A Concubine for the Family: A Family Saga in China (31 page)

I am also happy to hear that Iris has a suitor. She has reached marriageable age, and we shall have properly discharged our responsibility toward her. Should she decide to marry, we must be generous with her dowry. She is now an adopted niece, and an indispensable hand in the administration of the factory. Since the factory does business with the enemy, some of them may attend the wedding. I do not wish the family to attend the public wedding. Dragon will represent the family. Instead, the family should have another celebration in a Chinese restaurant with all of Iris’s relatives from Hangzhou. I know the girls will be disappointed, but this is my command: that they will attend only the family celebration
.

In view of the coming social activities, perhaps you might ask old Chen to cultivate some flowers in our front and back skywell. He sounds like a noble old soul. I commend you, Jade-mei, for hiring him and providing for his welfare
.

I am deeply moved by Silver Bell’s efforts to weave a scarf for me. A piece of homespun silk will be a true reminder of my Chinese soul. I shall wrap my favorite books and your poems in it, and if the cloth is long enough, you should keep half. But the weaving will take too long and it will bring lint into the house. So I suggest that you ask Dragon to have the factory finish the job. I know it will be made from your cocoons, and so much of your love, thoughts, and effort have already gone into it
.

Now a few words about my life here in Hong Kong. I have decided that I am not an industrialist. So instead of starting a factory, I have found a position writing editorials for the
New Island News
.
I also help in various aspects of editorial work, so I commence work at five in the afternoon and return home around dawn. I am still staying at the East Asia Hotel. The schedule suits me fine. I am thrilled by the opportunity to read the many foreign publications available at the news agency. In many ways, I enjoy my work so much that I am ashamed to take a salary
.

In some ways, life here reminds me of the heady excitements of my student days. But I am no longer young, and my heart is with you in Shanghai. When Comely Brook has delivered, and the baby is old enough to travel, I will arrange with Dragon to bring you here
.

Hong Kong is a British colony, but most faces here are Chinese. It is also a tropical island. I know it will mean another move and more adjustments for you. I am already considering housing for us. Since the island is so small, most families live in apartments. There are some lovely apartments on Robinson Road. (Purple Jade, try not to translate the name into Chinese and judge whether it would be an auspicious place to live. Western names translated into Chinese have strange comical meanings.) This is on the mid-level of a mountain called Victoria Peak. The peak area is often shrouded in mist and is very damp, but the mid-level has wonderful ocean views and catches the cooling breezes. However, for one who is used to a house with many courtyards, the apartment may feel confining. There will be no gardens. All the rooms will be on one floor, but the view can be breathtaking
.

One other alternative is Happy Valley. There are many lovely houses on Blue Pool Road, much like the one you are living in now. They are larger, and I think we’ll all be able to have separate rooms. They also have larger gardens, and one can cultivate tropical flowers. But being in a valley, it can get very hot in the summer. You will have to adjust to the heat. I am excited whenever I think of your arrival. There are so many things I want to show you
.

With my warm regards to you and Comely Brook
,

Feb. 25, 1938

Dear Golden Bell and Silver Bell:

Your English letters please me. I’m particularly happy to learn that Golden Bell is helping Silver Bell. The strength of our family depends upon the unity and mutual assistance of all members. The strength of a nation is based upon the strength of its families. In you I see the triumph of our cultural values, and know our national humiliation will be avenged some day
.

I have asked your mother to follow Western standards of hygiene, because of a baby’s low resistance to germs and infection. You both could help by cleaning up after yourselves, without waiting to be served. As you are both fond of Western manners, you must know that Westerners do not have personal maids, and everyone contributes to the necessary chores around the house. The essence of our culture is to learn grace and virtue, to nurture the young and the dependent, and to live exemplary lives. You two must set good examples of personal care and hygiene, which you are learning in school, so that the baby may grow up in a healthy environment
.

In Hangzhou, using chamber pots in our home of many courts was never a discomfort. Now your mother is out of the house most of the day, and may not be fully aware of the inconvenience in our cramped city quarters. She is making a valiant effort to adjust to our drastically reduced circumstances, and is naturally inclined to preserve as much of her home atmosphere as possible. Both of you must learn forbearance and patience
.

Golden Bell, I’ve asked your mother to have old Chen cultivate some flowers in the front and back skywells. Western ladies wear gloves when cultivating their own gardens. Perhaps you could consult your science teacher and decide upon the types of flowers suitable to the Shanghai climate. You could be old Chen’s helper. Teach him some scientific methods, and learn something from the old peasant, who will feel honored that you should take an interest in his endeavors
.

Rickshaw pulling is a life-saving profession for old Chen. Your mother has made sure that he is not strained, and a man is never a beast when he is given face and security. We all have our burdens in life. Some psychological burdens are far more intolerable than physical ones. Given a choice, I would gladly pull a rickshaw for gentle mistresses like you than be exiled here away from my family and my roots
.

