Chapter summaries Daughters of Shandong Eve J. Chung

Refugee Government — Chapter 28 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

In June 1950, Mount Davis held roughly seven thousand residents and was widely known as a pro-Nationalist enclave. On June 18, the community gathered by the hospital for a Dragon Boat Festival celebration, with volunteers distributing zhongzhi donated by a philanthropist. The holiday commemorates Qu Yuan, a patriot who drowned himself after wrongful exile. The narrator remembers her mother's elaborate zhongzhi from Zhucheng, a sharp contrast to the modest portions available at the camp.

The celebration turned violent when a pro-Communist workers' union of about fifty people arrived from Victoria Peak, singing the PRC anthem and carrying portraits of Mao. Hundreds of refugees, many of them former soldiers still bitter from defeat, attacked the marchers. Biao-Wu charged in first, and Mr. Han wielded a broken table leg. The narrator's mother screamed for the children to get inside the shelter, and the family watched from a window as police arrived, arrested dozens, and threatened deportation—a hollow threat, since China would not accept the refugees, but one that worked because people feared losing their rations. Biao-Wu returned with a torn shirt and a bloody nose, cheerfully calling it the first Nationalist victory in a long time. The brawl made headlines and hardened the Hong Kong government's resolve to relocate the camp.

On June 26, about five thousand residents were moved to Rennie's Mill, renamed Tiao Jing Ling ("Smooth View Ridge") to appease superstitious residents. The government now openly called the site a refugee camp. Before boarding the ferry, police sprayed everyone with DDT. Mrs. Tung planned to remarry, and Mrs. Gao chose to look for an apartment with Biao-Wu; Cantonese-speaking soldiers were last priority for the new camp because officials assumed they could adapt more easily to Hong Kong life. The narrator reflects that her mother could have remarried too but was bound by love for her children—a point Di refuses to accept.

The truck ride was long and bumpy, through uncultivated land with no stores in sight. The camp consisted of small gray tents of wood and tar paper, originally planned for one thousand people but holding five times that number. Ms. Anita explained that each tent held four people, each person received a monthly ration card stamped twice daily for rice and vegetables, and everyone had to cook for themselves. Water came from a stream and had to be boiled; Ms. Anita showed horrifying photos of waterborne parasites. The family was assigned tent 68, with no floor and barely enough room. Di teased her sister about Alfred Rennie's unmarked grave, sending her shrieking into the sunlight.

The first night was miserable—thin wool blankets over rocky soil. The next day, Mom hiked more than three hours to Hong Kong Island and returned with padding, tar paper, twine, a kitchen knife, and a teakettle, her heels bleeding from chafing shoes. Additional refugees drifted in, many unregistered and without rations; they scavenged grains from the canteen floor and begged. Hundreds of unregistered former soldiers volunteered to fight for South Korea in the newly erupted Korean War, but the South Koreans rejected them.

Mom's generosity continued—she always gave a few spoonfuls of rice to anyone who asked—and it was reciprocated. A man reinforced the family's tent, another built shelves and a platform, and Mr. Tai, who hunted rabbits with a slingshot, shared meat and taught the girls to set traps. Mrs. Ying taught them to identify fever vine, a foul-smelling medicinal plant with edible leaves. The girls foraged for grasses and seeds, and briefly dreamed of killing a wild boar until Mr. Tai warned them it would be suicide.

Residents petitioned Hong Kong authorities to form a refugee government, led by Mr. Han. They established a police force of former soldiers to guard against Communist infiltration, sanitation rules governing river use and latrines, and a volunteer team to liaise with charities for projects like a dock and medical supplies.

In August, Biao-Wu returned, embarrassed that his attempt at independent city life had failed. His Cantonese was not good enough, his factory wages barely covered food and rent, and he was lonely. He admitted he had been too proud and overestimated himself. Mom welcomed him warmly, and he ate with the family daily until his ration card arrived. Mr. Han put him to work on camp projects.

That fall, the refugee government's most ambitious project was a road to Lei Yue Mun that would cut travel time from three hours to thirty minutes, allowing residents to work on Hong Kong Island again. The government supplied materials, and every able-bodied man had to build at least three hundred feet; others cooked for the workers. Missionaries funded materials for a health clinic, and the hospital funded latrines. The camp slowly became a rudimentary town.

Hai and Biao-Wu built seven wooden spears and planned a boar trap, but Mr. Han confiscated the spears, warning that a trap could kill a child. Hai was devastated—not for the meat, but because she needed a project she could control, a distraction from the entry permits that seemed less likely to arrive. She had lost weight, was anemic and cold, and had heard nothing from Uncle Jian in months. She would turn fifteen that winter.

The chapter ends on a note of hope. Mom was clapping and whistling because Lan, standing by the tree line with her arms out like airplane wings, took a few steps on her own. She limped clumsily, but she was walking. Hai realized her sister was stronger than she thought—like wheat bursting through Shandong soil—and took comfort that she too might be stronger than she knew. The family could endure another winter, and the new road would welcome spring.

