In Her Own Words
1986, aged 78
“I was born in Xizhang (西漳), Shi Tang Wan (石塘灣), Wuxi (西漳), with the surname Tang (唐) and the name Zing Wei (靜慧 Jinghui). I was an only child without brothers or sisters. My forebears were upright, educated people.* By my father’s time, the family had turned to commerce. The family of my father’s maternal aunt had started a silk factory so he helped his uncle manage the business. “My parents were very young when they married; my father was nineteen, my mother eighteen. They were cousins and had been childhood sweethearts.** Unfortunately my mother passed away when she was twenty-nine, and my father followed her three years later. ”I went to primary school in our village. I attended junior high school at the Tsunghua Secondary School for Girls (振華女中) in Suzhou. After I graduated I went to Shanghai and was admitted to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital to study nursing. When I graduated four years later I worked at the hospital. That was when your grandfather’s mother came to the hospital as a patient. As soon as she met me, she liked me very much. She wanted to introduce me to her son who had just been divorced. She spoke only Fukinese. We didn’t really have a common language. |
“Afterwards her son also came to like me very much. We became friends and were married about half a year later. We lived in a lane off of 1055 Yuyuen Road (愚園路1055號). In 1934 Sze Chin (思勤) was born. In 1935 Chung Ren (宗仁) was born. In 1936 Chung Yi (宗義) was born. When Paul was just nine months old, the Sino-Japanese War started and the whole family fled to Hong Kong. In 1938 Sze Mei (思梅) was born. In 1939 Chung Li (宗禮) was born. In 1940 Chung Chih (宗智) was born.
“We lived in Hong Kong for quite a few years. When World War II was almost over we returned to Shanghai. On December 25, 1948, right before the Communists came, we fled to Hong Kong. And in the autumn of 1953 we went to the United States.
“It’s impossible to describe in a few words the difficulties we encountered in fleeing. We lost all our most treasured keepsakes, but fortunately everyone in the family was safe, which was already remarkable enough. We have to thank God for his mercy.
“Well, I’ll put my pen down here. Grandma’s neck is aching terribly and my eyes are fading. I’m really getting on in years. Hope you’re watching out for your health. Christmas will be here soon....“
“We lived in Hong Kong for quite a few years. When World War II was almost over we returned to Shanghai. On December 25, 1948, right before the Communists came, we fled to Hong Kong. And in the autumn of 1953 we went to the United States.
“It’s impossible to describe in a few words the difficulties we encountered in fleeing. We lost all our most treasured keepsakes, but fortunately everyone in the family was safe, which was already remarkable enough. We have to thank God for his mercy.
“Well, I’ll put my pen down here. Grandma’s neck is aching terribly and my eyes are fading. I’m really getting on in years. Hope you’re watching out for your health. Christmas will be here soon....“
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Your loving grandmother
November 27, 1986 |
FOOTNOTE
*The phrases used are “nothing but the wind in their sleeves” (兩袖清風 “liang xiu qing feng”, lit. “two sleeves fresh wind”) and “people with the whiff of book-learning about them“ (書香子弟 “shu xiang zi di”, lit. “book fragrant youngsters”).
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**The phrase used is “green plums, bamboo horse” (青梅竹馬 “qing mei zhu ma”) – a bamboo horse would have been some kind of hobby horse made of a bamboo stick, so the whole phrase connotes immaturity and childish ways. The meaning here may simply have been that the two had grown up knowing each other, rather than truly implying a particular affection.
