It is a huge benefit to document such intimate family history. Personal details get lost in history books, but their relevance does not diminish.
Your work intrigues me because as I grew up in the 60's and 70's, China was such a mystery. Mao's cultural revolution was something we read about but had no context for. It was just words. A theme with no stories. But the stories matter. A real person with a real newborn in an oxcart in a downpour not knowing when help will come - it can seem like fiction. Thank you for making it real.
I hope this isn't too forward, but I've attempted something similar with a book, Our Dinner Table, linked below, about our family. The setting was completely different, rural midwest, and resilience was tested in a different way. It was written for family, but has been surprisingly popular beyond for what I presume are similar reasons. If interested, I would be happy to provide you a complimentary copy.
Thank you for reading my stories Joel, and thank you for your comment! To write (and in doing so, document) the stories of my family of origin, my culture, and the past generations before they fade away forever, was the original drive of my newsletter. I dedicated a sub-section of my newsletter - Stories from a faraway land - to these stories.
My heart clenched at the storm scene and then got relieved at the end, i can actually feel the pain, despair, struggle, and resilience throughout the story. Well done 👍
Thanks, Janice! There are so many more stories, from that generation, that will need us to document and share, so the spirit and experiences will live on forever!
I can relate well to what they had been through. My three uncles were classified in the Black Category, also, since both my grandfather and father were Nationalist Chinese generals. My uncles lived their lives in hell with the label on their heads for many many years.
Your family story is like a documentary film from history channel on TV. It is so meaningful to record it and pass it on. If you uncle is still alive, please pass this message to him. He is a handsome guy and is definitely a hero and a pillar for his family.
This two-part essay is just one of the chapters of what I intended to write about my Erjiu. He passed away in 2022. I owe many of the details to my Erjiu-Ma (Ying) and I will make sure to send your message to her!
Wow. I agree with the comments, your family's story reads like fiction, and I was afraid of what might happen next. What survivors and inspirations. ❣️
Thanks, Lani! We all have stories, and what I like about Substack is that it provides the tools for us to make our stories alive, and share with each other!
It is a huge benefit to document such intimate family history. Personal details get lost in history books, but their relevance does not diminish.
Your work intrigues me because as I grew up in the 60's and 70's, China was such a mystery. Mao's cultural revolution was something we read about but had no context for. It was just words. A theme with no stories. But the stories matter. A real person with a real newborn in an oxcart in a downpour not knowing when help will come - it can seem like fiction. Thank you for making it real.
I hope this isn't too forward, but I've attempted something similar with a book, Our Dinner Table, linked below, about our family. The setting was completely different, rural midwest, and resilience was tested in a different way. It was written for family, but has been surprisingly popular beyond for what I presume are similar reasons. If interested, I would be happy to provide you a complimentary copy.
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Dinner-Table-Memoir-1968-1973
Thank you for reading my stories Joel, and thank you for your comment! To write (and in doing so, document) the stories of my family of origin, my culture, and the past generations before they fade away forever, was the original drive of my newsletter. I dedicated a sub-section of my newsletter - Stories from a faraway land - to these stories.
https://immigrantsjourney.substack.com/s/stories-from-a-faraway-land/archive?sort=new
I hope someday, like what you did, I can write a book for my family.
I clicked the link you provided above but it is no longer valid. You may want to check with Amazon perhaps? I would love to purchase a copy.
We have similar motivations in writing! The link below should work:
https://a.co/d/1YPtvba
My offer was to provide a copy of if I can figure out how!
Just bought it :)
Gulp!
I hope it’s worth it!
Thanks!
My heart clenched at the storm scene and then got relieved at the end, i can actually feel the pain, despair, struggle, and resilience throughout the story. Well done 👍
Thanks, Janice! There are so many more stories, from that generation, that will need us to document and share, so the spirit and experiences will live on forever!
Well written!
I can relate well to what they had been through. My three uncles were classified in the Black Category, also, since both my grandfather and father were Nationalist Chinese generals. My uncles lived their lives in hell with the label on their heads for many many years.
Your family story is like a documentary film from history channel on TV. It is so meaningful to record it and pass it on. If you uncle is still alive, please pass this message to him. He is a handsome guy and is definitely a hero and a pillar for his family.
This two-part essay is just one of the chapters of what I intended to write about my Erjiu. He passed away in 2022. I owe many of the details to my Erjiu-Ma (Ying) and I will make sure to send your message to her!
Wow. I agree with the comments, your family's story reads like fiction, and I was afraid of what might happen next. What survivors and inspirations. ❣️
Thanks, Lani! We all have stories, and what I like about Substack is that it provides the tools for us to make our stories alive, and share with each other!
Agree! 🩷