Children of the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace attend extra facultative ballett class after school on October 18, 2007 in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo : Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein)
Ziyi, whose real name is Jiang Zhangziyi, has become a viral sensation for her graceful dance routines. In June, a video of the11-year-old legless girl dancing ballet with her mother made noise on the internet world.
The girl had both of her legs amputated after a horrendous car accident in October 2010, in which the lower half of her body was pulverized. Regardless, she did not lose hope and even surprised her mother with her unwavering resilience and determination.
"I was so beside myself that I even contemplated suicide," Ziyi's mother Zhang Shuixiang told Xinhua. "She was only six years old, she had only been walking for a few years."
In 2012, Ziyi decided to take up dancing lessons to enhance her mental well-being. Her mother recalled how difficult it is to find a dance teacher that was willing to take on the challenge.
Zhang revealed many instructors declined to teach Ziyi in view of her condition. Until one day, they meet Ye Xiaofang, who offered to give dance lessons for free-of-charge.
"It was difficult at first and painful, but I like dancing," Ziyi said and revealed that she initially struggled to dance on her limbs, regularly battling excruciating erosion and frustrating imbalance when learning new steps. "If you really want to do something, you just have to carry on."
In 2013, Ziyi won first place in the children's dancing contest in Shangrao. Not long after Ziyi's video made the rounds on the web, Ziyi's Weibo account, China's version of Twitter, is often inundated with comments from individuals who hail her as an inspiration. Some of them said Ziyi was brimming with positive energy, dubbing her "little sun."
Ziyi's family, who runs a small clothing store in Shangrao, east China's Jiangxi province, politely turned down numerous donation offers. Zhang said that she always tell Ziyi that she is not different from other people. Hence, she can do what they do and live a good life on her own.
"I don't want my daughter to rely on the help of others," she added. "I want her to be independent."
A movie about Ziyi's story, "The Dream Of Heaven," is scheduled to be released in China this summer, East Coast Radio has learned. The said movie debuted at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, which ran on June 11 to 14. Check out the viral below:
