1924: Clothes don't care

Homeward Garden Field Life by Tao Yuenming

Planting beans below the south mountain,
Grass abound bean sprouts sparse;
Rising early clean weeds and mess,
Shining moon shoulder hoe homeward.
Path narrow grass and woods tall,
Evening dew wets my clothes;
Wet clothes not enough to care,
Only that dreams aren't dashed.

1924 - age 23

After lunar new year, my classmate Zhou Ciqing came to my home via Hankou from Congyang. He stayed at a store opened by my cousin Wenlong. We discussed the necessary things and planned to go to Jioujiang in March, I forgot the date. From Jioujiang to Shanghai. Zhou Ciqing's family was better off than mine and for going to Japan he bought some new stylish clothing. But I only had $120 (my cousin Wenlong took $2 for an emergency so I only had $118) for the most necessary use, so I didn’t have any extra money for new clothes, I wore my old long robe. My mother was concerned about me, that I didn’t have any clothes for traveling. When I left home, she was standing by the door and I couldn’t even look back. Because of this memory, I wrote a poem "Starting Journey to Japan". In the past, I had only traveled between Jioujiang and Hankou upstream. This time, I was going downstream and saw Small Solo (Xiaogu) Mountain. It had beautiful scenery which inspired me to write several poems. 

We arrived in Shanghai, the biggest port in China. We didn't have the leisure to tour. Most importantly, we stayed at the Peace (Ping’an) Hotel run by people from our hometown, it was the cheapest and had the best service we could find. At the hotel, we were informed that there was a cargo ship owned by Japanese called Zubuowan. This ship was headed directly to Huenbing (Yokohama). It took ten passengers and the fees were not high, so we decided to take this ship. At that time, between China and Japan, it was very convenient to travel and you didn’t need a visa. The ship's course from Shanghai to Nagasaki was smooth, however, from Nagasaki to Yokohama, it was very rough. The waves were huge and the boat rocked back and forth, because it was on the open Pacific Ocean. Most the passengers got dizzy and couldn't eat. There were several Japanese ladies who were so sick, they vomited continuously. But they cleaned up their mess with paper and that surprised me a lot. I, on the other hand, felt so well, I got up and ate and did things as usual. I have a very strong stomach and didn't suffer a bit. When we arrived in Yokohama, the people from the customs office came aboard to inspect. They saw me wearing my old long Chinese robe and thought that I was a laborer (kuli). At that time, Japan was trying to get rid of Chinese kuli so they did not let me disembark. I used English to explain I was not a kuli and the officers understood me a little. Then they saw I had some English books in my luggage and one of the officers picked one up, opened it at random, and told me to read. The book was Ivanhoe, one of my favorites. I could almost recite it. After I did that, they believed that I was there to study and not work as a kuli. During this incident, Zhou Ciqing's uncle Zhou Jiyang accompanied by Xu Zhendong arrived to meet us. So all four of us traveled from Yokohama to Tokyo together. We stayed at the same boarding house the Zhous rented called Sanqi House, specifically for foreign students. They provided breakfast and dinner. It was quite cheap and I exchanged all my silver dollars into Japanese yuen. I paid a month's rent and we temporarily settled in Tokyo. 

In Sanqi House, there were more than ten Chinese students. Besides Zhou and Xu, there were several Hubei guys. They saw my situation and they all thought it was improper to wear the long Chinese robe to go out. Mr Xu gave me a shirt and another Hubei guy, Li Tiezhen, gave me a pair of pants. I barely had clothes to go out. The next day, I wore the clothing they gave me and Zhou Jiyang took me and Zhou Ciqing to ride on the electric bus to Dongya Prep School and registered to learn Japanese. We started at A YO EYO (the real beginning) and this was the beginning of my studies in Japan. 

After a month, several tongshang (hometown people) were concerned about my money situation and thought I shouldn't stay at Sanqi House longterm. It was run by Japanese and was a small business. The money I had was so little, pretty soon, it would run out. If I didn't have any other income, I could not stay at Sanqi and the Japanese would not let me stay there without money. So they thought I should move to Sentian YMCA, but I needed to wait for a vacancy. I applied there and moved in April from Sanqi to YMCA. I had a roommate Shong Daomei who was also from Hubei. He studied and had good character, but he was a Buddhist. Everyday, he meditated and recited mantras. I read the Bible and prayed. We did not bother each other. We got along well. After he graduated, someone from Hunan, Tang Qikuen took his place. Mr Tang was also studious, honest, and straightforward. After a few months, we became very good friends. 

