Our Country

China is a huge country, larger than the U.S.A. and only second to Russia and Canada.  We are at the far east of Asia and west coast of the Pacific Ocean, isolated by natural geography.  Gigantic deserts and mountains block our north.  Vast wasteland and mountains block our west.  Thick jungles and mountains block our south.  The Pacific Ocean blocks our east.  The isolation enabled China to develop the longest civilization in continuity in the world.

We have four major river systems and twenty-three provinces.  The provinces are grouped into four major regions, following the four major river systems:

1. Northeast Region:  Amur River system.  Provinces 1-3 on the map.  The heartland of heavy industry and historic Manchuria.  Borders with Korea and Russia.  Faces Japan over Korea.  Contested between ambitious Japan and Russia.
2. North China Region:  Yellow River system.  Provinces 5-9 on the map.  The political heartland and cradle of Chinese civilization.  People are more cultured and reserved.
3. Central China Region:  Long (Yangtze) River system.  Provinces 10-17 on the map.  The richest land, the "rice basket," and economic heartland.
4. South China Region:  Pearl River system.  Provinces 19-24 on the map.  The gateway of westernization.  People are more progressive and adventurous.  Most Chinese in America are from Guangdung (20), most Chinese in Southeast Asia are from Fujian (19).  Most people in Taiwan were originally from Fujian.  Guangsi (21) borders with Vietnam.  Yuan-nan (24) borders with Laos and Burma, and Thailand is only a strip of jungle away; hence, the gateway of modern drugs.

We have the highest population in the world, about one billion, 23% of the total world population.  One of every 4 to 5 people in the world are Chinese.  The population in one Central China region alone (Long River system) is more than all other Communist countries combined.  Ninety-four percent are Han race, living in the four major regions, in the eastern third of the country.  Eighty percent are peasants.

Six percent minorities live in Autonomous Regions.  Fifty percent are nomads.

1. Guangsi Chuan Race (21):  50% of total minorities.  Peasants, many speak Cantonese dialect.  Borders with Vietnam.
2. Tibet Race (25):  Buddhists.  Different from us in culture, literature and custom.  Borders with three tiny Himalaya countries (Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan) and India.  Most lands are loose sands and mountains, uninhabitable.
3. Sinjiang Uighur Race (26):  Moslem.  Center of nuclear industry and pathway of historic silk route.  Borders with Russia and touches Afghan and Pakistan.  Other minorities are:  Russian, Kossack, Turk, Kirgis.  Some have blue eyes, brown hair and hooked nose.
4. Ninghsia Huei Race (27):  Moslem, called Hei religion in Chinese.  Borders with Outer Mongolia.
5. Inner Mongolia (28):  Mongolian Race.  Buddhists.  Borderes with Outer Mongolia.  People are expert horsemen.
6. Other minorities scatter in pockets:  Li in Hainan Island; Shan in mountains of Taiwan (Shan means mountain); Thai and Yi in Yuan-nan; Miao in Gueizhou; Russian, Korean and Manchurian in Northeast.

Climate is warm in the south and cold in the north.  In summer, the whole country is hot and humid.  In winter, rivers are frozen in the north while the south never sees snow or ice.  The main crop in the north is wheat; in the south it is rice.  Southern foods are more plain and pure in flavor.  Northern foods are heavier and spicier.  Most spicy foods are in Hunan and Szechuan (15, 16).

We have four special products that top the world:  silk, tea, porcelain and bamboo.  The texture, softness, luster and beauty of Chinese silk made it a precious commodity all over the world for thousands of years.  The aroma, flavor and soothing aftertaste of Chinese tea was unmatched by any tea in the world.  Chinese porcelain vases and jars were make from a special kaolin clay.  It was a combination of spectacular technology and art.  Bamboo was used to make anything and everything - houses, bridges, high-rise platforms, household tools, furniture, water pipes, even gas pipes as early as 200 A.D.  Before paper was invented, books were carved on bamboo plates.

We have four "Best Zhou."  "Best born in Suzhou; best wear in Hangzhou; best eat in Guangzhou; and best die in Liuzhou."  Suzhou (10) produced the most beautiful girls.  Hanzhou (11) produced the most beautiful silk and textiles.  Guangzhou (20) produced the most delicious cuisine.  Liuzhou (21) produced the best wood for coffins.

