浏览路径〉首页/Featured/ 铅笔文章/ 铅笔每日/郑念去世了！
上一篇：« 谁都不要装超越——评黄亚生《为什么中国需要左派》
下一篇：经济学家质疑奥巴马医改方案 »
郑念去世了！
11月2日，郑念女士去世了，享年94岁。
不了解这位美丽而高贵的女士的读者，可参看我的文章
希望在美国的朋友，能拍摄几张葬礼和墓碑的照片。
这是一个应该被纪念的人。
下面是《华盛顿邮报》关于郑念去世的报道。照片中右为郑念女士，左为郑念的女儿郑梅萍。郑梅萍在文革中被红卫兵批斗、跳楼而死。
NIEN CHENG, 94
Memoir detailed torture during Cultural Revolution
Mrs. Cheng, right, with her daughter, Meiping, who died at the hands of the Red Guard while her mother was in prison. (Washington Post File Photo)
By Patricia Sullivan
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Mrs. Cheng, right, with her daughter, Meiping, who died at the hands of the Red Guard while her mother was in prison. (Washington Post File Photo)
Nien Cheng, 94, whose memoir “Life and Death in Shanghai” was widely praised as one of the most riveting accounts of the Cultural Revolution, died Nov. 2 of cardiovascular and renal disease at her home in Washington.
At a time when China’s Communist leader Mao Zedong was trying to purge political rivals and reassert his authority, Mrs. Cheng, the wealthy widow of an oil company executive, was one of untold numbers of professionals who were evicted from their homes by the Red Guard. She was arrested in August 1966 and falsely accused of being a spy.
Mrs. Cheng endured 6 1/2 years of solitary confinement and torture in prison, refusing to confess or bow to the will of her interrogators. Upon her release, she discovered that her only child was dead, purportedly of suicide, but actually after being beaten to death by the Red Guard.
In simple, exquisite detail, Mrs. Cheng’s 1987 book describes the maddeningly circular reasoning of those caught up in the revolution. Her interrogations were contests of will, with Mrs. Cheng refusing to confess or responding with quotes from Mao’s “Little Red Book.”
Her captors responded with beatings. So tightly handcuffed that she feared losing her hands and confined in a frigid cell too small for her to lie down, Mrs. Cheng lost her teeth, caught pneumonia and had hemorrhages. She defused the misery by laughing at her accusers.
“Far from depressing, it is almost exhilarating to witness her mind do battle,” Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote in the New York Times review of her book. “Even in English, the keenness of her thought and expression is such that it constitutes some form of martial art, enabling her time and again to absorb the force of her interrogators’ logic and turn it to her own advantage.”
Readers were mesmerized by the story, pushing the book to the top of the bestseller list. The timing was right; totalitarianism and communism were under attack worldwide. During a visit to Germany, President Ronald Reagan urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall as the Cold War began to show signs of thawing.
Her book “exalts the triumph of the human spirit over mindless inhumanity,” author Stanley Karnow wrote in The Washington Post. “Thus her narrative deserves to rank with the foremost prison diaries of our time.”
After she was released from prison, Mrs. Cheng found herself still under suspicion. She was forced to share her home with other families and was wrenched from a comfortable life into the grinding poverty of the masses.
By 1980, she had managed to leave China for Canada. Three years later she moved to Washington, using money her husband had left her in overseas bank accounts. In 1987, she was a guest at a White House state dinner, where she chatted with the president. Her book was excerpted at length in Time magazine. She became a U.S. citizen in 1988.
“There were many Chinese who fought back and many who suffered much more. Some of them have never recovered,” she said. “But my privilege has been to write about it, and that’s only been possible because I could leave.”
Yao Nien Yuan was born Jan. 28, 1915, in Beijing, the daughter of a naval vice minister who belonged to a wealthy family of land owners. In 1935 she went to study at the London School of Economics, where she met her future husband, Kang-chi Cheng.
The couple returned to China before 1940, and Mr. Cheng joined the ministry of foreign affairs for the Kuomintang, the ruling party at the time. The couple were sent to Australia to establish an embassy and then were transferred to the ministry in Shanghai until Communists came to power in 1949.
