Crossing the Pacific: The Family Stories of a Chinese Immigrant

By Y.P. Lu and 盧業裴

At the turn of the twentieth century, China was still in the hands of the imperial Qing Dynasty government. In 1911, the revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen finally succeeded in overthrowing the corruptive Qing Dynasty, and the Republic of China was born. In subsequent decades, the Nationalist government was exhausted in fighting consecu

• Language: English
• Publisher: EHGBooks
• Release date: Dec 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781647848835

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About the Book

At the turn of the twentieth century, China was still in the hands of the imperial Qing Dynasty government. In 1911, the revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen finally succeeded in overthrowing the corruptive Qing Dynasty, and the Republic of China was born. In subsequent decades, the Nationalist government was exhausted in fighting consecutively wars against the Chinese War Lords, the war against the Japanese aggression, and the Civil War with the Chinese Communists. Chaotic situations in the nation had lasted for most of the twentieth century.

My parents and my siblings of five lived our lives in that century.  Although our family, except for my sister and her family, had fortunately escaped the unprecedented massive destruction, the associated social turbulence, and the political persecution by the Chinese government toward its citizens in the decades of the twentieth century, we were forced to leave mainland China.  Our parents and many people in their generation lived the rest of their lives overseas like drifting leaves in unfamiliar societies with nostalgia.  My parents passed away in Taipei, Taiwan and in Manhattan, Kansas in the 1970’s.  What they wished and longed for was simply the togetherness of family members, and was never achieved in their lives. 

Because of the age differences between our siblings, the experiences of our lives were quite different. We each managed to find a way to make a living, strive for the best and we all survived under various circumstances during the turbulent times. This book "Crossing the Pacific" describes the true family stories of an ordinary Chinese immigrant. Just because of its ordinary nature, these stories would certainly not be able to make their way to the history books. However, these true family stories which fully reflect the complicated historical events of our times are surely worth writing down and leaving them to our children and future generations in America！

About the Author

YPLu Photo for Drifting Roots enhanced

Y. P. Lu received his Mechanical Engineering degrees from the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan in 1958, and from the University of Houston in Houston, Texas in 1964 and 1967.  After receiving his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, he spent his entire professional career at the David Taylor Research Center in Annapolis, Maryland as an engineer / scientist / technical manager until he retired in 1995.  In the intervening years, he also taught at different times at the University of Maryland, the United States Naval Academy, the Catholic University of America, the National Taiwan University, and the National Taiwan Ocean University.  He co-authored a graduate level technical book entitled "Vibration Damping of Structural Elements in 1995.  After retirement, he authored Drifting Roots"in 2012, and 《漂萍》(in Chinese) in 2013.  While studying at the National Taiwan University in the mid 1950’s, he was the captain of the University’s varsity basketball team.  He was also a member of Lan Sheng（籃聲）, a rather famous basketball team on the island of Taiwan in the 1950’s.  He and his wife Cecilia currently reside in Odenton, Maryland.

Table of Contents

About the Book

About the Author

Table of Contents

Acknowledgment

Prologue

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Remembering Family Past in China

2-1. In Remembrance

2-2. During the War: On the Run

2-3. During the War: Helping Relatives

2-4. During the War: In the Village

2-5. During the War: Life under Mother’s Guard

2-6. Leaving the Homeland

Chapter 3. Life on the Island of Taiwan

3-1. Finding New Lives

3-2. High School Days (1948-1954)

3-3. Recollection of Campus Life

3-4. Recalling College Years (1954-1958)

3-5. Taipei, Taiwan: Our Second Hometown

Chapter 4. A New Endeavor  A Recollection of Life in Graduate School (1962-1967)

4-1. Looking Back

4-2. In the Beginning

4-3. Getting Started

4-4. Helping Hands

4-5. In Appreciation

Chapter 5. Our Life in Maryland

5-1. Fond Memories

5-2. Swimming: A Family Activity

5-3. Memorable Visits

5-4. Striving for Success

Chapter 6. In Memory of Beloved Parents

6-1. Goodbye, Parents!