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A Reply Sent to Hong Kong
1991, aged 83
1991, aged 83
德莉孫女:
我曾給您寫過信和寄您在家拍的相片未知您收到沒有,在這一年半中得不到您的回復,可以也無須再寫了。您動的什麼手術能明白地告訴我嗎?望您能好好的調養, 使身體健康最為重要。 至於我們兩次避難到香港,第一次是日本時代戰爭、也是第二次世界大戰,先是住再寶山道一層樓,後來才搬到39 Stubbs Road, 也是向猶太人租的,第二次走共產黨的難, 住在九龍德成街4號的層樓,當時大家時走難的難民。爺爺是退休的人,他40歲就沒有正式再做事了,所以建樹很少,年時生活很平淡節儉所以不常和大官富商交際的,就和幾個普普通通、中產階級朋友來往,喜歡打打球等。我呢忙着家務事都來不及,孩子們都小,爺爺是一個絕頂聰明的人,也學到博士學位,到了老來積聚了一生錢財,可是因為退休太早,交際素來不廣, 爺爺出身寒微, 奶奶也是出身貧寒人家,所以我們不會過太浪費的生活的。 給孩子們受好的教育,尤其奶奶沒有受過高深的教學,所以更要給孩子們受好教育,可是爺爺一世聰敏,一時糊塗,老來沒有把辛苦掙來的錢好好分配好, 使我做了所難人,也是太罪人。因此我的心性非常痛苦, 我素來對干錢財的事從不過問, 也沒有興趣過問的人。可是到老來受到孩子的輕視,很可惜,只能怪我的命也運也。 |
爺爺做了和豐銀行的總經理許多年,做匯兌生意做得很成功。後來因為要幫朋友孫科上台,丟了銀行去做了一個月的財政部長,沒有掙到錢還敗了兩千元應酬費,就下來了, 因為宋子文他們的勢力太大,孫科也下來了因為他是孫中山第一位太太生的, 若是宋慶齡生的就不痛了。所以您說喜歡去研究爺爺的歷史,我想比較起來爺爺的歷史沒有什麼大的價值可以研究的。 我呢因眼睛開刀,尚未完全回復康, 不能和您多謝, 很對不起, 望您保重。
祝您 早回復康 精神快樂 惦記您的 奶奶
六月卅日 |
“Granddaughter T’eh-Li:
“I do not know if you received the letter that I wrote and the photo I sent of you taken at the house. With no reply from you this past year and a half, there was no way to write again. Could you tell me clearly what kind of surgery you had? I do hope you make a full recovery, as health does come above all else. “As far as us fleeing to Hong Kong twice with the children, the first time was during the Japanese war, and then there was the Second World War as well. We lived initially in a first floor apartment on Po Shan Road (寶山道 Bao Shan Dao), and only later moved to 39 Stubbs Road (司徒拔道 39號 Si Tu Ba Dao 39 Hao), which was also rented from a Jewish man. The second time we were fleeing the Communist troubles, and we lived in Kowloon in an apartment at 4 Tak Shing Street (德成街4號 De Cheng Jie 4 Hao). “Back then everyone was a refugee fleeing troubles. Ye Ye was a retiree. He stopped working when he was 40, so his lasting achievements were few. Our life in those days was plain and frugal and we didn't socialize with high officials and businessmen. We just passed the time with a few ordinary middle class friends, who liked to play tennis, etc. I personally was constantly busy with household matters. The children were small. “Ye Ye was an exceedingly smart man who had earned a PhD. In the end he made money his entire life, but since he retired prematurely and his connections were never terribly wide – he came from a humble background and Nai Nai was also from a poor family, we didn't lead extravagant lives. |
“Giving the children a good education, especially since Nai Nai never went on to higher education, that just made us want to give the children a good education all the more. But Ye Ye despite being so clever his whole life, he certainly made a mess of things. In his old age he didn’t dispose properly of the money he had worked so hard to earn, leaving me to be the bad guy and receive all the blame. As a consequence I feel quite miserable about it all. I never concerned myself with money matters, or cared for people who did. But now in my old age, I get nothing but my children’s contempt. What a pity. I can only blame it on my own sorry fate.
“Ye Ye was general manager of the Ho Hong Bank for many years. He was in the foreign exchange business, and very successful at it. Afterwards, because he wanted to help his friend Sun Fo gain office, he gave up banking and became Minister of Finance for a month. He was not earning a salary, but to the contrary lost 2000 dollars on the expenses of wining and dining, and then had to step down, since TV Soong and the rest of them were much too powerful. Sun Fo also had to step down, being that he was the son of Sun Yat-sen’s first wife. If he had been born to Soong Ching-ling, that would have been another matter. Since you say that you would like to research Ye Ye’s story, it seems to me that it would be of little interest comparatively speaking. “As for me, I had surgery on my eyes and they are still not back to normal, so I am sorry that I cannot write any more. “May you look after yourself. Wishing you a speedy recovery and good spirits. “With you ever in my thoughts,” Nai Nai June 30th |