Mukuyiwumu, a 12-year-old student from the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, has written an essay dubbed by numerous Web users as “the saddest essay ever written.” Entitled “Tears,” the essay talks about the struggle and eventual death of Mukuyiwumu’s mother after her father died.
The Chinese pre-teen, who wrote the viral essay under the pseudonym Liu Yi, ended her paper with the line, "In my textbook it says that there is a place called Sun Moon Lake formed by the tears daughters shed when they miss their mothers."
Through the help of a volunteer teacher, a reporter from Western China City Daily was able to reach out to Mukuyiwumu on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
A fourth-grade student at Baoshi Elementary School, Mukuyiwumu is reserved in her bearing and enjoys drawing in her spare time. She has been caring for her elderly grandparents ever since her father and mother died in 2010 and 2014, respectively.
She has two younger brothers, who were placed under the care of a charity-run school in Xichang.
Mukuyiwumu's essay would have never made the rounds on the Internet if not for Huang Hongbin, a local staff member from a local charity that conducts outreach programs at Baoshi. Huang came across the essay on July 8 and snapped the picture he would later upload on his Weibo account.
The pre-teen was oblivious to the fact that her essay has affected and touched the lives of many Internet users from all over the country.
As orphans, Mukuyiwumu and her two brothers, aged 10 and 5, receive a monthly support of 600 yuan ($97) for them to continue their studies.
According to Huang, the local government and the charity he works for will continue to offer Mukuyiwumu support.