6-2. Paying Respects with Love

6-3. Rest in Peace

6-4. In Commemoration

6-5. Belated Reunion

Chapter 7. Sabbatical Tours in Taiwan

7-1. A New Experience

7-2. Extracurricular Activities

7-3. A Family Vacation

7-4. An Exciting Experience

7-5. Work in Retirement

Chapter 8. Life in Retirement

8-1. In Retirement

8-2. Household Downsizing

8-3. Various Activities

8-4. The Spirit of Giving

8-5. Beautiful Setting Sun

8-6. Work of a Volunteer

8-7. A Letter to Our Daughter

Chapter 9. A Journey to China

9-1. En Route

9-2. Touring the Capital City

9-3. Enjoying the Mountains

9-4. The Yangtze River Cruise

9-5. Tracking the Southwest Route

9-6. Traveling in the South

9-7. Coming Home

Chapter 10. Sweet Memories

10-1. Remembering My Elementary School Era

10-2. Brethren in Bond

10-3. Reminiscence with a Smile

10-4. Nostalgia of Bygone Days

10-5. Our High School Class Slide Show

Chapter 11. Class Reunions and Reminiscences

11-1. Class Reunions in Early Years

11-2. A Disastrous Earthquake in Taiwan

11-3. Millennium Class Reunion

11-4. College Class Reunion in Hawaii

11-5. College Class Reunions on Cruises

11-6. Energetic Years

Chapter 12. In the Land of Opportunity

12-1. Enjoying the Fruits

12-2. Growing Roots after Landing

12-3. Our Life before Sunset

Chapter 13. Two Groups in Our Generation

13-1. Happily Together

13-2. An Extraordinary Generation

13-3. Family Gatherings

Chapter 14. Drifting Roots

14-1. Cherishing the Memory of My Hometown in China

14-2. Falling Leaves Returning to Roots?

14-3. New Homeland in America

14-4. The Challenges of Seniors

14-5. The Relationship between Parents and Children

Chapter 15. Conclusions

Acknowledgment

The author is the second youngest child in the family.  Needless to say, many family stories happened either when he was very young or before his time.  He would like to thank his siblings who made the stories known to him.  Also he would like to express his sincere gratitude to those who took time to read, comment or edit this manuscript, particularly to his good friends Andrew Roscoe, James Chuang, S. F. Hsia and Susan Thomas.  The efforts of his wife Cecilia, daughter J. Ying, son J. Zhong, and daughter-in-law Erin in reading and editing are greatly appreciated.

Prologue

This book describes the true family stories of a Chinese immigrant.

I was born in 1935 on mainland China shortly before the war against the Japanese aggression.  With my parents and two brothers, I moved to Taiwan in my youth before the social and political chaos in China in the late 1940’s.  Then after completing college education, I came to the United States in 1962.  My life is closely attached to these three geographical locales:  China, Taiwan and the United States.  As an ordinary person, my stories will certainly not be found in the history book.  However, my stories along with those of my siblings, as well as our deep and affectionate relationships with our parents, are truly inspirational.

At a young age, I was chosen by the family to carry on my mother’s maiden name - a Chinese custom when the mother’s side has no male heirs.  Ordinarily, it would have been my destiny to be a farmer and tend the few acres of land in the village that was left to me by my maternal grandparents.  As the chaotic events unfolded in China at that time and afterwards, it was completely beyond my expectation that I was transformed from an innocent poor country boy to a well-educated and productive member of the society.  My family was most fortunate to have settled in America as a result of my parents unknowingly making the right decisions, on several occasions in early years.  Later I myself experienced a few lucky turns and good fortune in my life.

