1917: Who's there?

Visiting a hermit, not there by Tang dynasty poet Jia Dao (779-843)

Beneath the pine tree, ask the servant boy.
Replies, "Master went to pick herbs,*
Surely here on this mountain,
But the clouds are so thick, don't know where exactly."

Jia Dao became a monk, his family was poor, and he renounced his relations. Later, he came back and re-entered regular life, studied, and became quite a famous poet.

*medicine

1917 - age 16

I started at Buowen Middle School, and went to new student registration. Starting 7th grade, all my school supplies were free (the consumables, the school gave new; durable items, I was given used and they needed to be returned when promoted; a lot of the hand-me-downs had several users before me). In the classroom, everyone is assigned a desk. In the desk, you can put your things like books, references, and miscellaneous. In the dormitory, you are assigned a bed and you needed to bring your own pillow and blankets, but the mattress and mosquito net, the school provides. You're not supposed to put suitcases under the bed, you must put them in assigned storage. The storage room has a key possessed only by the headmaster. In the dining hall, you are also assigned a seat. There are eight to a table with one upperclassman who is the table leader. The table leader is responsible for order and supervision. At every meal, we have to sing praise songs and say grace first and then we eat. Always, everything is done in an orderly manner.

Every morning, after rising, you have free time. I usually go to the yard to exercise. This was my established habit for the next sixty years, I do this every morning. At 8am, we went to chapel for morning prayer. Then we had breakfast. After breakfast, at 9am, we started classes. Three periods in the morning and three in the afternoon. Lunch was at noon. After lunch, we had resting period. Every afternoon, after 4 o'clock, we had free time. If it's a sunny day, we had to go to the play field to participate in sports. If it's a rainy day, we did activities in the auditorium or hallways. Dinner was at 6pm, evening prayers at 7pm, and then study hall at 8pm. Showers and bedtime were at 9pm, lights out at 1opm. On Sundays, we didn't have class, but at 9am we had to go to morning service. After noon, we could leave the school, but we had to be back by 7pm to attend evening service. When you left the school, you had to go toward the east side. Every Wednesday afternoon, we also didn't have class and students were allowed to go shopping or play. We had to return by 5pm for roll call just as every other day. Besides summer and winter break, everyone stayed in school and followed this schedule. So, in this way, everybody developed well in body, character, and academic studies. 

What I described was seventh grade. Usually, 7th graders are 13, I was already 16. Fortunately, I was rather short so I didn't call attention to my age. And I just followed along. Among all my subjects, the one that gave me the most impression was English. My English teacher was woman from England in her 40s. We studied from ABC and she had very accurate and clear pronunciation. She would patiently go back and forth until she is satisfied. Another thing is the music teacher. Every new student took an individual test. Good ones were allowed to enter the choir for more teaching and practice. Me, I cannot carry a tune, so I wasn't accepted in the choir. This is one of my weaknesses: music. 

The chapel at school is called Hongdao Church. It was open all the time and everybody could go in. I saw a bible verse inscribed by the pulpit: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I thought in my heart, in my situation now, my parents are getting old, my family is poor, and I haven't finished studying: I am weary and heavy laden. Who are you who can give me rest? This was the first time I had an experience with Jesus, when I came to Buowen School.

All the mail came to a big mail box. Leaders sorted the mail and delivered them to the addressees. One day, I was in class and I received a letter. There were several classmates beside me and I opened it. Inside, there were lots of peach tree petals. Everyone was surprised. There was a letter that congratulated me on receiving a full scholarship. At the end, it was signed by a person named Yin Suzhen, a girl student whom I had never met. After receiving this letter, I tried to find out who she was. She attended the church I went to when I was in elementary school, she was a teenager and very pretty. We found out later that this letter was not signed by Miss Yin, but actually by another male student, Mr Mao. He was envious of my full scholarship and wanted to defame me. At any rate, I left the matter alone and it didn't cause any harm or trouble. This was one of the things that happened in 7th grade. 

1915: What kids like

On the Pond by Tang dynasty poet Liu Yuxi (772-842)

Little kid rowing a little boat,
Sneak picking white lilies, returning.
Doesn't know to hide his wake,
Duck weed separates upon arrival.

Liu was quite famous but often offended the court and was banished several times. His poems were influenced by folk songs and musicals. They were often set to music and quite popular in his time. 