The dorm at the YMCA was managed by a man named Qu Dacen from Shanxi. He was a devout Christian. Since I had arrived, he had looked after me in many ways. We got along really well but come mid-May, I only had $.50 left in my pocket. I didn't have any other income and didn't want to borrow money from people and I couldn't ask for money from home because that $120 was already everyone's best. But the next month, I had to pay room and board. So this was the mountain was behind and water near (end of the rope) situation. The only thing I could do was kneel down and pray to God. I prayed so fervently and for quite a while. I felt peace as if God already had answered me. So I went to bed and slept. The next afternoon, I went to take a bath. Inside the YMCA there is Japanese bathing pool. In the middle there's hot water and around the side were showers. After you soaked in the hot pool, then you used soap and washed yourself. I had just came out of the hot tub and was going to shower when all of a sudden a huge tall person came in. It was the YMCA director Ma Buoyuen. The year before, when we had the summer conference at Lian Huagu, I had made his acquaintance. He also recognized me as a student from Buowen. He asked me when I had arrived to Japan and had my other classmate Li Cuenguang come. Li Cuenguang had been in Ma Buoyuen's small group at the conference. I told him everything. Li Cuenguang was from Jianxi, at a little church, apprenticing at a tailor. He served the Lord fervently at the little church and was very impressed by the pastor there. That's why when he graduated from junior high the church pastor had sent him to Buowen and paid all his fees. They told him, when you graduate, you need to come back to the little church to serve. So that's what Li Cuenguang did and I related everything to Ma Buoyuen. Mr Ma said: I need someone just like him, too bad he could not come here. When he said that, I immediately asked Mr Ma if there was anything I could do to take his place. Mr Ma knew I was a representative from Buowen and now was in Japan studying so thought I must come from a wealthy family and be a spoiled rotten kid and would not want to take up a low position job. While he was wondering about the situation, I frankly told him, I only have very little money and now I am almost penniless. My family cannot give me any money and I desperately need a job. Mr Ma looked at me and said our YMCA activities have expanded. Every afternoon when people get off work from 5-10pm, we need a person to stand post. If you want to lower yourself to take this position, it would be beyond my imagination. We had been talking so long, we had dried off. After we got dressed, we went to his office and he called his service manager Zhang Qingjian and introduced me to him and said, "Mr Xu I was acquainted with in Lu Mountain and he's willing to take up this assistant service. It's hard to get, let's decide his job." I had lived in YMCA for more than a month and I knew Mr Zhang and we liked each other. So that same night, he wanted me to start working from 5-10pm. During this time, anybody, member or guest, who needed any service, I performed it. I already lived there so even after 10pm if there were special circumstances, I still could manage it. From that day on, all my room and board were free. They needed to wait til the next day for the staff meeting to discuss my pay. They decided upon several tens of Japanese dollars for tuition and spending money. So because of this job, it solved both my problems. That night, I went back to my room and knelt down and fervently thanked God for his abundant grace. 

Every afternoon, before 5pm, it was my free time. I used most my time to study at the prep school. Besides Japanese language, I was taught by the principal Mr Song translation from English to Japanese, Japanese to English, and also mathematics, physics, and chemistry. We received extra tutoring at this prep school. As for the translation, there were established formulas if you studied real well that helped your sentences and essay writing. During my working hours, if there were no guests or nothing to be taken care of, I could study. So this whole year was preparation for studying.

1922-1923: How can you do that?

Drinking Wine by Jing dynasty poet Tao Yuenming 373-437

Bound hut where people live,
But heedless of car and horse noise.
Someone asks me, "How can you be like that?"
Heart far, land becomes desolate.
Picking chrysanthemum by the eastern bamboo fence,
Suddenly see the southern mountain,
Mountain air, day night: fine,
Birds fly circle and flit about.
Among these, there is true meaning:
Want to argue, forgot what to say.

1922 - age 21 (continued)

My classmate Wang Jiabing's older brother was a graduate of our school and had a job at the main customs office. He got a very good salary (our faculty monthly earned about $30, whereas his brother earned over $100) so everyone was very envious of that. He had a huge mansion in Hankou and was very hospitable and loved to entertain us students. There was a long weekend, a two-day holiday, and some of us suggested we use this holiday to go see a play. At that time, there was a show called Just Me playing at New Market. It starred Wang Wukong, he played a detective, and was so good the whole city was buzzing about him. In our class, several of us went together and let it all go and had fun. We saw the show and came back the next day, and everything we did and ate were all paid by Mr Wang. This was our special entertainment outside of school. 

