Zheng Yidong and his wife show the account books. 

July 30, CCTV - 67 years ago, his father and elder brother were killed in an unexpected disaster that left the family heavily in debt. For the past few decades, Zheng Yidong lived a thrifty life in order to fulfill his simple and honest promise to repay the debt. In April this year, the debt was cleared and the experience of the 84 year old man working for over 60 years to repay his debt became a household story in Shangrao County in Jiangxi Province.

67 years is the better part of a person’s life, in some cases, it is a person’s entire life. It is a long time for someone working tirelessly to repay his debt. However, when one believes in honesty, this endeavor is worthy of perseverance. The story of the 84 year old man spending 67 years repaying his debt has shown what honesty is all about, and has both inspired and shamed us.

The family, heavily in debt after an unexpected disaster, were determined to pay off all the debt

Zheng Yidong came from Madun Village in Huangshaling Township, Shangrao County, Jiangxi Province. His father ran an oil mill and was a very honest man, enjoying the trust of his fellow villagers. Every year, when the villagers sent their camellia seeds and rape seeds to the mill to be processed into oil, they put down the amount in the account book, but did not ask for any receipt.

In 1942, the Kuomintang of Shangrao County in Jiangxi needed laborers and the 17 year old Zheng Yidong was taken away by the township guards by force. His father and elder brother went to rescue him, but they were shot dead by the guards. Zheng Yidong’s mother had to sell the camellia seeds and rape seeds as well as the villagers’ oil, in order to get money for a lawsuit. However, instead of winning the trial, they ran heavily into debt.

The experience of the Zheng family won the sympathy of the villagers and none of them asked for repayment. Zheng Yidong felt uneasy about the villagers’ generosity and promised that he would support his family and pay off the debt no matter what.

Zheng Yidong recalled that from the age of 17, he had to work day and night, doing odd jobs, working as a porter, and doing business travelling across the mountains to Fujian Province as part of the salt business. While supporting the family, he did his best to pay back part of the debt with oil and cash, but he still had a long way to go before he could clear all the debt recorded in the account book.

After the liberation, Zheng Yidong worked enthusiastically and did an outstanding job in different capacities from militia battalion commander, chairman of the farmers’ association and head of the county agricultural technical center to secretary of the commune committee. Zheng Yidong was very strict with himself and never sought any personal benefit. With the dozens of yuan he earned per month, he had to support his mother and his younger brother who was still in school. For a long time, life was extremely difficult, especially after he got married and had seven children.

Although life was hard, Zheng Yidong did not forget the debt. Zheng Yongguo, his second son, recalled that in order to pay off the debt quicker, the family rarely had any meat or fish. They often lived on wild grass and potatoes and wore worn out clothes. Zheng Yidong worked hard and led a thrifty life. For every meal, he bought cheap dishes at 5 fen each, the clothes he wore had been used for more than ten years and his underwear was all patched. Zheng Yidong often went to the county for meetings after he became the secretary of the commune committee. Each time he would walk more than ten kilometers to the meeting, to save the one yuan bus fare.

Zhou Luying, the third daughter-in-law of Zheng Yidong, told reporters that her parents-in-law did not give her a single penny when she got married. She felt uncomfortable in the beginning, but when she helped her father-in-law sort out the “debt book,” she came to understand how much difficulty he had gone through to repay his debt. “I cried every time I saw the debt book.” Zhou Luying said, “I no longer felt that I was poorly treated.”

Zheng Yidong had a strong sense of responsibility and a guilty conscience. As a result, he was always under the pressure of repaying the debt as early as possible. However, he was not capable of doing so and felt uneasy. Zheng Rongxian, his wife, said that he never mentioned the debt to his family before he had accumulated the money to pay it off. Whenever they saw him heaving heavy sighs, they would think that he was tired, not realizing that he had such a heavy burden on his heart.

The debt was paid off in two stages and his life-long wish realized

By 1996, Zheng Yidong finally had enough money to repay the debt. In order to accurately ascertain whom he should pay and how much, he spent months verifying the names and amounts in the account book that was passed to him by his father. On the eighth day of the twelfth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, he began his trip to repay his debt by carrying pails of oil he had bought in a rented vehicle, and travelled from his home in Shangrao County to his hometown in Huangshaling Township.

