of the food we eat comes from our own garden several dishes are set in the center of the table and each of us chooses fish or green vegetables to mix and eat along with our rice we we eat much fish prepared in different ways some are fried While others are pickled but almost every dish is seasoned with soy sauce everyone helps himself with chopsticks or spoons [Music] we are followers of the great teacher confucious and have a shrine in our home every day my father offers prayers and burns incense I watch carefully so that I will be able to do the same when I become the head of a [Music] family this is the school I attend all children must attend school after they are 6 years old we consider it a great privilege to have a good education everything is provided free each morning on arrival at school we pass before a mirror to check our appearance then our entire student body assembles on the parade ground for our opening activities first we all stand at attention our faculty joins us each morning for the flag ceremony the school band plays our national anthem and the flag of free China is raised the man in the picture is s sen the founder of our country [Music] We Salute the flag five times with upraised right arm and clenched fist we are taught to build our body strong and fit by exercises and these are some of the gymnastics we do jumping over these wooden horses is my favorite of all I especially like to turn a sumers [Music] soul after the outdoor gymnastics we are ready for classroom work we don't have desk space for storing our books so we keep them in our nap saacks I want to take full advantage of the privilege to gain an education and I pay close attention to my instructor we learn all we can about the mainland of China for that is where most of our parents were born and we hope someday that all of our people will be reunited [Music] there the girls of our school have their own classrooms next to ours they follow the same general course of study besides her regular studies this girl is taught to cook sew and to do other work around the house we boys also learn about the mechanical parts of the tractor and how to operate it for it is necessary that we study better methods of producing our [Music] food after long hours of instruction I am thrilled to operate the tractor myself my father and I are plowing this field together he uses the old method of plowing with our water buff Vel because our farmers are growing more prosperous many can now afford to buy a tractor so the number of water buffalo is becoming smaller the water buffalo has no pores in his skin to keep him cool so he must spend part of every day rolling in the water and he makes the most of any small pool he [Music] finds another instructor takes our class to the vegetable patch and here we learn how to weed irrigate fertilize and spray today we are working in rows of lettuce and Romain when ready some of these will be sold in the market [Music] on my way home from school I passed the temple in our village of pingon and then turned down the lane that leads to our house while I was at school my mother did all of our family's laundry by hand and hung it to dry on long bamboo poles the lane is lying with trees that give shade in summer and grow many different kinds of fruit including Vines and oranges one of my evening chores is to feed the chickens our chickens provide us with meat and eggs which I like very much they always come when I call my father takes chickens to Market in these large homemade baskets he will use some of the money to buy things we need the rest he will put into a savings account in the Commercial Bank of our village my father and I visit our post office to mail some letters and we hope that there will be some letters for us many tucks are raised on our Island this is a familiar site on the streets of our village [Music] tiny children from 3 to 6 years of age are taken to and from kindergarten in these picap buses most of these children have working mothers so they are well taken care of while their parents are away from home train service on our government-owned Railway is very good we use both Steam and Diesel locomotives a railway line through ping Tong goes to the northern in of Taiwan where our Capital City Tai is [Music] located I was very happy when my father said that we would make a trip to taipe on the train from the window I saw many new and interesting sites there were Rich farmlands along the way some grew vegetables others rice and I also saw a field of sugar cane we passed over Dry River beds where land is used for planting we have three crops each year this is is a sugar refinery my father told me that sugar is the most valuable of all our [Music] exports this is the railroad Depot of taipe travel is heavy and many coaches are needed to carry people around our island taipe is very large about the size of your City of Minneapolis and as we entered the city the first thing we saw was a large funeral procession there were many beautiful flowers and colorful banners then came musicians and later bands in uniform my father explained that the man who died must have been very wealthy and important to have such a huge procession [Music] after shopping for necessary things for our home my father and I went to visit my uncle who works outside the city he is a Carpenter a builder of fishing boats the lumber for these boats comes from our large Forest my uncle has been building boats since he was a young boy he is now an expert and very proud of his work near the shipyard was a brick Factory our clay soil is excellent for making bricks which are used for homes and building this girl is using a wire cutting machine to cut the clay into [Music] bricks they are taken outdoors and stacked in piles to dry in the sun then the sundried bricks are carried into the ovens for further drying and baking finally the bricks are hauled to the city in Ox carts the feet of The Oxen are bound with rope to protect them from the hard [Music] pavement we saw many buildings being built throughout the city workers must use long ramps to carry the materials this is slow tedious work but it gives employment to many people who have not been trained to do anything else now more than ever I realized how lucky I was to be going to school to fit myself for a better sort of life [Music] we visited the most beautiful confucious temple in taipe it was decorated with many carvings of birds and [Music] flowers most buildings in Taipei are modern Moon Gates and other Chinese architecture are used mainly for interesting effect this building contains the presidential offices we visited a Pottery Factory and saw lovely faces and bowls displayed all over the lawn I enjoy watching this girl figure on the Abacus we do not learn to use the Abacus in the public schools only Business Schools Now teach this method of figuring ing see how fast she adds up this bill all too soon our visit was over and it was time to return to Ping Tong how pleased I was when father told me we were going home by air this was the greatest thrill of my life now I could fully realize how large the city of taipe really is and see how the rivers of tamsui and kilong empty into the sea I could see the high mountains toward our eastern coast from up here the Farms look like a great quilt our Farmers live in villages and go out to work each day in the surrounding Fields our home flight lasted only about an hour and soon we were Landing in ping Tong my mother was happy to know that I remembered to bring gifts of prayer papers and also cakes for the [Music] family later in the evening before saying good night all of our family gathered in front of our home to hear about the wonderful things my father and I saw in the great C City but I really prefer our little village of ping Tong we enjoy our family and our fertile rice FS this is our life in Taiwan under the flag of freedom