Key Events

  • A Dragon Boat Festival celebration erupts into violence when a pro-Communist workers' union arrives singing the PRC anthem; police arrest dozens of refugees.
  • About five thousand residents are relocated from Mount Davis to Rennie's Mill, renamed Tiao Jing Ling, on June 26.
  • Families receive tents, ration cards, and warnings about waterborne parasites; everyone is sprayed with DDT before boarding the ferry.
  • Mom hikes more than three hours to Hong Kong Island for supplies, returning with bleeding heels.
  • Unregistered refugees arrive without rations, and hundreds of former soldiers volunteer for the Korean War only to be rejected.
  • Residents petition to form a refugee government, establishing a police force, sanitation rules, and charity liaison teams.
  • Biao-Wu returns in August after failing to live independently in the city.
  • The refugee government organizes construction of a road to Lei Yue Mun, with every able-bodied man required to build at least three hundred feet.
  • Mr. Han confiscates Hai and Biao-Wu's boar trap spears as too dangerous for a camp full of children.
  • Lan takes her first independent steps, limping but walking on her own.

Character Development

  • Hai grows more restless and anxious as the wait for Taiwan entry permits drags on. Her obsession with the boar hunt reveals a need for agency: she wants something to work toward that she can control. Her recognition of Lan's strength becomes a mirror for her own resilience.
  • Di remains pragmatic and sharp-tongued, suggesting the family resell city goods at a markup and teasing Hai about ghosts. She still refuses to see their mother's choices as sacrifice, a rift that continues to trouble Hai.
  • Mom embodies endurance and generosity. She walks for hours with bleeding heels to equip the tent, gives rice to anyone who asks, and welcomes Biao-Wu back without reproach. Her kindness is repaid by the community in wood, shelves, and meat.
  • Biao-Wu undergoes a humbling arc. His pride leads him to attempt independence, and his failure teaches him the value of community and shared language. He returns with new humility and immediately contributes to camp projects.
  • Lan reaches a quiet milestone: her first steps. Though delayed and clumsy, her walking signals physical progress and becomes the chapter's central image of hope.
  • Mr. Han emerges as a firm community leader, organizing the refugee government and prioritizing safety over individual ambition, even when that means crushing Hai's plans.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Refugee self-governance: The residents do not wait passively for aid. They petition for a government, form a police force, write sanitation rules, and organize major infrastructure projects, transforming a tent camp into a rudimentary town.
  • Nationalist-Communist conflict: The Dragon Boat brawl shows that the civil war has followed the refugees into exile. A cultural festival becomes a battleground, and the camp's police force is explicitly framed as protection against Communist infiltration.
  • Displacement and marginalization: The move to Rennie's Mill is a step deeper into isolation—no stores, no electricity, no running water, and a three-hour walk to the dock. The government's open labeling of the site as a refugee camp underscores the residents' reduced status.
  • Food scarcity and foraging: Hunger dominates daily life. Families forage for fever vine, grasses, and seeds; unregistered refugees pick grains from the canteen floor. Food is both a practical need and a currency of generosity.
  • Maternal sacrifice and reciprocity: Mom's refusal to profit from others' desperation echoes her kindness to workers back in Zhucheng. Her giving creates a web of mutual aid: the community repays her with labor, shelves, and rabbit meat.
  • Infrastructure as hope: The road to Lei Yue Mun represents more than convenience—it is a promise of employment, connection to the city, and a future beyond the camp. Its completion by spring is the chapter's horizon of possibility.
  • Uncertainty and waiting: The entry permits hang over the family like a question mark. Hai's anxiety about the permits drives her need for distraction, and the camp's slow improvements cannot keep pace with her impatience.
  • Resilience and growth: Lan's first steps, described as wheat bursting through Shandong soil, crystallize the chapter's central belief: growth is possible even in barren ground.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter marks a major turning point in the family's exile. The move from Mount Davis to Rennie's Mill strips away the last pretense of stability—the government now calls the site a refugee camp—and forces the residents to build a community from nothing. The formation of the refugee government shows displaced people reclaiming agency, while the road project gives the camp a shared purpose and a concrete hope for economic survival.

The chapter also deepens the novel's emotional core. Hai's restlessness, Mom's unacknowledged sacrifice, Biao-Wu's humbling return, and Lan's first steps all converge on a single idea: endurance is itself a form of strength. Lan's walking, set against the barren landscape, is the novel's most direct statement yet that the family can survive—and perhaps even grow—while waiting for a future that remains uncertain.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why is Hai so determined to hunt the boar, and what does Mr. Han's confiscation of the spears reveal about her state of mind?

Hai admits she does not need the meat; she needs a project she can control. The entry permits are entirely out of her hands, and the camp's slow improvements cannot satisfy her impatience. The boar hunt gives her a goal with a clear outcome, a small domain of agency in a life defined by waiting. Mr. Han's confiscation, framed as protecting children from a deadly trap, strips away even that outlet, leaving Hai with nothing to distract her from the permits that seem less likely to arrive each day.

2. How does the refugee government change life at Rennie's Mill, and what are its limits?

The refugee government gives residents a structure for collective action: a police force of former soldiers, sanitation rules for the river and latrines, charity liaison teams, and labor requirements for the road project. These measures turn a chaotic tent camp into a functioning community and channel the residents' military experience into civic projects. But the government operates within strict limits—it depends on Hong Kong authorities for permission and supplies, cannot extend rations to unregistered arrivals, and cannot secure the Taiwan permits that remain the residents' ultimate goal.

3. What does Lan's first walk symbolize in the context of this chapter?

Lan's steps come at the end of a chapter full of setbacks: the violent brawl, the barren camp, the rejected war volunteers, the confiscated spears. Her clumsy, determined walking shows that growth is possible even in the most inhospitable conditions. Hai explicitly reads her sister's strength as evidence of her own, transforming Lan's milestone into a collective statement of resilience—the family, like the wheat that bursts through Shandong soil, can endure another winter and meet the spring.

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