In spite of our huge size, distinct division and diverse dialects, China has only one common written language, one culture, and one history.  We also have our deep-rooted common tradition.  The common Chinese characters are: hardworking, moderate, humble, value the family ties, respect the elders.

We are proud of our Chinese heritage.

Our Problems

The major national problem is population growth.  The land productivity cannot keep up with the relentless rate of population growth.  The other serious problem is political corruption.

The major local problem is natural calamities, and the inaction to cope with them.  In our district, we had drought and flood alternatively year after year.  When the rice paddies were badly in need of water for irrigation, there was drought.  When the rice grains were turning golden and yellow, and badly in need of sunshine for drying, there was rain, then flood.  One year our whole crop was swept away by flood.  We saw locust invasion only once.  They were large grasshoppers, the size of a big thumb, swarming all over the ground and ruining the whole crop within hours.

Population growth, natural calamities and political corruption put the peasants in perpetual poverty, then bankruptcy.  That eventually led to social unrest and violent revolution.

Our Province

The words of my uncle:

Guangdung Province is at the very south tip of China.  It is isolated from the rest of China by a high mountain range along its northern border.  Historically Guangdung was considered barbaric, a hot and humid jungle full of diseases and unfit for civilized inhabitants.  From the north, only exiles, refugees, criminals and other misfits migrated into Guangdung.  However, the contact with Europeans changed all that.  Ever since the door to China was forced open by the Opium War, Guangdung became the first contact point and hence the most westernized and advanced province in China.

Two thirds of the total population is concentrated in Pearl River delta, a hundred-mile radius centered at Guangzhou, the provincial capital.  The "Three Counties," Namhoi, Sunduck and Poonyu are the richest lands and produced the smartest people.  The rice paddies there are endless and extend beyond the horizon.  Sunduck is also famous for their fine silk and expert cooks.  People from these three counties including Guangzhou City, and along the banks of West River and North River, as far west as Guangsi Province, speak a Cantonese dialect.  My maternal grandmother was from a Fatsan Town in Namhoi.

The "Four Counties" Sunwooi, Toisan, Hoiping and Yunping are the next richest and speak a different dialect system.  Most Chinese in America are from this region, particularly Toisan.  American money made this region the most modern.

Chungsan County was the native place of Dr. Sun Yatsan, the founder of the Nationalist Party and the Republic of China; he is respected by all Chinese.

East River region belongs to another dialect group.  My wife's ancestor was from Tungkwoon County.  She was born and grew up in Hong Kong but still carries a Tungkwoon accent.  Her county was so rich that each Tungkwoon college student, male or female, could receive a one-time scholarship of 100 silver dollars.  No proof or identification was needed.  The individual's accent was enough proof, or one just mentioned his father's name.

North River region was famous for lumber.

Counties in the far east had many people living overseas in Southeast Asia.  They and the Fujianese dominated Southeast Asian commerce and finance for a century.  Many soldiers and general also came from this eastern part.

Counties in the far west belong to another dialect group, which bears some similarities with Vietnamese.  In history, North Vietnam and Guangdung were once under one state.  Laborers from Yeungkong and Soonyi sometimes came to our district to do construction work.

Guangdung was famous for good cooks and many good fruits.  Tangerine from Chiuzhou, oranges from Sunwooi, lichi from Changsing were most delicious.  In Imperial times, Changsing lichi was presented to the Emperor as a local delicacy.  The fruit was transported by relay horses, running all the way non-stop from Guangzhou to Beijing, so as to keep the fruit from spoiling.

Guangdung people (the Cantonese) are a most widely traveled people.  Cantonese were found in every province and major city in China and every corner of the world.

Our County

Taishan (Toisan) County is part of the rich Pearl River delta.  By walking, it took twelve hours from south to north, two days from east to west.  The prosperous part is in the north.  Three major towns and riverports are Toising, Kungyik and Samfau (1, 2, and 3).  Steam boats could reach them directly from Guangzhou.  Toising is the county capital and had three high schools.

