Migration

Introduction: The following plays are on China’s Tang Dynasty geography. The first is on the Great Migration from north to south that many people made to get free land in the southern Tang Dynasty. The second is on the discovery of the faster growing rice that tripled farmers’ profit every year. The Great Migration of the Tang Dynasty

Peasant 1: "I'm tired of doing all this work for such little pay!"

Peasant 2: "Me too."

Peasant 3: " Hey guys! Have you heard?

Peasant 1+2: "What?"

Peasant 3: " They're just giving FREE land away in the south! Everyone is going, but they only have so much to give and it's first come first serve!"

Peasant 1: "Lets go tonight after work so we can collect our pay first!"

Peasant 2+3: "Yeah!" LATER THAT NIGHT Peasant 1+2+3: " Sir we are leaving for the south and we would like our final pay."

Mr. Zhen: " We have lost so many people today, you will stay won't you?"

(Peasants do not respond to Mr. Zhen)

Mr. Zhen: " Fine, if that's how you want it then we don't need you. But I warn you; many people are leaving the north and soon the south will be overcrowded and there will be no free lad left and you three and everyone else will come crawling back here asking for their old job’s."

(Peasants take their pay and leave the rice paddy.)

Narrator 1: " Around that time there were thousands and thousands of these scenes happening all over the north Tang Dynasty."

Narrator 2: " It took weeks for the peasants to make it from the north to the south of The Tang Dynasty."

Peasant 1: " Okay, we're almost there! Time to get down to business, are we going to share land or have our own? Peasant 2+3: "Separate of course!"

Narrator 1: " By the time they got to the south to get free land, there was no more land left." --Peasants: "What are we going to do?"

Peasant 1: " We can't go back, do you remember what Sirman said to us?"

Peasant 2: " We just lost our lives as we know it!"

Peasant 3: "Darn, better luck next life!"

Back To Index