In our own little sheltered worlds today, we tend to forget the past, and surprisingly enough even the past of those who walk amongst us. It tends to surprise us when we find out that a mother was unable to see her 1 month old son for 38 years, or a young boy of 11 didn’t get to see his older brother for another 40 years. But for many in China and Taiwan it’s a common story, and one that isn’t often told or shared. Lung Yingtai tried to change that with the release of her new book, “Da Jiang Da Hai 1949” (“Big River, Big Sea — Untold Stories of 1949”)
Ms. Lung is a Taiwan-born author and University of Hong Kong professor, and the daughter of the mother mentioned in my example earlier. Her mother, left her son with his grandmother in September of 1949 at a train station, since he was being fussy. But she had no idea at the time she wouldn’t get to see him again for another 38 years after being forced to flee to Taiwan with the Communist takeover of China in October of 1949.
The young boy in my example above was my father, and although his tale isn’t told in Ms. Lung’s book, it is one of many stories of separation of families in China and Taiwan. The book is currently published in Chinese only, and already banned in the PRC. In addition to her own stories, Ms. Lung also includes tales of other Chinese families, elderly people who as young men fought for the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, or both, and even Japan.
I’m hoping the book gets translated and published into English, since I would certainly be among the purchasers of this book. When I tell my father’s tale to others in the U.S., it always surprises those who hear it. These tales aren’t commonly told, and it’s obvious by people’s reactions to them. I was lucky enough to meet my uncle and his family in 2003 on a trip to China with my parents before my dad and mom passed away. My great-grandparents (who raised my uncle) and dad’s sister (also raised in China), unfortunately are also no longer with us. My mother had her own story from that time as a little girl in Japanese-occupied Taiwan. But that’s another story for another blog article.