Many names of persons and places both on Chinese mainland and on Taiwan are referred to in this book.  I will follow the Chinese tradition putting one’s last name first unless it is often used in America. To transliterate the Chinese names based on the phonetic sound, there are, among others, the Wade-Giles system and the Pinyin system that are most commonly used for this purpose.  It is difficult to adopt any particular system for the names in the stories.  I have decided to use both systems depending on the circumstances.  In referring to the names in China, I mostly used the Pinyin system, which is popular there.  And I used primarily the Wade-Giles system, which has been used for many years in Taiwan, when I refer to names on the island.  As to the name of a person, the overriding exception of this rule is to transliterate it normally used by the individual himself, or commonly used by the general public.

From my past reading experiences, it is rather difficult to read books written in English describing stories associated with Chinese names of places or persons such as those in this book. For the benefit of the readers, Chinese names of places or persons which are considered important in the context of the stories will be placed in the text right after the names in English when it appears for the first time. 

As the metric system is used both in China and in Taiwan, kilometers will be used when distances are referred to in that region; while in America, miles will be used instead.

The family referred to in this book began with my grandparents.  They had five children, all born in China at the end of Chinese Imperial Qing Dynasty.  My father was the youngest.  They were all long gone years ago.  My parents also had five children, all born in Hubei Province, China.  We are all married, have our own families, and are currently living in America and in Great Britain.  My wife Cecilia and I have three children, all born in the United States. 

Our hometown in China is Tianmen, Hubei Province where my ancestors had lived for hundreds of years.

The mighty Yangtze River is the longest river in China, and the third longest in the world after the Amazon in South America and the Nile in Africa.  It is a cradle of ancient Chinese civilization, and has been China’s lifeline for thousands of years.  The river is about 6300 kilometers long originating from the Kunlun Mountains in Qinghai Province in southwestern China, flowing from west to east through several provinces, including Sichuan Province, and Hubei Province, across central China to its mouth in the East China Sea, about 20 kilometers north of Shanghai.  It has been an important trade and transportation route since ancient times.

Hubei Province is located in the central part of China. The province is rich in mineral resources and abundant in producing rice, cotton, wheat and other agriculture crops.  It also teems with crops such as tea, tobacco and fruits.  Its capital city, Wuhan, is one of the largest cities in central China and is on the banks of the Yangtze River.  Our hometown, Tianmen, is about 140 kilometers west of Wuhan.

After defeating the Japanese in World War II, the island of Taiwan was returned to the control of the Republic of China (ROC) in 1945 after 50 years of Japanese occupation.  It was then one of the 35 provinces of China.  The island is located about 160 kilometers off the southeast coast of mainland China.  It is in the East China Sea across the Taiwan Strait from Fujian Province.  Before 1949, the Chinese government and its territory were clearly identified like any other country in the world. 

After the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established on the mainland in 1949, the Nationalist government, i.e., the Republic of China (ROC), was defeated in the Civil War and moved to the island. Since then, the Communist government has declared Taiwan as a part of China.  Even after the PRC replaced the seat on the Security Council in the United Nations which was held by the ROC until 1971, the ruling government and the people on the island refused to be considered as a part of China.  As a matter of fact, Taiwan was never under the control of the new Communist government on mainland China.  Instead, the government of the ROC argued as an independent country which was set up in 1911 in China.  Ironically, the Republic of China is now celebrating its centennial anniversary in Taiwan and the overseas Chinese communities around the world. 

In early years, the Communist government of the PRC on the mainland led by Chairman Mao Zhe-dong, and the government of the ROC led by President Chiang Kai-shek on Taiwan have been clearly identifiable.  But in recent decades the use of words China or Chinese are very confusing to the international communities.  After all, people both in Taiwan and on mainland China are the same Chinese race, have a common official language and dialects, and share the same Chinese customs, history, traditions and heritages, but not political terms of any kind. 

Chapter 1. Introduction

Late in the evening on Monday, September 10, 2001, I, Yeh-Pei Lu (盧業裴), my wife Cecilia (林賽瓊), and our guests from Taiwan, flew on a Southwest Airlines plane from Buffalo, New York, and arrived safely at the Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport in Baltimore, Maryland.

