To Live

The first section introduces the narrator, who recalls that when he was “ten years younger than I am now, I had the carefree job of going to the countryside to collect popular folk songs” (3). While the narrator is from the city, the job required him to roam the countryside and interact with local farmers. He recounts how he met many fascinating people, and even almost fell in love, but that the most memorable part of that job was meeting Fugui.

The first time the narrator sees Fugui, he describes him as “an old man in one of the nearby fields patiently trying to coax an old ox into working” (6). The narrator watches Fugui talking to his ox as if the ox is a person. The narrator is curious and decides to strike up a conversation with Fugui. The two sit down under a tree, and Fugui proceeds to tell the narrator the story of his life.

Fugui starts his story by talking about his father, who despite being wealthy and of high status, when he “squatted down to take a shit he was just like a poor man” because he relieved himself outside on the manure vat instead of inside on the chamber pot (9).