Xiuxian Tong

Tong, Xiuxian was born on January 20, 1932, in Guangzhou, China. She was the youngest of three siblings, with an elder brother named Tong, Xianyang and an elder sister named Tong Peiyu. She completed primary school.

Tong, Xiuxian grew up in a prominent and wealthy family, enjoying the luxurious life of a young noblewoman. Her maternal grandfather was a late Qing Dynasty jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) who served as the Governor of Guangxi. Her family co-founded the first power plant in Guangzhou — the Xicun Power Plant.

After marriage, she moved to Hong Kong. In 1950, responding to the new government’s call to “Support the Construction of the Motherland,” she followed her husband back to mainland China to serve the country. Her husband became a teacher at a military-industrial enterprise and held the status of a municipal-level cadre. Later, he was labeled a rightist and sent to a labor camp for re-education through forced labor.

As the wife of a “rightist” and a member of the “black five categories,” she began a life of hardship and displacement with several young children. At one point, she even slept under the arcades of Guangzhou’s streets while pregnant, with nothing but her Guangzhou Resident Household Register in hand.

To raise her children, she took on various odd jobs and street vending, sometimes selling fruit on the roadside. She once pushed tricycles across the Haizhu Bridge in Guangzhou to earn money and, while working as a nanny, secretly took rice bran meant for feeding chickens to bring home and feed her own children.

When her youngest son was born, she was so financially strained that she had no choice but to give him up for adoption (hence he took the surname Mak). By the time her husband was politically rehabilitated, his health had been severely damaged, rendering him unable to work. She continued to support a family of six alone through casual labor on the streets.

Fortunately, her children grew up to be responsible, filial, and successful in life. She retired in 1983 and immigrated to Canada in 2015. In her later years, she enjoyed a relatively affluent and carefree life, surrounded by many children and grandchildren who cherished her company.

She passed away peacefully on April 13, 2025, in Vancouver, due to natural aging, at the age of 96. All her descendants were by her side to accompany her through her final moments.

童秀娴，1932年1月20日出生于中国广州；共有三兄妹，大哥童显扬，家姐童佩玉，她最细排行第三；小学毕业；

生平简介：年幼生长在显赫世家，尽享千金少姐之荣华富贵，其外公是清朝未代进士任广西知府，家族是广州市第一间发电厂——西村电厂的联合创办者，婚后移居香港，1950年响应新政府“支援祖国建设”的号召，跟随丈夫回到中国大陆报效祖国，丈夫投身军工企业任教师（享受市级干部待遇），后被打成右派分子，被送劳教场强制劳动改造，作为黑五类右派分子家属的她，带着几个年幼孩子开始了流离失所的生活，（曾经身怀着《广州市居民户口簿》睡在广州街头的骑楼底），靠打散工或街边走鬼卖水果将几个孩子拉扯大，（曾经在广州海珠桥上帮人家推三轮车赚取养家糊口钱、曾给人当保姆期间偷过主人家喂鸡的米糠回家给自己的孩子吃……），及至最细的儿子出生，因为经济上实在无力抚养，唯有送给别人（所以姓麦），等到丈夫获得平反，丈夫己经被折磨得满身病痛，不能工作，唯有独自在街道靠打散工维持一家六口的生计；幸得儿女渐大成人，争气孝顺且成家立业，遂于1983年退休，2015年移民加拿大。晚年过上较富裕无忧的幸福生活，子孙成群围聚身边，得以安享晚年。2025年4月13日于温哥华因身体自然衰老安详过身，享年96岁，过身前众子孙均围在身边送她最后一程。