Fan Yusu's essay was centered around the hardships Chinese migrant workers encounter. (Photo : Getty Images)
An autobiographical essay written by Fan Yusu showing the plight of migrant workers in China was published online and has captured the hearts of many Chinese people, according to an article in The Guardian.
The essay, called “I am Fan Yusu,” was first published on the social networking site WeChat last week and has since been deleted.
Many believe that the removal of her story on WeChat was due to the themes of her essay, which was mostly centered around the hardships Chinese migrant workers encounter as they attempt to build a life outside their hometown.
The online essay has made 44-year-old Fan Yusu into one of the hottest writers in China today. Her popularity has forced her to leave a migrant village outside of Beijing, where she’s been staying until her rise to fame.
According to Xinhua, Fan is currently hiding.
Fan’s story began with her childhood in a small village during the downturn of the Cultural Revolution. Fan is one of five children and was forced to work at the tender age of 12 to help her family.
By age 20, Fan fulfilled one of her dreams: to travel to one of China’s big cities. She made her way to Beijing in hopes to find work and to “see the big wide world.”
Unfortunately, Fan hit a roadblock: an abusive marriage. She also gave birth to two daughters.
“He became drunk and violent. I couldn’t bear his domestic violence any longer and decided to take my two kids back to my hometown,” Fan wrote.
She eventually returned to Beijing to work as the nanny of a millionaire’s illegitimate child.
Fan’s story went on to touch the hearts of many Chinese and was even lauded by the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official mouthpiece.
When asked about whether she plans on pursuing a career as a writer, Fan said in an interview before she went into hiding that she “[has] no talent."
"I have never dreamed of changing my destiny with a pen," she said.
