The Great Flowing River

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The Great Flowing River Page 50

by Chi Pang-yuan


  On the podium erected for the opening ceremony sat local senior officials, those in charge of the school, and Guo Feng and Li Tao, who had expended the most energy to see the school reestablished. They spoke of the rocky history of the Northeast Sun Yat-sen Middle School since its founding sixty-seven years earlier, and with no little satisfaction they said that due to the efforts of the past few years, it had become one of the important schools of Shenyang, owing to the high-quality teaching. It was a day for alums to return to the school. A new generation of students stood in rows on the playing field, singing a new school song. This was followed by the old alums singing together, which awakened many long-buried memories—the song of my first awakening that accompanied me from Nanjing to Hunan, on the Hunan–Guangxi Road to the Sichuan–Guizhou Road, a distance of eight thousand miles over time; the song of growing up amid that tide of refugees. In the morning breeze in early autumn, standing on the soil of my homeland, these people for whom the school had been family, people now old who had shared in life and death, their white hair fluttering in the wind, wept amid the singing. The water of the Songjiang River still had the clear voice of the Jialing River, but in the sobbing was something indomitable.

  Only the people of Chu have upright men, with merely three families to destroy Qin!

  I come from the north and to the north I will return.

  Coming away from the ceremony, I visited the Mukden Incident Memorial and then boarded a train for Dalian alone. The train passed through Yingkou and I thought of the winter of 1925, when my father received orders to go with Brigade Commander Ma to enter and occupy Yingkou. They got off in Goubangzi, across the river fromYingkou, and with Chief of Staff Su Bingwen, they crossed the Liao River with the advance force. The river was not entirely frozen over and filled with floating ice. The troops used small wooden boats and risked being swept out to sea as they made the dangerous crossing. When they came ashore at Yingkou, they were stopped by the Japanese Kwantung Army.

  I went to Dalian because I wanted to see the ocean as it flowed toward Taiwan from the coast of my homeland. For two straight days, I went to the seaside park and sat alone on the stone steps and saw the Bohai Bay flow into the Yellow Sea, and farther on into the East China Sea and then into the vast Pacific, two thousand li by ship to Taiwan. Rounding the island to Oluanpi at its southern extreme, it flows to the Yakou Sea, a few li from the lighthouse, where the bay is deep blue, where it is calm and beautiful and where the waves, it is said, end in silence.

  Everything returns to eternal silence.

  Illustrations

  Father Chi Shiying (front row, center) and Fourth Aunt Chi Jinghuan (front row, right).

  Mother Pei Yuzhen (center), with eldest son Chi Zhenyi (first from right) and eldest daughter Chi Pang-yuan (third from right).

  Father Chi Shiying, 1923.

  Chi Pang-yuan and her sister Ningyuan.

  Chi Shiying (center) with friends Mei Gongren (right) and Huang Henghao, 1930s.

  On the first anniversary of the founding of Time and Tide, 1939.

  Chi Pang-yuan’s notebooks from Professor Zhu Guangqian’s poetry classes at Wuhan University.

  Nankai alumni on the occasion of seeing off Wang Shirui (front row, second from left) to join the army.

  The Chi family. Front row, from the left: mother Pei Yuzhen, father Chi Shiying, sister Xingyuan. Back row, from the left: sister Ningyuan, brother Zhenyi, Chi Pang-yuan.

  Zhang Dafei.

  Chi Pang-yuan at Wuhan University.

  Chi Pang-yuan (right) just after graduating from college. Mother Pei Yuzhen (seated), sister Ningyuan, and sister Xingyuan, 1947.

  Chi Pang-yuan, Luo Yuchang, and their three sons, 1969.

  Chi Pang-yuan and her mother, 1950.

  Announcement for a lecture by Professor Friedrich A. Hayek in Taichung in 1965.

  Seminar on the teaching of English and American literature organized by Chi Pang-yuan at Chung-Hsing University in Taichung, 1971.