1923 - age 22

This year, I graduated. Our school was a high school and there are three ways to go after graduation: first, the school would send graduates to certain offices and companies for work; second, graduates were sent to Hong Kong University and from there to England to study--this was the hardest and most difficult because the entrance exam was very hard, if you didn't have much confidence, you'd better not try; third, look for a job by yourself--some people go to the post office, customs office, salt dealers, and foreign companies. Among all these, customs office paid the best, then the salt dealership, post office, and foreign companies. When someone wanted to apply for these jobs, they needed a letter of recommendation from the school principal.

One day, our acting principal, Thomas, asked me to come to his office to talk to me. He knew I was a pretty good student and was baptized and enjoyed a full scholarship for six years. He said after graduation, he recommended I go to seminary. Before, I had had a good idea and some desire to go to seminary, however, Thomas made the decision before asking me. Thomas thought since I had six years of scholarship, he didn't have to discuss it with me. I didn't like this at all. Because I was young, my knee jerk reaction was, "How can you do that?" I took six years' scholarship, I'm very grateful. And studying in seminary fits my wish, but these two things shouldn't be mixed together because in the beginning the school didn't say I had to go to seminary or make any other requirements. I answered Thomas, "Would you give me some time to consider?" Thomas usually had a superior air, and because I did not accept it right away, he was upset. He said, "Since you don't accept it now, you won't have to consider it anymore." Before we parted, he said, "If you want to apply to these jobs, I will not recommend you." I asked Thomas, "Isn't writing recommendation letters a duty of the principal?" He said, "Not necessarily, I can but don't have to." I replied, "Since it's like that, I can't make you." He said our school wasn't accredited by the Chinese government, so our studies weren't recognized by China. So the graduates of this school could only go to foreign companies to take jobs, but without the recommendation of the principal, there was no way. This was a big challenge for me.

We had upperclassmen leaders for the lowerclassmen. You could serve and supervise the lowerclass. So the lowerclassmen, if they had some behavior or talk that wasn't proper, the leaders could punish them. So the lowerclassmen, anytime they met the leaders, they were unhappy to be with them. All of my classmates knew what it was like. There were several leaders who wanted to advocate for reform. It used to be every dining room table was supervised by a leader. Several leaders said they didn't want to do that, instead they wanted to sit together and leave the lowerclassmen tables alone, those lowerclassmen were happy and did what they liked. Plus, the leaders who were graduating all got to talk together--everyone had a better time. Some people reported this to the superintendent Teacher Xu because the revolting leaders' actions weren't approved by the administration. So they put up an announcement in the dining room that everyone should sit in their assigned seat. This announcement told that these leaders were rebellious. There was a rule that any announcement should be approved by the leaders. Since this announcement was not approved by the leaders committee, it was invalid. So everyone debated the issue, a student took the announcement down and put it in the garbage. The next day, Teacher Xu argued with a student Guan and got in a fist fight. So the incident developed terribly, and everyone stopped class and assembled on the school field to confront the situation. During this assembly, I stood up and said this system of leaders was bad and everyone applauded. The acting principal Thomas came and wanted to say something to the students. Whatever he said was not appropriate and no one wanted to listen and everyone dispersed. He had no graceful way to come down from the stage. That night, the school required us to write apologies. All our leaders requested the school to get rid of this system. We all declined our diplomas and left the school to live in a little hotel in the city while we waited for the conclusion of this event. The acting principal Thomas, during his year, there were no graduates. He couldn't take responsibility for this so he requested our first year alumnus Sen Wenching, who was already quite famous, to serve as moderator and go to the hotel. On the other hand, the students who remained at school, who saw these leaders revolt, thought it was good for the lowerclassmen. So they did some special fundraising and collected a lot of money. So this added to their support. In this way, there were no developments for quite a few days. So the school thought a good strategy was to talk to the students separately, not as a group. Several families who were helped financially, the school asked them to ask their kids to come back and write confessions and the school would let them graduate and write recommendations for new jobs. Several other students from wealthy families didn't need the recommendations of the principal, they just took the exams to test into these jobs. Only me and Zhou Ciching and the wealthy kids didn't compromise. Summer vacation came and everyone went home. 

All my relatives and friends knew that I studied in Wuchang for eight years. Finishing studies, they all came to congratulate me. I also returned the visits one by one and planned a dinner party to invite them to. Everyone came with heyi (congratulation money) and it paid for all the dinner expenses with some leftover. Later on, it supported part of the funds I needed to go to Japan.

Later that year, Zhou Ciching wrote a letter saying his uncle Zhou Jiyang was studying in Japan at that time. He knew from Zhou Ciqing's report about what happened at the school and sympathized with our situation. Urgently, he told us to study in Japan. He could afford some guidance and help. Since we don't have an alternative in Wuhan, I told my parents and discussed with my cousins Wen Long and Wen Ya of my plan to go to Japan. They thought of ways to collect $120 silver dollars to support me to go to Japan.