1903: Devotees

By the River Sunset Snow by anonymous Yuen dynasty poet 

Pink clouds spread,
Lucky snow falls,
The reel-loving old man, laughable:
Zi Cho*, too chilled, returned home.
River so cold, how can you fish alone?

*There's a story of a man named Wang Zi Cho who took a boat to visit his friend. He arrived at his friend's front door and did not go in, but returned home. When people asked him about it, he said: I wanted to go but when I arrived, I had nothing to say, so then I went home. Wang Zi Cho came to symbolize an impulsive person.

1903 - age 2

In the 29th year of Guang Xu's reign. After I turned one, my dad brought me to Huangmei, to the shrine of the Qu ancestors. The shrine was funded by all the descendants of the Qu tribe, with contributions collected according to the number of men in the branch. They also used this pooled money to help family members in crisis. They elected people to manage the family fund, and every year they took turns purchasing meat, fruit, and vegetables for offering. After the offering, they would portion out the sacrificed food according to the number of males in your household. 

Every time, after worshiping our ancestors, we would return home and my mother would carry me across the river to Jioujiang to visit my maternal grandmother. My maternal grandmother was Buddhist and in her home she had a shrine for Guanyin. She faithfully worshiped Guanyin and burned incense every morning and evening, before every meal, never missing her devotion. She made a promise to Guanyin: every time she printed money, she would recite a mantra and then burn it for her blessing on this grandson.