  Professor Friedrich A. Hayek (right) with Tang Huisun, president of Chung-Hsing University (left), and Song Miannan, dean (left, rear), 1965.

  PEN translators and friends. Front row, from the left: Ding Zhenyuan, Chi Pang-yuan, Linda Scott, Nancy Du, Michelle Wu; back row, from the left: Carlos G. Tee, Edward Vargo, John Deeney, Li Dasan, Yanwing Leung, Yuan Hexiang, Nicholas Koss, Tien-en Kao.

  The idiot mountain climbers. From left to right: Yang Junxian, Yu Yilie, Luo Yuchang, Chi Pang-yuan, 1983.

  Chi Pang-yuan (right) and her sister Chi Ningyuan on Guanyin Mountain, Taipei, 1984.

  Chi Shiying (left) at his home in Neihu and Luo Yuchang (right).

  Chi Pang-yuan at the Memorial for the Aviator Martyrs of the War of Resistance against Japan, Nanjing, May 2000.

  Chi Pang-yuan and David Der-wei Wang.

  At the opening of the Chi Shiying Memorial Library, Sun Yat-sen Middle School, Shenyang. Chi Pang-yuan (front row, third from left), brother Zhenyi (second from left), sister Ningyuan (first from left) and sister Xingyuan (sixth from left).

  Index

  Page numbers refer to the print edition but are hyperlinked to the appropriate location in the e-book.

  Ah Cheng, 351, 352

  Ai Ya, 368

  air force, 152; cemetery for aviator martyrs (Nanjing), 409–10, 413–14; Zhang Dafei and, xix, 103, 122–25, 139–40, 169–73, 411

  air raids, 54, 70, 92–93, 95, 98, 110–13

  Anderson, Dr., 294

  An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature: Taiwan 1949–1974, 323–27, 332, 343, 345–46

  An Appraisal of Yoshida Shigeru (Ihira Naomichi), 386–87

  Association for Comparative Literature, 363

  atomic bomb, 175, 187, 356

  Auerach, Erich, 289

  aunts of Chi Pang-yuan, 7–8, 34, 212–13, 229, 230

  Bai Ling, 365

  Bai Xianyong, 329, 347, 354, 357, 360, 365

  Balcom, John, 367

  Bao Gang (cousin), 97

  Bauer, Daniel J., 366

  bedbugs, 88–90

  Beigou, 296–99

  Beiping (Beijing): Chi family in, 8, 34–35, 210–14, 228–30; and fall of mainland China, 253; fate of Yanjing University, 401; Japanese occupation of, 53; refugees in, 32, 45, 48; reunion with Nankai Middle School friends and classmates in (1993), 195, 397–407

  “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” (Keats), 167

  Beowulf, 318, 340, 346

  Bernstein, Richard, 349

  Bian Zhilin, 109, 117

  Bible, the, 49, 123, 137, 197, 412, 414; book of Job, 198–99; book of Revelation, 209; Ecclesiastes, 413; as gift from Zhang Dafei, 60–61, 413; Pei Yuzhen and, 374