For many years, Cecilia and I had repeatedly promised our close family friends, Mike Tsou and his wife Grace, a tour of the famous Niagara Falls.  For various reasons, the trip was never made until then.  They traveled from Taiwan to stay with us in our house specifically for that trip.  In addition, their daughter and son-in-law, Charlyne and Michael, from Los Angeles joined us.

Four of us flew back to the BWI from Buffalo; the young couple was scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles the next morning.  However, they were never to make that flight because of the horrendous world event which occurred on the next day, Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, which became one of the darkest days in the history of America.  Instead, they drove across the continental United States in their rental car.  In the days that followed, we and the guests in our Maryland home were very anxious and in constant communication with the young couple until they arrived safely back in Los Angeles.  As it turned out, the trip to Niagara Falls became indeed an unforgettable experience.

The September 11th attacks on the New York City World Trade Center Twin Towers and on the Pentagon near Washington D.C. by the terrorists using jumbo passenger jets as weapons were horrific. The fourth hijacked jetliner was forced by the heroic passengers to crash in the rural area near Shanksville, Pennsylvania before hitting its target.  The nation watched in disbelief the events live on television as the Twin Towers went up in flames and later crumbled to the ground.  It was devastating to watch.  Although thousands found their way to safety, many other thousands did not. In the process, there were many men and women (firefighters, policemen, medical personnel, as well as ordinary people), who emerged as heroes or heroines when they rescued others by sacrificing their own lives.  In the subsequent days, weeks, and months, many disastrous and heroic stories surfaced.  While the entire nation was grieving and mourning, the public was mobilized, inspired and charged with patriotism.

Since September 11, 2001, the lives of Americans have never been the same.  Even though more than ten years have passed, the nation has still been in a state of nervousness and constant security alerts of terrorist activities.  For many years now, the pros and cons of the country’s immigration policy have been discussed and debated on various grounds sustained by a multitude of reasons.  The aftermath of the September 11th tragic attacks on the United States has once again generated national debate about the immigration policies of the land as well as the role of immigrants in this society.  Issues such as racial profiling, and the quality of airport security personnel, etc. are among the hot subjects debated in the press and by the public.  All discussions seem to be directed towards the relatively new group of immigrants. Their loyalty to their adopted country are questioned and held in doubt.  Although it is not quite fair to the immigrants, the vigilance is not totally baseless.  Even though they may have language and/or cultural barriers, they are mostly good workers.  After all, to have a chance to work hard and improve their lives are the main reasons why they sought to come to this land.  Immigrants viewed America as their hope for their future; to be American is to be free.  America offers a vision of a harmonious society and has been the nation where immigrants come to pursue their personal dreams freely.

In early years, the immigrants mainly came from European countries.  Those who came from other regions of the world provided a labor force that built the country’s infrastructure, such as the railroads, and other nation-building industries. Without a doubt, they all contributed greatly to the nation’s growth and productivity. 

Since the passing of the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, the situation and the national policy have changed.  Many well-educated and highly trained immigrants among others arrived. They made significant contributions to the society in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, academics, business, and other areas.  They are the new blood of the country, and a steady supply of workers.  It was not unusual to hear success stories of immigrants being reported.

Surely it has been demonstrated again and again that the majority of the immigrants took advantage of the benefits and opportunities America unselfishly offered and worked hard, inspired by the spirit of America.  Immigrants coming from all parts of the world have created no other country on earth.  Each immigrant, particularly the first generation, has his or her own stories to tell.  This book records stories of our family, which is just ordinary, who indeed considered ourselves very fortunate.  At every important moment in our lives, my parents and later I myself made the right decisions with timely assistance from others.

