1　Story of L

1.1 Mo Yan and Justice

　The heroin is a female gynaecological doctor in the Shandong province of China. Her name is Wan Xing, and the characters are named based on physical sites and organs. The reason for such a custom is to link them to their mother.
　After the formation of new China (1949), childbirth became regulated. This national policy addresses the population growth rate exceeding 20% annually. The increasing population eventually slowed down over 30 years.
　Abortion is a related terminology to childbirth. It artificially removes a preborn child from the mother before natural birth. Moreover, illegal abortion is a crime which comes into effect through the perpetration of abortion. However, an artificial termination of pregnancy based on the Eugenic Protection Act is not criminal. This is when the continuation of pregnancy is considered dangerous to a mother’s life, or a preborn child is lost by miscarriage or is born prematurely.

花村嘉英（2022）「莫言の「蛙」でシナジーのメタファーを考える」より　translated by Yoshihisa Hanamura