  birdsong, 164–66

  Blake, William, 340

  bombing. See air raids

  Brave New World (Huxley), 342

  brothers of Chi Pang-yuan. See Chi Zhendao; Chi Zhenyi

  Buck, John, 320

  Buck, Pearl S., 320

  Buddha, the, 406

  Burke, William, 315

  Cai Lianfang, 282

  Cai Renhui, 275

  Cai Yingyun, 305

  Cai Yuanpei, 359

  Cai Zhexiong, 290

  Cai Zhongxiong, 306, 309, 310

  Cao Yu (Wan Jiabao), 121

  career. See English language; teaching career; translation and editing

  Central Military Academy, 41, 55, 411. See also Whampoa Military Academy

  Chang Hanliang, 367

  Changhua, 270–77

  Chen Cheng, 261

  Chen Chunming, 161–62

  Chen Da’an, 288, 289

  Chen Denian, 259, 270

  Chen Fangmei, 365–66

  Chen Guimiao, 316

  Chen Guofu, 29, 52

  Chen Hongzheng, 388

  Chen Huiwen, 354–55, 357

  Chen Jiaji, 253–55

  Chen Lifu, 29, 52, 54, 261, 272, 334, 388–89

  Chen Mingren, 75

  Chen Qimao, 314

&nbs
p; Chen Renkuan (Gong Chao), 137–38

  Chen Ruoxi, 357, 360

  Chen Shuxi, 269

  Chen Ximing, 272, 276–77

  Chen Xinyuan, 350

  Chen Xiying, 182

  Chen Xuzu, 200–201

  Cheng Ching-wen, xxiv

  Cheng Keyong, 86, 214

  Cheng Tianfang, 261

  Chengdu, 146, 177, 193

  Chennault, Claire Lee, 124–25, 173, 174, 292

  Chi Changkai (cousin), 396

  Chi Jighuan (aunt), 7–8

  Chi Jingyuan (sister), 42, 58–60, 65

  Chi Ningxing (sister), 122, 249–50

  Chi Ningyuan (sister), 122, 180, 378; arrival in Taiwan, 249–50; birth of, 36; and burial plot for parents, 375; and death of mother, 373; and father’s later years, 378, 380; and trip to Shenyang (2001), 414

  Chi Pang-yuan: in Beiping after the war, 210–14; birth of, 11; birthplace, xiv, xxiv, 1, 3, 391–97; career (see English language; teaching career; translation and editing); childhood in Little Western Hill, 3–6, 11–16; childhood in Nanjiang, 13–15; children (see children); and The Chinese PEN, 358–70; choice of colleges and focus of study, 119–21; and Christianity, 137, 191, 199; and death of Zhang Dafei, 168–74, 176–77, 199, 409–10, 413–14; demobilized back to Shanghai following departure from Leshan, 204–7; development of character and personal values, 15–16, 57, 74, 79, 98, 107, 225–26, 334, 336, 374–75; development of love of literature, 14, 39, 40, 99–101, 374–75 (see also literature); distaste for politics, 164, 194; education (see Guilin Girls’ Middle School; Indiana University; Nankai Middle School; primary school; Wuhan University; Zhounan Girl’s Middle School); fainting episodes, 90–91; family background, 1, 4–10; flight from Guilin to Huaiyuan, 70–73; flight from Hankou to Xiangxiang, 63–65; flight from Nanjiang to Hankou, 55–58, 410; frequent moves during early years of War of Resistance, 34–37; friendships (see friendships); and Fulbright exchange (see Fulbright Program); in Germany, 352–57; illnesses and lung troubles, 3–4, 37–41, 64, 67, 202, 252–53, 290; as interpreter, 295–99; marriage to Luo Yuchang (see Luo Yuchang; marriage); and memorial ceremony following June 1 massacre (1947), 225–26; and memorial service for Zhang Dafei, 208–9; memories of bombing raids, 54, 70, 92–93, 95, 98, 110–13; name origin, 4; narrative style, xiv, xviii; and National Joint College Entrance Exams, 118–21; and poetry (see poetry); precious possessions, 60–61, 200, 286–87, 332, 346–47; promotion of Chinese literature in Taiwan, xviii, xxiv, 358–70 (see also translation and editing); reluctant participation in protest marches, 190, 194–96; and scout training, 96–99, 166; shelter at Huangjueya garrison (1939), 93–96; suitors and close male friends (see Mr. Huang; Luo Yuchang; Mr. Yu; Zhang Dafei); surname changes to evade the Japanese, 35, 410; in Taiwan (see Taiwan); and textbook reform, 328–34; and Time and Tide Bookstore, 108–9; and Time and Tide magazine, 101–10; traffic accident (1985), 268, 335, 375–78; uncertainty upon graduation from Wuhan University, xxiii, 226–30; in the U.S. (see Fulbright Program); visits to mainland, 389–414; at Western Hills Sanatorium, 38–41, 203