To go anywhere, we had to walk.  Therefore, our intermarriage and shopping trips were limited to a short radius.  We could reach as far as Districts 5, 6, 15, and 16 only.  It took an overnight trip to reach Districts 7, 8, 12, and 13.  My mother was from District 5, my grandmother from 16.

Taishan County has a very unique feature:  Many people from here are overseas in the U.S.A.  The turning point was the Opium War of 1840.  We lost that war to the British.  Since then, people began to look beyond our own borders for the future.  Besides, Taishan could produce only nine months of food supply per year.  The first wave of cheap labor imported from China to America was in 1845.  It was for the mining industry.  The second wave was in 1865-1869.  This was for the building of the intercontinental railroad.  In both waves of immigration, most recruits were from our county.  My grandfather was born in 1871 and my father in 1901.  They and many of their cousins later came to America.

They were not "coolies." Most of them were intellectuals and from well-to-do families who had the vision, courage and money to leave the country.  Once the railroad was completed, they could not save enough money to go home.  They could not speak the English required to find jobs.  The only things they could do were laundry and cooking.  They worked hard, very, very hard.  They worked long hours, earned low wages, lived in ghettoes (Chinatowns), faced prejudice, risked beating and lynching.  But they were patient and determined.  They saved every penny they could and sent all the money home to educate their children and grandchildren, and to build a new home.  That transformed the whole county of Taishan.

In the late 1920's, we had to cross a big river by ferry boat beyond our district.  The fare was one penny.  By the 1930's, many bridges had been built, with concrete and steel rods.  Many townships had sprung up, full of three-story buildings and paved streets.  A highway stretched from the north to Kwonghoi (6).  We saw with fascination, for the first time in our lives, a flashlight, a bicycle, an automobile.  Many new houses were built in every village, houses with two stories and wow, windows, too.  Taishan soon became the richest and fastest growing county in China.  Taishanese swarmed into Guangzhou and Hong Kong.  In Guangzhou the tallest hotel and the bus company were owned by Taishanese.  The highest percentage of students in all the top high schools were Taishanese.  Taishanese students were also found in almost every major college throughout the country.  Today, 90% of all Chinese in the U.S.A. are Taishanese.  The common Chinese language spoken in Chinatowns is the Taishanese dialect.

Taishanese used to be laughed at as dumb country folk.  No more.

My comments:
Starting in the mid-1800's, the Taishanese made up a major portion of Chinese immigrants in America. Taishanese was the dominant dialect spoken in Chinatowns across North America.  In the early part of the 21st century, the total population of Taishanese descent living outside of China is estimated at 1.3 million, with 500,000 in the U.S. There was a time in the late 1980's when historians estimated that 70% of all Chinese Americans were of Taishanese origin.

So far as I can remember, the major theme for our family was this. Older generation worked hard, scrimped and saved every dime, to put into the next generation's education. Advanced education was the way to break free from a hard life of not enough to eat. The mantra "Be a doctor" or "be a lawyer" was heard over and over, because those jobs paid well. 

The term first generation refers to those that were foreign born but immigrated and became naturalized citizens. That would include my grandparents and my parents, and even some of my cousins who were not born in the U.S. The Japanese call this the Issei. The second generation are the ones born here, the Nisei. Therefore you, my children, would be the third generation, which the Japanese call the Sansei.

Our "Bo" (District)

The words of my uncle:

Na Tai District is about 100 miles southwest of Guangzhou, at the west edge of the rich Pearl River delta.  It is very remote and small, but sits on a strategic ancient trail that connects the "inside mountain" world in the southwest to the "outside civilized" world in the northwest.  Vast areas of rice paddies are included in the district and surround it.  Between Horse Bridge and Golden Branch Mountain, there are rolling hills and mountain ranges but hardly any villages.  From our house, we could see a constant silvery streak running down from Golden Branch Mountain.  It was a waterfall.  The climate is hot and humid in summer, and cold, chilly with no snow in winter.  There is plenty of rainfall to irrigate the land, and plenty of sunshine to scorch the land, too.

