family separation

  • Mencius – Chapter 14.27

    Mencius outlines three state levies: fabric, grain and labor. Wise rulers impose only one and ease the rest. Dual levies cause starvation; all three tear families apart, embodying his light-tax, people-centered benevolent governance.

  • Zhang Cheng

    There was a man surnamed Zhang in Henan Province whose ancestors were from Shandong. During the latter part of the Ming Dynasty, when Shandong was in wide-spread turmoil, his wife was captured and taken away by Manchu soldiers. After that, as Zhang often used to travel to Henan, he decided to settle down there.