Crossing the Pacific: The Family Stories of a Chinese Immigrant

At the turn of the twentieth century, China was still in the hands of the imperial Qing Dynasty government. In 1911, the revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen finally succeeded in overthrowing the corruptive Qing Dynasty, and the Republic of China was born. In subsequent decades, the Nationalist government was exhausted in fighting consecutively wars against the Chinese War Lords, the war against the Japanese aggression, and the Civil War with the Chinese Communists. Chaotic situations in the nation had lasted for most of the twentieth century.




My parents and my siblings of five lived our lives in that century. Although our family, except for my sister and her family, had fortunately escaped the unprecedented massive destruction, the associated social turbulence, and the political persecution by the Chinese government toward its citizens in the decades of the twentieth century, we were forced to leave mainland China. Our parents and many people in their generation lived the rest of their lives overseas like drifting leaves in unfamiliar societies with nostalgia. My parents passed away in Taipei, Taiwan and in Manhattan, Kansas in the 1970's. What they wished and longed for was simply the togetherness of family members, and was never achieved in their lives.




Because of the age differences between our siblings, the experiences of our lives were quite different. We each managed to find a way to make a living, strive for the best and we all survived under various circumstances during the turbulent times. This book "Crossing the Pacific" describes the true family stories of an ordinary Chinese immigrant. Just because of its ordinary nature, these stories would certainly not be able to make their way to the history books. However, these true family stories which fully reflect the complicated historical events of our times are surely worth writing down and leaving them to our children and future generations in America!



二å世紀的中國，從è…敗的滿清政府開始，辛亥é©å‘½ï¼Œä¸­è¯æ°‘國建國，隨å³è»é–¥å‰²æ“šï¼ŒæŠ—日戰爭，國共內戰。外侵內患而造æˆåœ‹å®¶ç¤¾æœƒçš„大動亂，幾乎佔了整個世紀。




我的父æ¯å’Œå§å¼Ÿäº”人，就是生長在那個國家多難，社會ä¸å®‰çš„時代。後來除了å§å§å’Œå¥¹çš„家人之外，很幸é‹çš„，我們逃脫了中國大陸，在上個世紀中期å²ç„¡å‰ä¾‹çš„政治迫害，åŠç¤¾æœƒä¸å®‰çš„浩劫。但是我們的父æ¯ä¹Ÿè¢«è¿«åœ°ï¼Œé›¢é–‹äº†ä¸­åœ‹å¤§é™¸ï¼Œé€£æ ¹æ‹”起， æµäº¡æµ·å¤–。當時我們所渴望的，是在安定的環境中æˆé•·ã€‚而我們父æ¯ç•¢ç”Ÿè¿½æ±‚，而沒法é”æˆçš„奢望，竟是簡單的家人團èšï¼æˆ‘的父æ¯å°±æ˜¯æ‡·è‘—『有家歸ä¸å¾—ã€ï¼Œå’Œã€Žå®¶äººç„¡æ³•åœ˜èšã€çš„é›™é‡æ€å¿µå’Œæ„Ÿå—，飲æ¨çµ‚生。於一ä¹ä¸ƒâ—‹å¹´ä»£å…ˆå¾Œåœ¨å°åŒ—和在美國è¬ä¸–的。




我們å§å¼Ÿï¼Œå› ç‚ºå¹´é½¡çš„差別，我們一生的經歷就迥然ä¸åŒã€‚在時代潮æµçš„巨浪中，å„人走出一æ¢ç”Ÿè·¯ï¼ŒåŠªåŠ›åœ°å¥®é¬¥äº†ä¸€ç”Ÿã€‚這本書是記述一個很平凡的中國家庭的真實故事。就是因為平凡，我們家的故事，是在報章雜誌中，和歷å²æ›¸ä¸Šæ‰¾ä¸åˆ°çš„。å¯æ˜¯æˆ‘們這些å‡æ–—市民的親身經歷的故事，是å¯ä»¥å……分å映出當時的時代背景。足以值得記下來，留給在海外生長的後代å­å­«ã€‚