China’s internet has of late been alive with discussion over the case of a woman in northern Jiangsu who has mothered eight children but was made to live in a hut beside her family’s house, sometimes chained up by her neck.
最近，中国互联网上关于江苏北部一名妇女案件的讨论十分活跃。她已经是八个孩子的母亲，但被迫住在自家房子旁边的一间小屋里，有时还被锁住脖子。
The shocking situation came to light just before the Chinese New Year holiday, when netizens’ discussions were picked up by the family of a women from Sichuan Province who went missing in 1998.
这一令人震惊的情况在春节假期前曝光，当时一名1998年失踪的四川省妇女的家人引发了网友的讨论。
DNA of the missing woman did not match that of the mother of eight, surnamed Yang, but that did not stop a plethora of hastily-made videos from being shared online.
失踪女子的DNA与八个孩子的杨姓母亲的DNA不符，但这并没有阻止大量匆忙制作的视频在网上传播。
The videos, together with media reports at home and abroad, document the woman’s living conditions in Fengxian County of Xuzhou City in the far northwest of our very own Jiangsu Province.
这些视频与国内外媒体的报道一起记录了这位妇女在江苏省西北部的徐州市丰县的生活状况。
While the videos were mostly posted online on 28 January, on that same day the Propaganda Department of the Fengxian County Party Committee announced that it and the county government had quickly established a joint team to conduct a comprehensive investigation.
虽然这些视频大多于1月28日发布在网上，但当天，丰县县委宣传部宣布，已与县政府迅速成立联合工作组开展全面调查。
The woman’s identity was subsequently verified and it was revealed that she was married to a man surnamed Dong in Huankou Town of Fengxian County in August, 1998. There was no suspicion of any abduction nor trafficking having taken place, reports The Paper.
据澎湃新闻报道，经核实，该女子身份显示，她于1998年8月与奉贤县环口镇一名董姓男子结婚，不存在被拐卖的嫌疑。
The Committee’s report stated that according to family members and neighbours, Yang often beat her children and the elderly for seemingly no reason, while she had also been diagnosed as suffering from mental illness. On account of her violent tendencies, her family had arranged for her to live alone in a hut.
该委员会的报告称，据家人和邻居称，杨经常无缘无故地殴打孩子和老人，同时她还被诊断患有精神疾病。由于她有暴力倾向，家人安排她独自住在一间小屋里。
That hut turned out to be a dilapidated shack right next to the large family home. Videos of Yang living there have since been deleted from the internet. Photos of Yang with the chain around her neck remain on websites abroad, such as The World Journal.
那间小屋原来是大家庭旁边的一间破旧的小屋。此后，杨居住在那里的视频已从互联网上删除。杨脖子上挂着项链的照片还出现在《世界日报》等国外网站上。
In another video, locals commented that the woman could speak English when she first arrived in the village and was in every way a normal person. They claimed Yang’s transformation was the result of domestic violence.
在另一段视频中，当地人评论说，这名女子刚到村子时会说英语，在各方面都是一个正常人。他们声称杨的转变是家庭暴力的结果。
Dong, on the other hand, was seen on video saying he wanted to have more children after being looked down on by others. Now he has seven sons and one daughter to support. The eldest son is 23, while the youngest just 2.
另一方面，视频中显示，董在被别人瞧不起后表示，他想生更多的孩子。现在他有七个儿子和一个女儿要抚养。大儿子23岁，小儿子才2岁。
While his wife is confined to the hut, it appears Dong has been doing the best he could for his children. Videos have revealed the children to be neatly dressed and speaking clearly.
虽然他的妻子被限制在小屋里，但董似乎一直在为孩子们尽力而为。视频显示，孩子们衣着整齐，说话清晰。
A member of staff from the Fengxian Propaganda Department commented that Yang does not get up very often in winter and that a blogger had suddenly called upon her to take photos, only to see her shoeless with messy hair.
奉贤宣传部一名工作人员评价，杨女士冬天起床不频繁，突然有博主叫她拍照，结果看到她光着鞋，头发凌乱。
That same staff member also confirmed that the family is a poor household which receives a government subsidy of ¥3,000 each month.
该工作人员还证实，该家庭属于贫困户，每月领取政府补助3000元。
Every cloud has a silver lining. Yang’s future, bleak though it certainly is, may actually have received the boost it needed to bring about an improvement in her living conditions, thanks once to the internet and a touch of citizen journalism.
每片乌云都有一线希望。尽管杨的未来确实很黯淡，但由于互联网和公民新闻的影响，她的生活条件实际上可能已经得到了改善。
