Back to 80: My Literary Life

Yu Rong Yifang's home is on a hillside surrounded by green trees near Stanford University, where a quaint two-story building quietly resides.

Meng Dawen drove to the small building, got out of the car and pressed the doorbell.

Within two minutes, a thin woman in her early fifties opened the door. It was Yu Rong Yifang.

"Mr. Fang, congratulations on receiving an honorary doctorate from our university." Yu Rongyifang said with a smile.

"Thanks."

The two of them followed her into the first floor. Fang Minghua was surprised to find that in the living room and in the glass display cabinets in the hallway, there were all kinds of clothes, hats and jewelry worn by Chinese people more than a hundred years ago!

Seeing that Fang Minghua was attracted by a child's tiger head hat, Yu Rongyifang said in fluent Chinese: "This is a hat my grandfather wore when he was a child."

"This is?"

Fang Minghua saw a black-and-white photo displayed in the window. It showed American soldiers wearing World War II military uniforms. The people in the back row were all yellow!

"This is my father." Yu Rongyifang pointed to a young man on the left side of the back row and told a history.

"It was 1941. My mother told me that I was only six months old at that time. The Japanese army attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War broke out. My father said goodbye to my mother and went to the battlefield. Later he was sent to China. This picture is of my father in Yunnan that year. Photos of Kunming, the province, helping to train the Chinese Air Force.”

"From 1943 to 1945, my father fought side by side with Chinese soldiers in the China-Burma-India War Zone to fight against the Japanese invaders. My uncle was also an Air Force pilot and later died in an air battle in Guangdong Province."

Fang Minghua was in awe after hearing this.

After visiting around, the three of them finally sat in the living room, and a nanny made coffee for Fang Minghua and the others.

"Mr. Fang, I saw on the TV news that you were going to write a novel about Chinese laborers building the American railroads. I was very excited when I heard that someone finally wants to write this piece of history. Thank you." Yu Rongyifang said.

"This is what I should do."

Fang Minghua is very humble: "I remember that there was a paragraph in my middle school history textbook that was dedicated to this period of history. Of course it was relatively short, with only a few words. But when I came to the United States, I realized that many Americans knew nothing about it - even Doubtful, this surprised me."

“The history of the United States is very short. It has only been more than 200 years since the Declaration of Independence was issued on July 4, 1776. Sadly, even though it is short, much of the true history has been buried intentionally or unintentionally. Including this period of history of railway construction by Chinese workers.”

Yu Rongyifang sighed: "I am engaged in historical research, and I can't help but feel a deep sadness when I see this."

"Professor Yu, do you have in-depth research on this period of history?" Fang Minghua asked.

"It's not very profound, but this is the direction I have been researching in the past few years." Yu Rongyifang was also very humble: "Wait a moment, I will show you some information."

Yu Rongyi walked into the study room and soon took a thick stack of information and placed it on the coffee table.

Fang Minghua turned over slowly.

All are in English, containing excerpts from literature, as well as textual research papers written by Yu Rong Yifang herself, as well as some legacy records of her predecessors recorded by her family.

"My hometown is Taishan, Guangdong Province. In 1866, my great-grandfather Huang Lizheng came to the United States from Taishan, Guangdong Province when he was only 19 years old and worked for the California Pacific Railroad."

"People always say that those Chinese workers come from the bottom of society and are illiterate. They came to the United States because they had no food to eat, but this is not entirely true." Yu Rongyifang said with a smile:

"My great-grandfather and his companions all attended private schools in their hometown and knew how to read. After coming to the United States, my great-grandfather worked hard to learn English. He later became a foreman and translator."

"Here, this is his English signature on the document." Yu Rongyifang carefully took out a yellowed document from a pile of documents, and it turned out that the English words of "Lee Wong Sang" were written on it.

"Professor Yu, can you tell your story and the story of their companions?" Fang Minghua's heart moved.

I want to write a novel, and the protagonist needs a prototype, and his great-grandfather seems good.

"Okay." It was obvious that Yu Rongyifang was happy to talk about her ancestors.

“At that time, China was in turmoil due to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the people were in dire straits. Many people from our hometown went to Southeast Asia, Japan, and even traveled across the ocean to come to the United States. I heard that a Chinese worker’s monthly salary in the United States was about US$30.

"30 U.S. dollars, Mr. Fang, you don't know how precious it was to get 30 U.S. dollars in China at that time! I checked historical documents and found that 1 U.S. dollar could be exchanged for 1.1 taels of silver at that time, and 30 U.S. dollars was equivalent to 33 taels of silver!

"Not only can they support a family, but they can even support an entire village! So they hope to make money to change their family's destiny, so they decide to come to the United States."

"My great-grandfather and his fellow villagers came to the United States to build railroads. After the railroad was built, some of them opened shops and some engaged in agriculture. My great-grandfather later engaged in trade and finally became a respected businessman." She said.

"Gold is the most cherished thing by Chinese railway workers. My great-grandfather used his salary to buy a piece of gold worth 20 US dollars and carry it with him to pray for good luck. But one day after returning from the toilet, he found that he had taken the piece of gold with him. Lost it. He cried for a whole month and wanted to die. Fortunately, he survived. This is what my grandfather told me."

"After the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad, my great-grandfather's wife Qian, who was married in his hometown, came to the United States. My great-grandmother did not have bound feet. She had a tough character and a smart mind. She helped her husband with the housework, the birth of children, and the raising of children. After having five children, we finally settled down in the United States, and then we, the descendants, were born,” Yu Rong Yifang said at last.

“The conditions for railway construction were very difficult at that time. I once heard a saying that was widely circulated: “Under every sleeper there is the skeleton of a Chinese worker.” "Fang Minghua said.

"Yes, it's not an exaggeration at all!" Yu Rongyifang suddenly became excited.

“In 1867, the Nevada region encountered the largest snowstorm on record, with the snow reaching a depth of fourteen meters at its thickest. However, a one-day suspension of work meant huge losses for the capitalists, so the capitalists ordered workers to continue construction regardless of the weather. And this A group of workers with amazing endurance and spirit of sacrifice continued to dig roadbed and lay railway tracks in the deep snow.”

"People are often killed by unpredictable snowstorms while working. Sometimes the entire camp is even buried by an avalanche. Many people's bodies are not discovered until the ice and snow melt months later. Their stiff hands are still holding tightly. Holding an iron pickaxe.”

“In 1868, the project was extended to the Sierra Nevada Mountains—Americans called this section of the railway the “Great Wall of China in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.” About 1,000 Chinese workers died here. In 1970, people dug out 2,000 pounds (about 907.2 kilograms) of the remains of Chinese workers.”

The atmosphere in the room was a bit solemn.

After a while, Yu Rong Yifang smiled apologetically: "Mr. Fang, Lawyer Meng, you guys look at me, I get a little excited when I talk about this."

"Many of these were told to me by my father. The former Chinese railway workers and my grandfather would sometimes sit around drinking tea in our shop, and they would tell stories about the Chinese railway workers. My father listened to these The story grows.”

"Now, I tell the story to others."