the picture came attached to the papers
Remembering the father, translated…
My great grandfather was the second place highest scorer of the exams, my grandfather was a doctor who saved many lives, I am, from a family of scholars and very well-educated people. My father was born in the early 1920s, he’d grown up in the province of Henan, he was studious as he was growing up, he’d gotten into the medical school units of Henan University when he was younger, had his future laid out for him.
But, the blessings of life didn’t last for long, back in 1937, the Japanese invaded China, and the University of Henan was forced to relocate; my father dropped out of college, and joined the army, entered into war. Eight years later, the Japanese surrendered, but before the Nationals can take a breath of relief, the civil wars happened. Back then, my father was the director of the Department of Sanitations in Hengyang, Hunan, belonged to the first infantry, under the leadership of Jie-Mao Huang, went into the southwestern provinces of China, ventured into the territories. In 1949, he’d gone with his military troops to Fuguo Island, where they’d stayed. He’d arrived in Taiwan back in 1953, was enlisted into the Gangshan District’s “Third Infirmary of the Army of the Department of Defense”. In 1958, he’d transferred to Zhonghe, to manage a school’s medical unit, and retired from the armed services in 1960.
As I was growing up, the memories I had of my father who was rarely home was that he rarely smiled, and was estranged from his children, I didn’t feel that he was my dad. As I got older, he’d still told me, “you must work hard, plan ahead”, etc., etc., etc., plus his loyalty toward the party, I’d always felt that he was stubborn, to the point of being stupid. Until my father had died, and I too, entered into the later years of life, I’d recalled how he’d had a turbulent life, and spent his elderly years in leisure, and told me, “Everything became like the passing clouds, I do not dare looking back, to recall the past”. I’d fallen, silent, hearing his words. My father had no regrets for giving his life to his country, I’d just hated how young I was, not gaining an understanding of what he was talking about earlier: dad, you’re truly, amazing!
So, because this man weathered through war, and, his values of life were shaped by the war, that, was why he’d taught his children the way he’d taught them, and, the writer was only starting to understand where his father was coming from, and gained more respect for what his father had endured in life.
Life, the Obstacle Course 