1915 - age 14 continued

The next morning, I went to registration. My school was built by a Methodist church. The whole year--tuition and room and board--was forty dollars. Compared to the living standards at that time, this was not very expensive. If you were a Christian, you got a 25% discount. I was not a Christian so I needed to pay the full forty. Now, I was already older than 13 and exceeded the age when people usually graduated from elementary school. But besides Chinese, I didn't know anything, not even the Arabic numbers. Mr Zhang let me enter 3rd grade. Social studies and history and geography and natural sciences, all the text books were written in Chinese and I barely passed these classes. Mr Zhang offered to tutor me for free. After two months of tutoring, I moved up to 4th grade. I brought my text books home at break to show my relatives that I had been attending a new school. 

After summer vacation, I returned to Wuchang and knew how to get there so I didn't need anyone to accompany me. 

As for my studies, I barely passed all the subjects. The most troublesome was arithmetic. We studied fractions, square roots, and analogies. Because of my tutoring, I passed arithmetic and was promoted to 5th grade. 

Another thing is the way I encountered Christianity. Since I was born, I was exposed to Buddhism, and idolatry was my daily life and habit. As for Christianity, aside from the rules set by the school, anything else--like meetings and get togethers--if it wasn't required, I would not participate. I remember that year at mid-autumn festival, the school had a prayer meeting. Everybody, especially the Christians, went. I didn't go because it wasn't required. So I stayed in the dorm. In the hall of the dorm, I was looking at the moon and heard the singing of hymns from the church building. My teacher, Mr Zhang, was on patrol and saw that I didn't go to the prayer meeting. I respected Mr Zhang very much because he never said, "You can save ten dollars by becoming a Christian." He never coerced students to convert. The ten dollars was quite a bit for the financial situation in my home. On the other hand, I did not want to compromise. The church was open to anyone and they did not force anyone to become a believer. They did not discriminate.  

1916 - age 15

During winter break, I went home for New Years. Everybody went to pay respects to our relatives, especially our elders. All the relatives knew I was going to this new school and regarded me with new esteem (gua mu xiang kan). In Huangmei, people had a lot of misconceptions about the Christian church. Most people believed rumors that Westerners would harm us and scared me with their warnings about Westerners' schemes. Fortunately, my mother used to study in Jioujiang and she had uncommon and outstanding judgment. She told me, don't believe these rumors, you just study hard. After winter break, I went back to school and studied very hard. This was a crucial year: if I passed 5th grade, I would be promoted to 6th grade. If I failed, I would have to repeat 5th grade and lose face with my teacher. 

The main territory of the Methodist church missionary endeavors was Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi. For every big local church, they would establish an elementary school. So, within those three provinces, there were over a hundred schools. Most of the students came from poor areas and when they graduated from elementary school, went on to find a job and make a living. But if you wanted to go to middle or high school, there was only one school in Wuchan called Buowen Academy. Every year, Buowen held their entrance exam for new students in October or November. To qualify, you must have graduated from elementary school.

Originally, you had to have graduated from elementary school. Later on, they let 5th and 6th grade kids take the entrance exam. But 5th graders knew they had another chance to pass the following year, so most kids goofed off. But I was different, I wanted to honor and show gratitude to my teacher. Every final exam, I did my best. After the final exam, I went home for summer vacation. 

After summer vacation, I went back to school for 6th grade. I studied every night late. One night in August, Mr Zhang came and said Buowen Academy was cancelling their entrance exam for non-graduates. Instead, they would take 5th and 6th graders' final exams as their entrance exam scores. After the exam committee released the results, I received highest marks and received a six-year scholarship to attend Buowen Academy--all the tuition, room and board. The full year cost 140 silver dollars. Everybody was excited and thankful. Most families could not afford Buowen Academy.

At Buowen Academy, they started the school year in spring, not autumn. I received the scholarship in August and had to wait til spring to start school. I didn't have much work to do during these few months, so I volunteered in the school doing things for the whole school. During holidays, I went to Wuchang's famous tourist sites: Chuwang Tower, Huanghe Stairs, and Baobing Building. I wrote poems about these places that I put in my book of poetry. 

The principal of the elementary school was a pastor from England, sir-named Li, from a wealthy family. Every Saturday, he would use his own money to buy steak and treat the students. But I grew up in the country and didn't eat beef. If I smelled beef, I felt sick. So every weekend, I didn't eat meat. The school chef, Mr Tian, was from a town near my hometown, a neighboring town to Huangmei. So he made me special food and gave it to me for free. 

Principal Li treated the kids every weekend and at Christmas time he and his wife would open up their home for formal Western style dinners. They entertained the whole school, students and teachers, in groups. His wife taught us Western etiquette. I went to the Christmas dinner and they served steak. I was a little a nervous but I followed everyone else's manner of cutting the steak. I just ate it and thought, "not bad". From then on, I ate steak. Later in life, I became a steak aficionado. 