Na Tai Market was the head of the district (1).  There we had a school, a temple, a sheriff office, a postal station and about a dozen shops.  My grandfather owned one, a carpenter shop.  Some shops could brew rice wine and liquor.  My father and brother graduated from the school located there.  Father later taught there.  I went through fifth grade there.  On Market Day, the market was a bustling place.  It was also a place for gatherings, gossip, volleyball games, stage shows, puppet shows, dragon dance, gambling and opium den.

Ox Hill was the focal point.  It was a huge forest.  On its northern slope were five villages.  On its southwest slope was the burial ground.  On its southeast slope was a large flat area used for playground.  It was there that a volleyball hit me when I was five, causing a near-fatal nosebleed.  I was in a coma, was wrapped in a flag and carried home for death.

Most villages were established between the Market and Ox Hill.  Village #2 belongs to Liu (Lau).  Villages #3 and 11 belong to Tsao (Tow).  Village #6 belongs to Lin (Lam).  Number 7 belongs to Chiu (Hugh), Lin and Xe (Hooi).  Ox Buttock (at #14) was unknown and near extinct.  The rest belongs to Chiu, the overwhelming majority.  Na Looi Village (#4) is ours.

The main crop was rice.  Minor crops were sweet potato, brown rice, peanuts, corn, sugar cane, and lotus.  The river, ponds, swamps, rice paddies and brooks yielded some fish, clam, shrimp, snail, crab, and eel.  The mountains yielded plenty of fern, firewood and some wild game.  Horse Bridge produced fine sand, for construction and road paving.  Vegetables and fruits were abundant.  Linen was grown once.

Most people were peasants.  A few were also shop keepers.  Very few were high school graduates.  Only one or two were college graduates.  One man was on the national volleyball team at the Far East Olympics.  One family was expert in making paper lanterns and kites for generations.  Another family were butchers for three generations.  One blind man was a fortune teller.  Two men were stage actors, one acting as a lady.  A one-eyed man owned a horse, the only horse in the whole district.  Some of the old folks never set foot beyond the boundary and spent their whole lives within the district.

In school days, all students marched in unison from the Market to Ox Hill.  They were in boy scout uniforms, and for a change, wearing tennis shoes.  The colorful flags, rhythmic drum beats, and horns and whistles attracted crowds of bystanders.  Excited moms and kids flocked to the village square to watch them passing through.  Kids even followed them all the way to Ox Hill.

All the adult men seemed to know each other in the district.

Our Village

Na Looi Village was made up of twelve rows of houses.  Between each column was an alley for local traffic.  The village square was at the front.  In the rear was a tall and thick bamboo thatch.  The ancient trail passed through our village square.  Total population was about 500.  #44 was our house. (The tan colored block)

We had four temples. (The pink colored blocks)  The temple A was used as a men's club and dorm.  Temple B was burned down when I was three.  Temples C and D were vacant.  Temple D was next to our house.  It was once used for an opium den until my grandma chased them out with a broom stick.

All vacant lots were fenced off and used for vegetable gardens.  At a hidden corner of each garden there was usually a shack for the women's toilet.  The men's toilet was at the very south end of the village.  There were shacks and pits, also used for storage of manure.  At location E was an ox barn.  At the north end of the village square there were two duck houses, built with bamboo frame and palm-leaf coverings.

The village was busy and noisy most of the day.  Before dawn, we heard cocks crowing, dogs barking, ducks quacking, oxen mooing, babies crying, birds singing, adults shouting (at animals and kids).  At dawn, some oxen were led by men to work on the rice paddies, or led by boys to graze at the hillsides.  Women folk were heading for the river to take water, do laundry, or both, and to gossip.  Some kids were busy collecting manure.  Some lucky kids went to school.  By sunrise, things for sun drying were laid outdoors, such as rice grain, hay, ferns, firewood, laundry.  Kids and old folks were assigned to watch them against intruders, hogs, chickens, and birds.  When it suddenly rained, these items had to be hurried indoors.  Occasionally there was a peddler, barking to sell his cosmetic merchandise and needlework to the ladies, or to trade his matches for our chicken feathers and pork bones.  Another peddler might be a surgeon working to castrate the chickens or pigs, or an expert repairman for broken woks.  By late afternoon, most people were home for supper.  Oxen were "parked" in the shady square.  Some kids played games.  Some folks were busy making bamboo baskets, braiding hay rope, or going to the water for a dip or to catch a fish or two.  By night, it was total darkness except for the moonlight.