In my stories, I went through not only the historical events of my time, but also the personal experience of growing up.  In addition, I experienced and witnessed the technical revolution.  During my lifetime, I personally experienced World War II and the Chinese Civil War eras.  Later, I moved to completely new environments in Taiwan and eventually in America where everything was different.  In these new environments, I gained experiences of growing up, going to school, establishing a family and a professional career, and finally reaching the golden age of maturity.  Being an engineer, I witnessed the technical advancement of scientific and engineering technology.  I began my engineering career with the slide rule as a tool for computation.  Later, I used key punch cards with mainframe computers for engineering purposes.  Then I utilized the personal computer with other high tech information equipment.

I adjusted nicely to the different cultures, traditions and heritage.  I maintained ties with both my old and newly adopted communities.  I managed to retain my Chinese lifestyles and language, and at the same time intermingled well with my colleagues and friends in America.  I kept my old cultures and adopted customs to complement the American way of life.  Even though this is a book describing the stories of our family, I am pretty sure that it is perhaps somewhat typical of the life experiences of thousands of my Chinese contemporaries with similar family backgrounds.  Typically, these life experiences came in four stages: born in China shortly before or during the war against the Japanese aggression in the 1930’s; moved to Taiwan in our youth with our parents and siblings before or during the social and political chaos in China in the late 1940’s; came to the United States to pursue advance studies in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s after completing our college education in Taiwan; and remained here in America since.  My life is dearly attached to these three geographical locales: China, Taiwan and the United States. 

I come from a rather large family.  My grandparents had one daughter and four sons.  Among them, my father was the youngest.  My parents also had one daughter and four sons, and I am the second youngest in the family.  Though the Lu family is just an ordinary family, it is a very closely-knit clan.

Since my early years, I realized the significance of working hard and developing myself when opportunities arose.  What I valued most were my work attitude, my strong work ethics, and taking advantage of opportunities when presented to me.

In forming my work attitude and work ethics, I was inspired by the statement:

Just as what goes up must come down, what goes down must cycle back upward again. 

This statement is primarily used to describe the fluctuation of stock market and often appears in the financial pages of newspapers and magazines.  Actually, it applies as well to the cycle of ups and downs of a family.  This observation was very clearly expressed in my grandfather’s obituary, which he himself prepared in the early 1940’s.  I believed that I had to work hard to keep the family prosperous, flourishing, and full of vitality.

My parents’ philosophy, which they constantly practiced throughout their lives, certainly helped me shape up my work ethics as well.  Their philosophy may be summed up as a system in which one must be willing to learn for advancement, be loyal and tolerant, self-sacrificing, law-abiding, helpful to friends and relatives, and beneficial to others.  Both my parents and grandparents stressed education and considered it as the highest priority in the family.

I was further inspired by the first paragraph of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, which read:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, ……

At the time the family left China at my young age, it was indeed the worst of times, and we had nothing before us.  I always felt that my family settled in America perhaps mostly due to the chaotic circumstances in China at the time and later a few lucky turns at different stages of my life.

Chapter 2. Remembering Family Past in China

2-1. In Remembrance

The origins of the Lu family could be traced back many centuries before Christ.  Our ancestor was Shen Nong, an emperor and the most famous agricultural expert in ancient Chinese history.  The family originated in Chang Qing County, Shandong Province (山東省長清縣) in northeast China, and later moved south to Jiangxi Province (江西省) in the mid-eastern part of China. At the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), our ancestors settled in Tianmen County (now changed to Tianmen City), Hubei Province (湖北省天門市), in the central part of China, where our grandparents, parents, and some of my siblings were born and raised, and where the rest of our relatives still live.  From the time our ancestors settled in Tianmen to my generation, seventeen generations have passed.

My paternal grandfather, Mr. Lu Chenyu (盧成瑜), was born in 1862 in Tianmen, Hubei, ranking the second of three sons in the family.  His father died when he was only five years of age.  My grandmother, maiden name Lee (李), was also born there in 1863.  Her mother died when she was six. They had a daughter and four sons. Altogether they had fourteen grandchildren.  Other than their youngest son, my father Chaoling (盧兆麟), they had to help their adult children’s families survive.  One could imagine how heavy the family burden was!