1915: Evening boats

Maple Bridge Night Mooring by Tang dynasty poet Zhang Ji, who attained the stature of Imperial Scholar in 753. He wrote many things but not many poems stood the test of time.

Moon hidden, crows caw, frost fills the sky,
River maples, fishing lanterns, hard to sleep.
Outside Aunt Su* City: Cold Mountain Temple,
Midnight, bell toll reaches the visiting boat.

*name for Suzhou


1915 - age 14

Teacher Li Xiqiao and Mr Wu had a discussion about me attending a new school in a city. But the trouble was, they don't know which one I should go to. That year at lunar new year, I went to a place several miles away to pay respects to the Wu family. One of the Wu cousins, Mr Deng, joined me and I told him about my situation. Mr Deng was a current student at a school in Wuchang called Liberal Culture School. He offered to make introductions to an elementary school established by a church. This school accepted students throughout the year. Both Mr Wu and his wife agreed. They asked me to go home and ask my parents for their opinion. So I quickly went home and did so. 

At the time, my family's financial situation was very difficult and we had a lot of debt. Most of the time, we could not even pay the interest on our loans. Our clothes were patched and ragged. We didn't have any way to support extra expenses like travel and tuition. But my parents really valued education to improve our standing in life. So with clenched jaws and gritted teeth, they said yes. 

I quickly went to the Wu's house and talked to Mr Deng, telling them my parents said yes. So we made arrangements for Mr Deng to meet me in Wuchang. In the meantime, my parents borrowed money from any relative they could. My mom sewed all the clothing and bedding available into a bundle. We went to all our cousins and relatives, asking whoever could spare some money, and collected fifty dollars. 

We picked a day for me to say goodbye to the ancestral shrine and my elders. My dad carried the bundle and crossed the river to Jioujiang and bought me a ticket on a boat, the company was Taigu. We bought a ticket to Hankou. I took the Taigu boat because my dad had a friend named Mr Tien who worked on this ship. He could take care of me. Mr Tien's job was to manage who sat where, and he assigned me a bed where I could put my things in a cabinet and sleep. This way, I didn't have to pay the charge that Mr Tien waived. To this day, I am still very grateful to Uncle Tien.* 

On the afternoon of the next day, we arrived in Hankou. Because Uncle Tien had a lot of jobs to do, he carried my bundle and took me to the place to catch a smaller boat to Wuhan. This ferry picked up passengers all along the river. By the time it arrived in Wuchang, people were lighting their lanterns. I carried my bundle and hired a rickshaw to Liberal Culture School to meet Mr Deng. At the school, there were many security guards to tell that I was looking for Mr Deng. I finally found him and Mr Deng gave me the necessary documents and hired another rickshaw to take me to Cultivating Goodness (Xiusan) School. Mr Deng had already asked people to look out for me--Mr Zhang and his wife--who took me to my dormitory. This was the first day I attended the new school. 

*My mom recalls my grandfather telling my dad that Mr. Tien, when it came to meal times on the ship, would give him an extra portion. 

1914: Conflicts without, fears within

Climb High by Tang dynasty poet Du Pu

Wind fast, high sky, monkeys sound forelorn,*
Riverbanks clear, white sand, birds fly around.
Without cease, shedding trees, clitter-clatter down,
No end, long river, pitter-patter flow.

Ten-thousand miles, saddened by autumn, often a guest,
Hundred years, much illness, alone upon the outlook,
Hardship, bitterness, and regret burden frosted hairline,
Depressed and lost, newly quit drinking cloudy wine. 

*The place he wrote about was in Changjiang--Three Gorges area

Note: this was written when he was quite old, at 54, four years later, he died. 

1914 - age 13

Three or four miles southwest from our home was a place called the Dai Family Community. This area was a big village with everyone of the family name Dai. There, a rich man lived named Dai Zonghuan. He was very generous and upright. He gained the agreement of Mr. Wu Guanggui to invite Teacher Li Xiqiao and moved the school from the Wu Family area to the Dai Family Community. A lot of the students moved with the school, and I was one of those students. 

A neighboring family with the name Cai and my family's land was next to each other. One day, one of my cousins, Wenya, fought with a member of the Cai family, Nianxi. They were working in the field and had a disagreement and then had a big fight. Nianxi hit Wenya's ankle with a plow. No one could judge this quarrel. They went through several layers of government to try to settle their dispute and asked some people to write papers of claims. They went to the district government to present their case. In the end, Cai Nianxi was imprisoned and Wenya's ankle healed. After Nianxi served his time and was released, the families reconciled. During the time of trial, I was sent by my parents and uncle to accompany Wenya to the district government, and helped with all the procedures. This was the first time I went to the district office. I also visited my famous ancestral shrine which was located near the district office.