Foot traffic on the trail was busy, too.  Mountain folks brought their produce and catches of raccoon, fox, etc. to the market.  Outside folks went into the mountains for ferns and firewood.

As kids, we roamed the village, we knew everyone and every corner.  We helped out with house chores, or played in the village square and temples.  We bathed naked in the river and learned swimming before we were school age.  As teenagers, we joined the men's club more often.  Since no one was rich enough to buy toys, we made our own toys from bamboo, mud, wood, paper, wax, and tin.  We made kites, flutes, bamboo guns, wooden boats, mud wagons, etc.  We also made bamboo baskets of all sizes and all kinds.

At home, our life was disciplined and warm.  In the village, our life was a rich group-life.  We never felt lonesome in our village.

Our House

The words of my uncle:

Our house was a three-combination style house, a standard in the whole county.  The solid wall was double-layered green brick.  The slanting roof was terracotta tile.  The floor was dirt on the rear three rooms, large marble stones on the sky room, and large terracotta tile on the two front rooms and a small area of living room.  A 6 x 8 feet central area in the sky room was depressed for about 4 inches, facing the open sky, called "sky well."  The house originally had no windows.  Each bedroom had only one tiny "sky window."  We added one window to each bedroom in the early 1930's.  Sky room was the only inlet for daylight and ventilation when all doors were closed.

The living room had an altar for worship of our ancestors, a built-in rice polisher, a large square table with four chairs, a chest for dishes, and things inherited from our ancestors, including two extra chests and two desks.

The bedroom had just enough space to squeeze in one big double bed for parents, one small double bed for kids, one chest for clothing, and two desks, each with two drawers.  A wooden bucket was always at the end of the big bed, exclusively for urination.  Defecation was done outdoors.

The kitchen was in the right front room.  It had a built-in brick stove to hold two woks and four pots, a cutting board, and a dinette table with four stools.  The pig slept next to the stove.  The left front room was used as the main entrance and family room.  There we had two chairs, one bench, several stools and a grain grinder.

The sky room had a chicken house with its bottom elevated for collection of droppings, a wash basin, and two huge terracotta water tanks.  The right front corner was covered with loose bricks.  Beneath the bricks was the sewage tunnel.  Rain from the sky and roof splashed down the sky well, then drained out through the tunnel.  Occasionally a golden-striped snake crept into the house, coiled underneath our bed.  The cat often sounded the alarm.  Sky room was the place for washing.  Pig, chickens, dog, cat and goose ate there.  Sparrows were constantly present.  They set up nests in the living room between the roof tiles and rafters.

Ample shelves for storage were in the bedrooms, living room and sky room.

That was our house, with leaky roof, dirt floor, no plumbing, no gas, no electricity.  We shared it with mice, rates, termites, roaches and bedbugs, well, sparrows and snakes, too.  Flies and mosquitoes were rampant.  No, we were certainly not poor.  That was the way everyone lived, for generation after generation.  My grandparents and parents raised their families there.  My dad, my brother, myself and my sister were born and grew up there.  At infancy I had infantile diarrhea and almost died there.  At age two the right bedroom roof collapsed and almost crushed me there, if not for sheer luck, mom took me out just minutes before, when I happened to wake up from my nap.  All of us had malaria there.  My brother had asthma there.  In 1938 my brother developed a paralysis in Hong Kong; mother took him "home" and he recovered there.  In 1945 after the war he married there.

Our house for three generations has given us happiness and blessings, shelter against hurricanes and hope against despairs.  There is no place like home.

Chapter 1: My Native Place

These are the words of my uncle:

At dawn on Monday December 8, 1941 Hong Kong time,  Japan launched a surprise attack simultaneously on Pearl Harbor, Manila, Singapore and Hong Kong.  That was the beginning of World War II (1941-1945).  It began to wreck the whole world and shatter our lives.