  Chi Pengda (paternal grandfather), 5–7

  Chi Shichang (cousin), 9

  Chi Shihao (uncle), 7

  Chi Shiying (father), xv–xviii; absence during early married years, 4, 10–11; advice on staying out of politics, 160; and arrival of friends and acquaintances in Taiwan, 250–51; and bombing of Chongqing, 113; character and personal values, xix, 16–17, 262, 384–85, 387–88; and Chi Pang-yuan at Western Hills Sanatorium, 38, 40; Chi Pang-yuan’s early memories of, 4–5; and Chi Pang-yuan’s fears of separation if Chongqing fell, 157, 158; and Chi Pang-yuan’s marriage, 246–48; and Chi Pang-yuan’s move to Taichung, 257; and Chi Pang-yuan’s teaching career, 284; and Chi Pang-yuan’s traffic accident, 268, 378–79; Chiang Kai-shek and, xvii, 29–30, 34, 51–52, 261–62, 264; and Communism, 190; and concerns about Chi Pang-yuan studying abroad, 227, 300; death and burial, 375, 381; and decision about switching universities, 143–44; escape and exile following General Guo Songling’s failed coup attempt, xvi, 4, 25–29; expulsion from Nationalist Party, xvii, 29, 261–62, 384; family background, 4–8; first meeting with future wife, 9; and flight from Hankou to Xiangxiang, 63–65; and flight from Nanjiang to Hankou, 56, 61–62; influence on Chi Pang-yuan, xviii–xix, 15–16, 107, 110, 160, 374; Interviews with Chi Shiying, 383–89; joining the Nationalist Party, 29, 51; life following death of wife, 375, 378–82; marriage to Pei Yuzhen, 10–11; and move to Taiwan, 249–50, 252, 268; offering ceremony at NTU commemorating birth of (1999), 388; old age, xvii, xix, 378–82; opening of Chi Shiying Memorial Library at Northeast Sun Yat-sen Middle School, 35, 414–16; and plans for new political party, 262–63, 384, 389; possessions, 382; as principal of Tongze Middle School, 21; recruitment of students for Whampoa Military Academy (Central Military Academy), 41–44, 210; regrets over death of mother, 8; reputation, 212; return from studies abroad following death of cousin and uncle, 19; sorrow and remorse in later life, 268, 379–80; studies in Japan and Germany, xvi, 7, 10, 11, 16–19, 29, 52, 354; and Sun Yat-sen Middle School, xxi–xxii, 44–45, 55–58, 63–64, 71, 77; as supporter of General Guo Songling, xvi, 5, 19–24, 380, 387, 392; surname changes to evade the Japanese, 35, 410; and Time and Tide Bookstore, 108; and Time and Tide magazine, 102, 104–6, 210, 229, 262; and underground resistance against the Japanese, 8, 32–33, 78–79, 210, 234; wife’s feelings for, 36; work for Nationalist government, xvi, 51–55, 210; Yoshida Shigeru and, 25–26, 28, 382, 385, 387; youth and young adulthood, 16–30; Zhang Xueliang and, 379–80; Zhang Zuolin and, xvi

  Chi Xingyuan (sister), 53, 180, 414

  Chi Zhendao (brother), 11–12

  Chi Zhenfei (cousin), 394

  Chi Zhenlie (cousin), 393–94, 396

  Chi Zhenwu (cousin), 395–96

  Chi Zhenyi (brother): in Beiping, 34; birth of, 11; and Chi Pang-yuan’s teaching career, 286; and childhood of Chi Pang-yuan, 6–7; and flight from Guilin to Huaiyuan, 71; and flight from Hankou to Xiangxiang, 64; and flight from Nanjiang to Hankou, 56; and move to Taiwan, 252; and news of Zhang Dafei’s death, 169–70; postwar journalism career, 179, 227, 253–54; at Sun Yat-sen Middle School, 45; and trip to Shenyang (2001), 414

  Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, 370

  Chiang Kai-shek, 296, 380; calls for army volunteers, 152; Chi Shiying and, xvii, 29, 34, 51–52, 261–62, 264; and compulsory education policy, 328, 345; and crisis in the northeast after victory, 264–67; death of, 335; and end of War of Resistance, 174–76, 178–79; and expulsion of Chi Shiying from Nationalist Party, xvii, 261–62; Mao and, 178–79; Qian Mu and, 335; and withdrawal from Wuhan, 69

  Chiang Kuei, xxiv

  children, 258, 272, 274, 276–78; difficulty of balancing family and career, 284, 297, 300–301, 308–9, 311, 321; and effects of growing up in wartime, 98–99, 110–11, 153; and move to Taipei, 301; Pei Yuzhen’s help with, 284, 300, 311, 321, 374; and textbook reform, 331

  China: civil war, 210, 223–24, 228–29, 253, 267, 380, 404; conditions following end of War of Resistance, 178–232; Cultural Revolution, 190, 226, 309, 336, 347–49, 351, 379, 405–6; deteriorating conditions in, 247–50; and literature, 99–101, 345–52; opening of mainland China, 389–91, 393–94, 397. See also China, northeastern; Communist Party; Nationalists

  China, northeastern: changes in, 254–55; conditions following end of War of Resistance, 210; conditions in the 1920s, 19–20; crisis in the northeast after victory, 264–67; fall of, xvi, 267; Guo Songling’s failed coup attempt against Zhang Zuolin (war at the Great River; 1925), xvi, 22–25, 380; history of, xv, 1–2; Japanese interests in, 29, 52; Japanese occupation of, 30–33, 52, 79; Kingdom of Manchukuo (1932–1945), xv, 30–33, 45, 48, 52, 178, 380; Mukden Incident (1931), 7, 30–33, 52, 234, 410, 414; Nationalists’ views of northeasterners, 29, 265–67; Russian and Japanese invasions of the 1920s, xvi; Russian occupation of, 178, 265–66; student refugees from, xxi–xxii (see also Sun Yat-sen Middle School); warlords in, xvi, 27, 30
(see also Zhang Xueliang; Zhang Zuolin); Xi’an Incident (1936), 52, 267, 380, 386

  Chinese Literature in the Second Half of a Modern Century: A Critical Survey (Chi and Wang, eds.), 350

  Chinese PEN, 358–62

  The Chinese PEN (journal), 358–69

  Chinese Shadows (Leys), 349

  Chong Yeong-hye, 305

  Chongqing: as capital of Nationalist government following fall of Nanjiang, 63, 79; as cultural center during War of Resistance, 102; and end of War of Resistance, 176; as endpoint of Chi family’s travels during War of Resistance, 78; Japanese bombing of, 92–93, 110–13; map, xxii; Nankai Middle School in (see Nankai Middle School); summer break in (1944), 143–46; Sun Yat-sen Middle School in, 73–74; winter break and incident on road in Meishan (1944), 149–51. See also Shapingba

  Christianity: Chi Pang-yuan’s baptism, 177, 191, 199; conversion of Pei Yuzhen, 373–74; Luojia Christian Fellowship, 137; Mr. Yu and, 197–99; Zhang Dafei and, 49, 124, 177, 199, 412

  Chung-Hsing University, 294–96; department chairmanship, 312–20; establishment of Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, 295, 312–15, 317–18; and Fulbright exchange, 301, 311, 317; resignation from, 317–18; Symposium on Teaching English and American Literature, 316; teaching English at, 294–95, 315

 

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