When Yu Dafu was born (1896), the main sources of income of this family were: first, the salary (salary) of his father Yu Qizeng and the income from medical practice; The second is the income from a book and a half of Zhuang Shu left by our ancestors. "Zhuang Shu" was originally a system of private management of land tax, which was widely implemented in Jiangnan in the late Qing Dynasty. Each county is divided into several villages (similar to towns and villages today) according to administrative areas, and the ownership registers of fields, land, mountains and rivers, ponds and houses in the villages are kept by private accounts. This kind of record is called "Zhuang Shu", and the special account for keeping this kind of record is called "Zhuang Shu Ren Jia". In addition to keeping accounts and records, Zhuang Shu's family also manages the sale and transfer of ownership, and declares family taxes and their changes to the government. Handling these matters, you can charge the parties a handling fee. Large households and middle households who buy and sell more fields often go in and out of Uncle Zhuang's house, eat and live for the night, and some even smoke on recliners-opium popular that day. After the autumn harvest every year, the dealer will collect a batch of buckets and burdens from large households and middle households, each of which is different, forming a convention. Therefore, "Zhuangshu" not only has certain administrative privileges, but also is a kind of property with considerable income, which can be bought, sold and transferred. There are rich and poor in Gezhuang, and the price of Zhuangshu is also high and low. You can even split a Zhuang's "Zhuang Shu" into two halves that are not completely equal to buy and sell. The bad habits of this system can't be described in a few words. Even the governments after the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China knew that they had no choice but to let it overflow. The characteristic of Zhuang Shu's family is that there are many people coming and going. The more guests there are, the more expenses will certainly increase, but the better the prospects will be. Although this half book of the Yu family belongs to a medium-sized village, it is said that the "autumn valley" collected every year can also provide food for the family for half a year. Third, more than ten acres of land left by ancestors. I planted about six acres of land to supplement my rations, and invited some short-term workers to help me when I was busy. About half of them are rented out because they are poor, and the income is not much. At that time, in Fuyang, a small county town, "most people" had neither permanent real estate nor permanent business. Although this family is less than the big landlords, it is more than enough, and it can be called a "middle class family". Uncle Zhuang's family can enter and leave the yamen house. Besides, it is said that the Yu family used to be the emperor's medical officer in the previous generation. Of course, they might as well call themselves "squire".

Yu Dafu lost his father at the age of three, and his family has undergone great changes. The old grandmother (Yu Shengshan's wife) is still alive. Two brothers: eldest brother Yu Hua (word) is twelve years older than him; Yu Hao, the second brother, is five years older than him. Sister Yu Fengzhen is two years older than him. Plus my mother and adopted daughter Cui Hua, seven people, old and young, two generations of widows, lost their only support for a while. Among the three major sources of family income, the first income is gone; Second, Uncle Zhuang lacked management personnel, so he had to hire an old gentleman named Yu for many years to handle official documents, and his income was reduced by more than half. The third is that the income falling from the sky has been bullied by the families of orphans and widows, such as theft, embezzlement and so on. In less than three years, there are only three houses, six acres of fertile land, and half of the net income has dropped sharply. The whole family depends on the virtuous mother's hard work, which not only provides Luo Zhang farmers with contacts and farming, but also is responsible for publicity and personally going to the countryside to collect the "Autumn Valley" in autumn. Big brother and second brother have started school, and family expenses have increased. During the day, she will try to do some needlework in the alley at home to earn a piece-rate salary. However, despite working hard all day, the family economy declined rapidly, so that the young Yu Dafu's "first feeling was hunger". Since he was born, he has always been hungry because of lack of breast milk. Because he was the last son who lost his father in childhood, his mother kept him from weaning, which increased his hunger time. According to his childhood classmates, he didn't go to school until he was seven. Every morning, his classmates come to visit him, and he always makes them wait and suck a few mouthfuls of milk beside their mother before they go to private schools. Later, I was really laughed at by my classmates, but I weaned myself. This is a few years after my father died. How does the busy mother take care of him? Tea, rice and meals are neither punctual nor often enough. Even on the annual New Year's Eve, my mother is busy going to various stores to repay or postpone intercession, and often can't go home until after midnight. He can only wait on an empty stomach, so he is too tired to sleep and can't sleep. The children next door came to see him after dinner. He was lying on the table just complaining that it was worse than the New Year! Of course, these scenes were deeply left in his young and innocent mind, so he said that his first experience since he began to feel was "the horror of hunger."

Due to the difficulties of life, his only sister, Yu Fengzhen, was given to the Ye family in the country as a child bride the year after his father died. But his mother has always insisted that her three sons go to school in such a poor situation. Not only do they go to school in general, but they also go to colleges and universities, and all of them go to Japan to study. I can't help but say that this rare and insightful mother is so tenacious and different! The eldest son, Yu Hua, studied in Japan through official expenses. While the second son and the youngest son continued to study in Hangzhou and the local area, they even mortgaged three houses, six acres of fertile land and a semi-village book, that is, all his possessions, and borrowed money to live. Many well-meaning relatives really worried about her and advised her that there was no need to take such risks when she had plenty of time. Even the grandmother chattered against her eldest grandson's going abroad to study. But she flatly refused, saying, "My family has no property to keep, and they are not allowed to go out to study and do something. They are all squatting on Fuyang Street' counting stone slabs' (local irony means idle and boring). How can they be worthy of their ancestors! " This is probably the tradition of so-called "scholarly family". Some people say that this is Yu Qi's last wish when he died. According to Ding Si Diary written by Yu Dafu 19 17 when he was studying in the eighth Japanese institution of higher learning, it was recorded on February 25th that "Yu Sheng lost his father at the age of three. Although he tried to be the first in the exam when he was young, he couldn't imagine that he was alone. Your father's integrity, so there is your generation. If he is the son and grandson of your generation, you should also inform him. " The grandmother's words are the same. Your father is honest and sincere, so if your father were here, your generation would not be here today. This mother Lu's words are also. Give the brain a test first, that's all! The so-called "not today" subtly shows that in the eyes of Lu's mother, who is also a "scholarly family", she is more determined and courageous than her father to accept and implement the tradition of "scholarly family"!