At the time, my mother, my sister and I were in Hong Kong.  We resided at 49 Waterloo Road, 2nd Floor, Kowloon in a rented room.  I was attending Pui Ching Middle School in the 11th grade.  My sister was attending an elementary school around the corner at Nathan Road.  My father and brother were in the U.S.A.  They worked at Jim Kee Laundry, 138 West 49th Street, New York, NY in a small basement, and resided at 126 West 49th Street in a second floor apartment.

In a few days, British garrison abandoned Kowloon.  For one whole day and one whole night prior to the Japanese marching in, bad guys ruled the street.  They organized into small bands, called "union."  Waving guns, knives and crowbars, they robbed houses at will.  They raced up and down the street on open trucks, shouting, "Victory, victory!"  One band came to knock at our door.  The landlord happened to be an opium addict and had contacts with the underworld.  He flashed his "union card" to them.  They spared us.

On Christmas Day, Hong Kong surrendered.

Under the brutal Japanese occupation, we heard gunshots every night.  We saw people slowly starving to death on the sidewalk.  We saw truckloads of corpses removed from the street every day.  We were half starved.  I was selling bread on the street with a junior partner, earning four little buns all day for two of us.  Curfews were imposed without warning.  Suddenly trucks loaded with Japanese soldiers appeared on the crowded street.  They immediately jumped off, rifle-bayonets ready, and cleared everyone and everything from the street.  At the sight of those trucks, people ran in all directions for home, otherwise they were herded onto the sidewalk to sit.  Within minutes, all movements and noises were halted, till the curfew was lifted.  A curfew could last for hours or even overnight.  I sat among those sidewalk crowds more than once.  One time, from the sidewalk, I saw the Japanese soldiers in line formation, being lectured to by a captain.  A man wandered too close to that captain.  That captain drew a pistol and shot him.  He fell to the ground, then quickly struggled up, dragging his bleeding leg, and crawled to the sidewalk.  He happened to sit near me.  I never could forget his horrified face.  Another time while I was running for home, a Japanese soldier chased me.  I heard his shouting and felt his bayonet poking at my buttock.  I was caught, frightened.  He was furious.  I thought, God, rape of Nanking again, my turn.  He slapped my face very hard, gestured me to sit down, then moved away.  Hours later, that curfew was lifted.  I got home.  Mother was waiting at the door, trembling.  She discovered a fresh cut on my topcoat, at the rear.  I discovered my pants were wet.  Thank God, it was my own urine, not blood.

In May 1942, we boarded a single-sailed sampan boat and left Hong Kong, as soon as thousands and thousands of people were allowed to evacuate.  We were heading for our native place.  Yes, indeed, our native place.

In Chinese tradition, our native place means our origin and our root, not necessarily our place of birth.  At times of desperation or retirement, the one ultimate place we would return to was our native place.  Our native place is Na Looi Village, Na Tai Bo, Taishan County, Guangdung Province.

Aboard that frail little wooden boat were about thirty people, packed on deck like sardines.  Luggage and bags were hidden under the deck.  Somehow we managed to sail across the rough water of Pearl River, then thread through the maze of waterways.  The first night we were intercepted and robbed by a band of Japanese soldiers.  No one was hurt.  The second night we reached the Free Territory.  The following day we walked on foot all day and finally arrived at our village and our old house.


My comments:
Your history books will tell you that Japanese aggression against China leading into World War II had actually been going on since 1937 (the second Sino-Japan War). Many of our relatives even now encourage others to remember the tragic Nanking massacre (1937-1938) where thousands of Chinese civilians suffered horrible atrocities at the hands of the Japanese.  At times you might wonder why Chinese (and Koreans), especially the older ones, at times seem "prejudiced" against the Japanese. This is why. Just as the Jews will never forget the Holocaust, the Chinese will not forget the rape of Nanking.

Some family background:
My mother's mother: Moy King Hugh
My mother's father: Chai Joon Hugh, American name Doo Chong Hugh
My uncle: Mee Sem Lai, American name Sam Lai
My other uncle: Chi-Chao Chiu
My mother: Shun Ying Yau, American name Julia Yau, Julia Bock (married name)