The Packard is a very beautiful car indeed. One day I should like to own one, when the country is at peace, and we are reunited. I’m learning how to drive now, and I shall love to drive you wherever you choose. In fact, Golden Bell will soon be old enough to learn to drive. I shall be glad to teach her. But the time is not now. It is in poor taste to parade one’s good fortune in times of national shame and suffering. Remember our devastated home and separated family. Do we have so much to be cheerful about? It is rumored that in the northeastern provinces under enemy control, your “Packard Eight’s” father is a prominent businessman. I don’t know if he is involved with the opium trade, but these provinces are flooding our country with so much cheap opium that the poorest rickshaw puller can afford a smoke. (Again, your mother is wise in hiring old Chen. He doesn’t smoke.) You only need to look at your mother’s cousin Yu Wei to see the effect of this business. Yes, the enemy would love to see our nation reduced to a people of degenerate drug addicts. Think clearly children: is it such an honor to be named after the license plate of a car?

I do apologize for not providing you with English names earlier. Golden Bell, you will be called Victoria. Your undaunted spirit and insatiable desire for learning promise a bright future for our country. Tell your mother that this is the name of the last English queen. During her reign, the English Empire prospered. Your American teachers can call you Vicky for short
.

Silver Bell, I have no understanding of music education. However, teaching is not an easy task. I’m sure your teacher will not teach you what is not necessary. Practice your scales, and perhaps someday you will tell me whether it has helped your piano playing. I’m naming you Sarah, because I like the sound of this old biblical name
.

Regarding baptism, I can understand that both of you wish to be like your teachers. But the Chinese do not believe children are born in sin. We shall discuss this further when you come to Hong Kong. You will be older then, and if you still feel you need a religion to guide you, I shall not oppose. It is a pity that Christianity came in with the merchants of colonialism. I do believe our Chinese morals would be reinforced by their doctrine of charity. This is essentially the same as our concept of
jen —
the foundation of a harmonious society — but it is difficult to practice
jen
in times of war and hardship. The Western idea is strengthened by the added incentive of a heavenly reward. Living in Hong Kong, I’m also enjoying Christian charity and the protection of colonialism, so I cannot find fault with Christianity. I would like to know that you want baptism not because it is fashionable but because you understand and truly want to practice the basic belief of charity. Though your mother is not a Christian, she practices
jen
in the Christian way — especially for old Chen. Golden Bell, you need to be more like your mother to become a true Chinese Christian!

Golden Bell, it is best that your mother does not know Mr. Kamasaki is Japanese. You remember how ill she was after she returned from Hangzhou. The shock of learning Iris’s association with a Japanese may cause her to relive the trauma of losing our home. I know there are many admirable individuals from every nation in the world. Still, Mr. Kamasaki is in our country because of the war. For that reason, none of you are to be seen with him in public. You will visit Iris in her home, but never when there are other Japanese friends around. This is my strict command, and you shall obey without exception. Iris has chosen her path in life. I wish her well. It is the arrogance of youth to think that they can defy conventions as well as centuries of war and enmity. They will have a difficult road before them. I should be surprised if Iris will find acceptance in the Kamasaki family, even in private. The Japanese have adopted much of our fine culture. In both of our cultures, marriage is a union of families. Unless they choose to live overseas forever, life will not be easy for them
.

When the baby is born and can travel, I mean to bring you all here. If there are any Cantonese girls in your school, you should learn some Cantonese from them. Hong Kong is a British colony, and you’ll find the schools here very different from the American missionary school you now attend. The many Western nations have cultures as diverse and distinctive as the Chinese culture is different from the Japanese, the Korean, or the Vietnamese. Many new adventures await you. It will please me greatly to know you’re behaving like the brave new women of China: independent, strong, helpful, but gentle and kind. You’re my hope and faith in the future of China
.

W
ITH THE GIRLS in school and Purple Jade working in Dr. Tsui’s clinic, life in Shanghai was highlighted by many interesting events.

One Sunday, Purple Jade received Old Tang, a distant Chou relative who now managed cousin Yu Wei’s household. It was Old Tang’s habit to flourish his handkerchief, dab his forehead and twitch his nose when he wanted to make a point. With one hand resting on a stack of boxes beside him, he waved his white handkerchief and gave a perfunctory pat to his face. He said: “Huang
tai-tai
. I’ve brought you some valuable jewels and furs.”

Purple Jade felt like laughing at the man’s assumption that she would be interested in these ostentatious items. “You are too kind. I hardly have need of such fine things nowadays.”

“Your adopted niece, Iris, will be marrying an important man.” Old Tang wiped his wiggling nose. “Let me show you what I have.”

He opened the first box. Purple Jade gasped. It was a pair of ancient jade blades, worn during court ceremonies by the chief counselor to the Manchu emperor—the centerpiece of a group of court jewelry collections in her cousin Chou Yu Wei’s house. The blades were more than a foot long and eight inches wide, tapering to a three-inch oval near the top. The emerald green was hand-polished to a translucent sheen of only an eighth-of-an inch thick.