Dear Mom and Dad: I’ve received all your letters. Dad asked me why I didn’t reply for so long. It was because Lin Nan had disappeared in Tiananmen Square after arriving in Beijing. You’re probably aware of the incident, but what actually happened there isn’t what was reported by the media. I have letters from Lin Nan to prove it. On April 9, after receiving two consecutive letters from her, I got a phone call from her parents telling me that she had disappeared without a trace. While I had heard the crackdown from the radio, I couldn’t believe that she’d been one of the victims. It was soon confirmed, however, as I was called into the field office the next day for political quarantine because, as the fiancé of a “counterrevolutionary,” I was considered a sympathizer of her ideology. Having been locked up for two weeks, I was finally released yesterday. Dear Mom and Dad, I grew up under your loving care and guidance. Since I can remember, I was told repeatedly why Dad had chosen to return when he could have lived comfortably abroad. Unfortunately, the fact that he had lived abroad became a crime during the Cultural Revolution, and the right becomes the wrong. After the death of our premier, whoever mourns him in public becomes a “counter-revolutionary.” Dad, I hope you’ll understand that the way you’ve been treated is one of the reasons that I want to fight for change. Mom, your parting words are still echoing in my ear. Please be assured that I’ll try my best to stay healthy and I have a lot of like-minded friends who have been helping me. Living in such a big family, you can rest assured that I’ll be fine. P.S. Please tell my uncle that Lin Nan had sent the wreath on their behalf while in Tiananmen.
* Tears fell off my face and dropped on the letter when I was reading. I felt so much pain, as if my heart had a tear. Dear Lin Nan, how could you become a “counter-revolutionary”? What had you done except offer mourning wreaths to the Premier? Was it a crime? Was it anticommunism, antiparty behavior? The media told us that the mobs in Tiananmen Square were anticommunism criminals who had burned cars and stores, but I couldn’t connect those accusations to you, the gentlest and the kindest person I’d ever met. I couldn’t believe it was possible that you had been involved in the violence. I remembered my father said to you: “If possible, please send a wreath for our family…” “Will do.” The expression on your face was so sincere. I remembered that I warned you to be careful before you left, but you smiled faintly and said: “Of course, there are huge obstacles in front of us, but for the future of our country, we shouldn’t only care about personal gains and losses.” You believed in upholding the truth, but the media said you were a criminal. Who was right and who was wrong? Reason told me that I should believe the media because it was the voice of the central government, but emotionally, I wanted to believe you! Oh, Lin Nan! I still remembered that you had waved at me, shouting, “See you next year!” I could almost see that your eyes were wet with tears while saying the ultimate goodbye. I knew that you were the daughter of a veteran cadre who had gone into a lot of battles for the country. You had a deep feeling for the chairman and the party since you were a child. How could you possibly be a counter-revolutionary? It was simply impossible! Uncle approached me and held me in his arms. “Don’t cry, my child, please don’t cry…” But I saw tears in his eyes. I held him tightly, and we found my aunt sobbing in the bedroom and held her. The three of us held each other and cried while my aunt murmured, “My poor child…” I couldn’t remember how I got back home that night; I was so upset and confused that everything became a blur. If everything in my life had been wrapped in contentment and happiness before, Lin Nan’s death was the beginning of the opposite side of the extreme. In the days that followed, my life would become a crater of melancholy and darkness. *
~~~
A number of years ago, I was reading many of this author's books--mysteries which, of course, I enjoyed so much. I got this book around that time, and had several false starts, given the various surgeries that had started for me... Or, was it a God Incident? I wonder, because I've just finished this book at a time when there are two different wars raging. Both initiated by those who believe strongly in violence against others for the purpose of power... Everybody in the world is watching the two authoritarian countries who support authoritarianism and who have leaders who think nothing about the slaughter of innocents to further enhance their own prestigious power...
And, of course, here in our own country, a man who was our former president and who later incited an insurrection when he was not re-elected, which led to violence and death. The counter-revolution which is often mentioned in this book, resulted in the death of at least two million people...again...Mao Zedong’s worked to regain power over the communist party...
When I first started reading this book, I quickly assumed it was a romance rather than a mystery. Romance is not one of my favorite genres, unless there is suspense along with it, of course. In any event, I obviously was not in the mood to read a romance story--one that seemed to be an innocent and lovely tale of two people in love, etc., etc., etc. I was wrong. Although I do not know whether other books by Chen is similar, from those that I have read, this book is far and above the most important story written by this author!
Chun Ming, in many ways was like most young girls, living, working, but still living with her parents and becoming interested in marriage... She was naive, you might say, closeted from the world even if she was also out in the world... She fell in love with a young man, and he with her. Although they met often, talked about art, literature, music, perhaps, they never really got past that point where their emotional response to each other was the most important.
Two things happen that would shape and change the world of Chun Ming. A cousin and his girlfriend came to visit and Chun Ming soon became excited to be able to know and relate to a young girl, about her age, who was so enthusiastic, friendly, and, well, just, nice. It was Chun Ming own life, working in a factory, with just one significant girlfriend, and, of course, her love interest, that failed to measure up to what she saw in Lin Nan...
The second was that she and her love interest had agreed that it was time for him to meet her parents. And, from her father's point of view, it did not go well.
Throughout the story, there are many references to the Cultural Revolution. Personally, I can't imagine just what it would be like to be so totally controlled by the government of the country. Yet, even with rebellion, and even with many calling for what they saw in other countries, perhaps America, a democracy was never to be achieved in China.
Readers watch as the naive, beautiful daughter of loving parents slowly begins to learn of life's realities. First, it was that Lin Nan, with whom she had quickly bonded, had disappeared and was assumed killed in the massacre that occurred at Tiananmen Square, an event that shook the entire world--for a brief time. Yet, it was the Communist Party who remained in power.
Slowly, as you read, you will pick up what living in an authoritarian country is like. Essentially, there is no freedom to even think of what you might want to do with your own life! Although I wasn't shocked, I did learn that it was so much more stringent in small details that we, in a democracy, take for granted, and ever searching for more freedoms...
One of the overpowering emotions which became so real...is...the...fear. Because just by being associated with somebody, even as an individual with whom you worked, with little personal interaction, could cause you to be identified as a "counter-revolutionary..." And, that definition of who or what that meant was purely mechanical by the government officials...
The ending was interesting...Chun Ming had lost her ability to trust easily. On the other hand, she had become a woman who knew herself and wanted to ensure she knew how to proceed into her future. To me, I think that is all that we can ask... don't you?
Finally, without going into a lot of rhetoric, because repetition is often used to force misinformation into appearing to be the truth, reading this book has made me even more aware of what is being attempted in America. We cannot imagine what an authoritarian government, even based upon religion, can be like. We have been too lucky, too lackadaisical in becoming so involved in our own lives that we do not take the time to realize just how different the United States of America is from those countries, particularly, those countries either based on religion or on no ethical premise at all.
Read this book. Read it carefully. Pick up the clues. Each of us must open our eyes to see what awaits us in our future and recognize that life is not really what you think it is at any given moment... I consider this book a must-read, especially for women...
GABixlerReviews
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