It was not an easy task for my grandparents who struggled all their life and did everything they could to make the family flourish.  They lived their early lives in poverty. They also had to worry about the well-being of their many children and grandchildren in their later years. If they did not have the intelligence, determination and extraordinary foresight, they would never have been able to improve my grandfather’s career to the benefit of their offspring.  For all of their lives, they strove hard to keep an upstanding family, leaving no cause for regrets by their family members, and participating in no wrongdoing in the community for which their personal reputations were immeasurably enhanced and held in high esteem.

After his father died, my grandfather, Chenyu, had to move with his mother to live in the country.  Since he could not study in the city, he became a merchant instead.  Though he was working in the business trades, he always had his mindset to study in school one day. After several years in business, things were getting better. Unfortunately, he did not choose the right kind of friends, which ultimately caused his business to fail.  He was met with looks of disdain and sarcastic remarks from the town folks, and life became extremely difficult.  Every day he was wandering around, with no place to go, and the hardship almost cost him his life!

Shortly after my grandfather was married at the age of twenty-four, at the earnest encouragement of his wife, he decided to go to study at school and was fortunate enough to find a notable teacher to tutor him. My great-grandmother and grandmother made a living by getting into sericulture, raising silkworms and spinning silk, etc., in order that my grandfather could concentrate on his studies.  With his wisdom, intelligence, and studying hard day and night, it was only a few years before he passed the provincial level in the Qing Dynasty (1645–1911) imperial examination system, ranking first among the candidates. It is wisely said that God helps those who help themselves and certainly my grandfather was a person with a strong determination and the will to succeed, which was unprecedented in the Lu family to such a degree. My grandfather’s achievements in his studies cleared away all of the past shame forever.

Through diligent studying, his wish had been somewhat fulfilled, but life was still barren and rough as ever, which left him no choice but to continue his studies so that he might improve his opportunities for work.  First he took an offer to teach in an adjacent county, but later on he changed his job by taking an offer from the Lu clan in Tianmen.  After many years, his living conditions had greatly improved, and during those years of study and teaching, the children grew up and were starting their own families. 

After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911, modern schools replaced the imperial examination system.  He went to study at a normal school to become a teacher.  He graduated again with top ranking, and later continued his teaching career.

My paternal grandmother (maiden name Lee) died in Tianmen in 1921.  In the same year, my maternal grandfather, Mr. Pei Kun-li (裴昆立), also died there. 

In 1926, when my grandfather reached sixty-five years of age, he was eligible to retire, but having an insatiable desire to learn and a tireless zeal to teach, he continued to teach at various places. Note that the Chinese always traditionally counts the age one year or even two years more in Chinese lunar calendar than his Gregorian age in solar calendar.

In 1931, on his seventieth birthday, a full house of guests came to pay their respects and best wishes.  He could not help chuckling to himself, feeling extremely content and fulfilled.  In looking back, he remembered living through frequent wars and numerous floods, having twenty or so family members scattered around at different places, living in hardship, then he thought how could he have foreseen this great occasion under such extremely difficult circumstances?

In 1935, my maternal grandmother (maiden name Su 蘇) died.

In his golden years, my grandfather was very healthy and fully alert, walking with steady footsteps, and having keen eyesight and good hearing.  He always exhibited a hearty attitude and an open mind.  In this regard, he was truly a fortunate man. 

In the manuscript he left for his posterity, there are two paragraphs which are quoted below and which have been used as an inspiration for future generations:

"……In all of the world, there is neither a family that is not declining after one hundred years nor is there a family that is not flourishing after one hundred years. My family has been living in poverty for a few generations, and you may pass my words to any grandchildren who can do well to earn their own living.  I will be on the lookout for their success from the heaven."

