I am very thankful that so many of you were interested and were able to come on this journey to the past with us. I am very thankful that 3yi had put her heart and soul for the past 14+ years into reviving the past so that we’d all benefit from learning and discovering our heritage. She was determined to bring our father’s biography into completion. And she continues with her dedication to pass on all that she knows to the next generation so that a glorious heritage will not end with our generation. I am also thankful to Liu Yi, without whom the book could not have been written. She helped 3yi read through all the stored written materials, found the author for the book, arranged meetings with DongYa officials, went with us to Tianjin, helped proofread the author’s work, etc etc. Every morning while staying with 3yi, LiuYi would be up before the crack of dawn already deeply absorbed in her readings.
Being the youngest of 9 children, I was only 7 when we left Tianjin as refugees. My memories of the first 7 years were minimal. I never knew our father as anyone other than my Baba. In fact, he never talked about his business affairs or accomplishments at home. He was often away from the house and we spent limited time with him in Tianjin. But I do remember that when he was in a relaxed and jovial mood, he’d play with us and we could do anything to him... very unlike the stern and remote fathers of his days. I do remember that once I used his big forehead to wipe my greasy mouth and all he did was laugh.
My clearest memories of Baba were the years we spent in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Baba was home most of the time because he was forced to leave the country when the communists came. And he was available to 3yi and me almost all the time. He taught himself Spanish so that he could tutor us when we got home from school. He tutored us also in English. We spent time together playing canasta and croquet as a family of four ... Baba, Ma, 3yi and me.
Why am I rambling on about all this? It’s because when I went back to Tianjin, especially to our old residence, many of the memories came back to me. These are things I have not thought about for many years. Looking at the front gate did remind me of the times I had blocked the entrance so that our pedicab driver could not enter into the courtyard. Don’t ask me why I was so mean! Without 3yi telling you about my misbehaviors, I do remember them myself. I remember very clearly how I used a ping pong paddle and knocked “gently” on the glass panel to the Living Room until the glass broke. I also remember swinging with one arm on Baba’s desk and the other arm on the bed until I fell ... but how did I crack the glass top with my chin? I also remember cutting all Baba’s brushes flat across the top because I was trying to be helpful... and inserting my finger into the pencil sharpener and getting my foot caught in the pedicab wheel and deliberately eating fish bones until one got caught in my throat. Ahhh... all the childhood memories came flooding back as we walked around the old house.
When we visited Baba’s office in DongYa, the Textile Museum, and the Archival Museum, I find it hard to believe that after 80 years, people are still honoring him in such a way that makes me very proud to be his daughter. But I do have misgivings about the way the government handled everything throughout the years. The Communist Party had persecuted him for no other reason than he was an industrialist. They forced him to leave the country he loved. And now they want to honor him in every possible way? And now they want whatever we have that belonged to him? Isn’t it ironic? I find it very difficult to even contemplate cooperating with the Party officials in any way.
I have very mixed emotions over each trip we make to Tianjin and the SongWang Village in Qingzhou. What I dislike the most is having to go through official channels in both places. It ruins the purpose of our return. We want to see the real Tianjin, the real DongYa, and the real SongWang Village and its people. Instead, we are forced to spend time with all these government officials who put on ostentatious banquets to impress us? to appease us? to honor us? Who knows what their intentions are! To me it is a total waste of time, precious time that we could be spending to talk to the villagers, to ask and see if their lives have improved over the years, what their needs are, and perhaps find a way to help them in some concrete ways. And we sure would like to know if the new company is still DongYa or is it part of a holding company, etc? And why did the official feign ignorance when we asked about our grandfather’s place in Jinan?
Besides being there and reliving our family history, what made this trip special was having the second generation and the third generation with us. This trip not only introduced them to their roots but it also afforded them/us the opportunity to get to know one another better and bond in a special way. I know from here on, we the “China group” will always feel differently toward each other.
Again, thanks to 3yi for her dedication and her focus and her generosity. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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