Against the biting wind and the freezing rain, Zheng Yidong, who was over 70 years old, travelled to 10 villages in seven days including Dawu, Zhiyuan, Yuantang, Liuyuan and Miaoao. With the help of his fellow villagers, he found 96 creditors or their children. He returned a large portion of the debt. The oil and cash totaled 5,700 yuan. He was especially happy when he celebrated the Spring Festival that year.

Zheng Yidong continued to look for the other creditors in the following years. So many years had passed and many of the creditors had moved to other places, but the old man never gave up. Sometimes, he had to travel hundreds of miles to find a clue. Deeply moved by the old man, his fellow villagers began to offer their assistance in order to help Zheng reach his goal.

One day in 2008, while chatting with friends, Zheng Yidong thought of a detail he had missed. Before the liberation, there were 16 liang in a jin (around half a kilogram), whereas by today’s measurements, there are only ten liang in a jin. He began to blame himself and felt remorse, blaming it on his age. After confirming this, Zheng Yidong decided to pay an extra 15 percent to the creditors. So, the old man took out the account book again and carefully recalculated the amounts of debt he should pay to his 106 creditors. At the same time, he saved up the money and goods for the debt he hoped to repay on his next trip.

On the ninth day of the 12th month of the Chinese Lunar calendar, the 83 year old Zheng Yidong, accompanied by his wife Zheng Rongxian, went back to their hometown again. People in the village were excited but refused to accept the money and goods that Zheng had brought to them. The old man was so touched that tears rolled down his cheeks. Finally, at the insistence of Zheng Yidong, crying in anxiety, the creditors reluctantly accepted the money and the goods. As the children of some creditors were working elsewhere, Zheng Yidong didn’t pay off all the debt until the Tomb-sweeping Festival this year.

On April 3, 2009, Zheng Yidong wrote solemnly on the “debt book,” I owed Weng Xinhua one jiao and paid him one yuan today. By then, the old man had paid more than 13,600 yuan for the 67 year old debt.

Zhou Luying, his daughter-in-law said that in the past, her father-in-law often furrowed his brow and did not talk much; he wouldn’t even tease his grandchildren. However, once he had cleared his debt, he talked a lot more and asked frequently about his grandchildren’s studies.

Zheng Yidong said, “Only after paying off all the debt could the heavy stone lying on my heart for decades be removed. Now my life’s dream has materialized and I am living an easy and happy life in my last years.”

Brilliant human character reflected by honesty

The experience of Zheng Yidong paying off the debt in two stages has become a household story that has moved both the villagers and the creditors. Chen Wenzhong, an old man in his nineties from Zhiyuan Village, said, “The disaster caused Zheng Yidong’s family to live a pitiful life. We hated to ask him to repay the debt. We originally thought that there was no way we could get the oil back. Yet after so many years, he came and repaid us. What a nice man he is!” Some villagers said that when they heard that someone came on a special trip to repay the debt after more than 60 years, they could hardly believe it. He really is an honest man.

Zheng Yidong thought he was not worthy of the nice words, saying, “It is right and proper to pay off the debt. I just did what I should. I paid the debt without interest dozens of years later, so I felt very sorry for the creditors. Why should I be praised?”

Liu Hong, associate professor of law at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, noted that 20 years is the statute of limitations for civil cases in China. In the preceding 60 years, the creditors had not claimed their rights to the debt, which was equivalent to them writing it off. Therefore, from the legal point of view, Zheng Yidong did not have to pay off the debt. However, from a spiritual and moral perspective, what Zheng Yidong did could not be measured with money.

Wu Yongming, a Ph. D. from Renmin University of China and vice president of Shangrao Normal College, said that Zheng Yidong’s simple thought, “It is right and proper to pay off the debt” reflected his honest moral character, and should be promoted to build an honest society. Wu added, “The Chinese tend to forgive and forget. However, Zheng Yidong did not forget after more than 60 years. It has fully shown that, for him, an honest character is as brilliant as gold, which is even more precious in today’s society.”