"……I will be gleeful in the heaven to know and watch my grandchildren and beyond, who will glorify the family on a grand scale."

My grandfather passed away in Tianmen in 1945 at the age of eighty-three.

My father, Mr. Lu Chaoling, was born in Tianmen in 1900, a man of considerable courage and moral principle.  He was the youngest in his family.  He had one elder sister and three elder brothers.  He was the only one in his family to receive what was then considered a good education due to his hardworking and self-respecting attitude.  He majored in textile dyeing and fabrication, graduated at the top of his class of a vocational senior high school in 1921, and then graduated from a law school in 1928.  However, he spent and enjoyed many years in various high schools, elementary schools, and college as a teacher or as an administrator in Hubei Province until he moved to Taiwan at the end of 1946.  He was always dedicated to his educational work. For all of his life, he had the desire to help others, particularly his former students and relatives, and in the process lived a life of sincerity and enormous dignity.

My mother, Mrs. Pei Wenying (裴文英), was also from Tianmen.  She married Chaoling in 1918 and became a member of the Lu family.  All of their children, a daughter and four sons, were born in various places in Hubei Province.  Yeh-fang was born in 1921, Yeh-biao (later also known as Victor) in 1923, Yeh-wei (James) in 1929, Yeh-pei in 1935, and Yeh-hung (Anthony) in 1937.  Yeh, the name of our generation, was used in the names of all of my siblings and cousins.  I took my mother’s maiden name Pei as my name. Note that in the Chinese society in the twentieth century, a married woman could keep and use her maiden name throughout her life. 

In Chinese society, particularly during the era of World War II and prior to that, making a living was not easy. Uncertainty and insecurity had always been with us.  Constant job searching, job changing, and family moves were just the way of life.  My father moved around from one teaching job to another, and my mother stayed behind in Tianmen some of the time.  Family members were scattered due to various circumstances such as going away to school, changing jobs, or escaping from the war.  In general, my sister Yeh-fang and brother Victor were with our father, and the younger ones with our mother. 

My mother was an ordinary person.  However, her intelligence, independence, ability, and willingness to sacrifice for others made her great.  In the Chinese society at that era, there was no choice for her to do anything other than being a good wife and mother.  She always took care of the family well so that my father could be dedicated to his work without the burden of domestic worries.  She was highly respected by relatives as well as friends.  Her influence on the lives of her children was evident.  She encouraged us, taught us to be independent, and corrected our mistakes.  She was the role model in the family.  For many years, before the family moved to Taiwan, she single-handedly raised the children, and managed to take care of not only her parents and parents-in-law for many years but also the nephews and nieces as well during the war.  Without my father around, she alone always bore the sufferings and undertook all the difficulties and hardships.  Like many mothers in the world, my mother had the strongest and the quietest influence on us.  She balanced so many roles in the family and did it all with a smile.

2-2. During the War: On the Run

As mentioned earlier, our family situation during and shortly prior to the Sino-Japanese war was that the older two siblings, my sister Yeh-fang and brother Victor were with my father, and the younger three, with my mother.  Although the family had some good times, we never once had all members living together except when I was in infancy.  In the early years, my father was teaching in Wuhan (湖北省武漢市), the capital of Hubei Province, where Yeh-fang and Victor were attending schools.

From the beginning of her junior high school days, Yeh-fang seldom lived with my parents.  Instead she had to board at school due to the great commuting distance between where the school and where the family lived.  Since Victor was a little younger than his sister Yeh-fang, he stayed with my parents a little longer. 

In 1929 when Victor was six, the family including his parents, maternal grandmother, Yeh-fang and him, left Tianmen and moved to Wuhan, where he began his schooling.  At that time, my father was teaching in several schools where he was held in high esteem because teaching was considered a noble profession.  The family’s financial situation was quite good.  That was the time my father helped his siblings start their businesses in order that they could raise and support their respective families. 

