Most of the children in the town are named after a body part ( Zu = foot). Gugu came close to being deified by the women in our township. All she had to do was lay her hands on a sick person for that illness to retreat at least 70 per cent. Gugu took to midwifery and medicine immediately. Up to then, much of the midwifery had been carried out by older women using traditional and often unsafe methods. Gugu forged an unbreakable bond with the sacred work of obstetrics. She attends medical school and qualifies as a midwife, using modern methods. Gugu’s father was Wan Liufu, a very respected doctor. Gugu is a midwife and a very good one by all accounts. We follow him from childhood to adulthood but, in particular, we follow his aunt Wan Zin, known to everyone as Gugu. The narrator is Wan Zu, also known as Xiaopiao and as Tadpole (hence, in part, the title of the book). This novel deals with the then contentious issue of family planning and birth control. Home » China » Mo Yan » 蛙 (Frog) Mo Yan: 蛙 (Frog)Īs usual for Mo Yan, this novel is set in the small town of Northeast Gaomi Township, based on Dalan Township, Gaomi County in Shandong, Mo Yan’s home town.
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