Due to the flood in Wuhan in 1931, the family moved back to Tianmen temporarily.  There they celebrated grandfather’s seventieth birthday that was a very happy occasion.  My mother and the younger family members did not move back to Wuhan again until 1935.  In 1934, our grandfather urged my father to buy a house.  It was a dream that grandfather, Chenyu, wanted to realize, as the family had not owned a house for several generations.  That house, the deed to which we now still hold, was partially torn down many years ago first by the Japanese soldiers during World War II, and later completely razed by the Communist government for the reconstruction of the city.

Later, in 1937, Victor began to board at school when he enrolled in junior high school.  Since then, both Yeh-fang and Victor mostly lived their lives without parents around.

In 1937, the Japanese invasion began. In the beginning of the war, the Chinese army kept on retreating, and the Japanese troops were relentlessly pursuing them.  Later, it was evident that Hubei Province was in imminent danger, so the provincial government had to make plans to move schools and the students to more remote areas in the western part of the province.  When the war spread to Hubei, the United High School (湖北省立中等以上聯合學校) was formed and set up school branch campuses in various counties in the sparsely populated western part of Hubei.  My father was assigned as one of the school administrators at the Xianfeng (湖北咸豐) branch campus. Yeh-fang was assigned as a student at the Jianshi (湖北建始) branch campus, while Victor as a student at the Xuanen (湖北宣恩) branch campus.

As the metric system is used both in China and in Taiwan, kilometers will be used when distances are referred.  At that time, all distances were rough estimations as no accurate measurements had ever been made.  Nowadays, they can be found on the internet.

In 1938, Yeh-fang’s and Victor’s junior high school student bodies got ready to evacuate to the west inland.  The vanguard group, led by my father and a few other teachers and students including Yeh-fang and Victor, began to move westward in the summer.  The group managed to get to Yichang (湖北宜昌) on September 29 having traveled about 600 kilometers along the Yangtze River (長江) upstream from Wuhan.  At the City of Yichang, Yeh-fang left the group for her destination, Jianshi and the group continued the journey by a steamboat and arrived at Badong (湖北巴東), about 300 kilometers further west from Yichang. According to the information on the internet, the distance between Wuhan and Yichang is approximately 380 kilometers by train, and 320 kilometers by bus; the distance between Yichang and Badong is about 230 kilometers by bus. 

On October 25, 1938, the Japanese army occupied the City of Wuhan. 

The vanguard group led by my father continued to advance westward toward their destinations.  Badong was the last county in Hubei Province along the Yangtze River, where the river turns and flows down from Sichuan Province (四川省). The group of teachers and students disembarked at Badong.  The city was small and impoverished.  The downtown area at the foot of the hill had only one street facing the river.  During World War II, it was a very important town from the Japanese occupied region to the Chinese government controlled territory due to its location. 

When Victor was there in Badong, he contracted malaria.  He had chills, fever, and was sweating profusely. It was a dangerous and agonizing situation. 

After a few days, that group of youngsters led by their teachers began to set out on foot on a new journey.  The first destination was Enshih (湖北恩施) which was further inland (west) from Badong and in the hostile environment of the mountain regions. It took several days (perhaps 4 days) for the students to walk along the rugged mountain roads.

Nobody in the group realized that it would be a very formidable and difficult journey.  Nor did they have any experience in walking long distances.  In the minds of the youngsters, they thought that the trip was going to be just like a regular field trip that they had taken previously in school.  With such an enormous undertaking, they later realized that nothing they had experienced in their lives prepared them for what was about to happen.  In fact, they had no choice under the circumstance as the country was in the state of war!

A few hours after leaving Badong, they immediately began to climb the mountains ahead of them.  Though the unpaved highway looked like it was under construction, neither cars nor road workers were in sight. The road surface was a mixture of sand and small sharp stones.  Because of the shorter distance, the group took the shortcut by climbing over the mountain and avoided the winding highways.  The porters hired by the school authorities were local laborers with experiences in the area.  They walked fast and were quite familiar