With the approval of the government, Mrs. Cheng’s husband became general manager of Shell Oil in Shanghai. He died of cancer in 1957, and she joined the oil company as an adviser. Her daughter, Meiping, was an aspiring actress. The Communist regime left professionals like Mrs. Cheng alone until 1966, when Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution.
Increasingly concerned about the Red Guards parading down her street, she wasn’t surprised when “suddenly the doorbell began to ring incessantly. At the same time, there was a furious pounding of many fists on my front gate, accompanied by hysterical voices shouting slogans,” she wrote.
The 30 to 40 high school-age students were let in. They ransacked her home, insulted her and derided her defense of ancient Chinese porcelain cups they were smashing. A month later, she was taken to a meeting at which she was denounced and held in a detention center for political prisoners.
After her years in custody, she was told March 27, 1973, that she was being released because of an “improvement in her way of thinking and an attitude of repentance.” She refused to accept that statement and vowed to remain in detention until prison officials officially declared her innocent and published an apology in Shanghai and Beijing.
“The No. 1 Detention House isn’t an old people’s home. You can’t stay here all your life,” the interrogator told her. “I have never seen a prisoner refusing to leave the detention house before. You must be out of your mind.”
Mrs. Cheng was forced out of the prison and learned about the death of her daughter. It took a long time, but she eventually realized that her captors were trying force her to confess to being a spy so that they could indict Zhou Enlai, the Chinese premier, as the chief of a foreign espionage network. Zhou Enlai had permitted Shell to function in China.
Mrs. Cheng had two sisters in Southern California when she immigrated; they have died. She leaves no immediate survivors, and friends said she never got over the death of her daughter. They said Mrs. Cheng blamed herself for not forcing the young woman to leave China as conditions worsened.
After arriving in Washington, Mrs. Cheng lectured about China and took classes at American University’s Institute for Learning in Retirement. She was an elegant dresser and practiced tai chi, and she became a popular speaker on China. When China took over the government of Hong Kong, she appeared in print and on TV news shows to warn the overly optimistic about the history of Chinese government.
She made what was supposed to be a private visit to Hong Kong in 1990. When she agreed to sign copies of her book, readers lined up by the hundreds at the small basement bookstore sponsoring the event, clutching black-market English versions or surreptitious Chinese translations.
Tour guides denied the existence of the No. 1 Detention House, but when a visitor gave her tour guide a copy of the book, he drove her by the building.
没有什么能够阻挡
你对自由地向往
天马行空的生涯
你的心了无牵挂
穿过幽暗地岁月
也曾感到彷徨
当你低头地瞬间
才发觉脚下的路
心中那自由地世界
如此的清澈高远
盛开着永不凋零
蓝莲花
=======
一首许巍的蓝莲花，送给这位令人尊敬的老人。
以前曾看过子旸的那篇文章，阅后流泪。
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 10th, 2009 at 9:01 上午
“心中那自由地世界
如此的清澈高远
盛开着永不凋零
蓝莲花”
刚刚得知她去世了，心里空空的，酸酸的。
但她毕竟是在完全自由的状态中去世的，祝福她在天堂中与丈夫和女儿团聚。
再也没有人能把她和女儿分开。
谢谢胡磊的提点，许巍的蓝莲花正表达淡淡的忧伤和坚定的信念。
回复
http://mail.qq.com/cgi-bin/ftnExs_download?k=53383939fe8ace9f342a0d391166574e04085a0f520206541e0d000e074b5150060814000256034c050a5c5b04055552550d5f0b374a65a8c9f3f9ededafaadb9010fde385d9d2c3e3e889df1e4db3c2f7d6efc11cd1d8b39881db8cffb48e4f435c5f39&t=exs_ftn_download&code=38997fea
生死在上海的电子版
回复
胡磊 回复:
十一月 10th, 2009 at 9:13 上午
谢谢艾江网友的慷慨。
我已经下载了，有英文版的么？要有，就更好了，呵呵：）
回复
艾江 回复:
十一月 10th, 2009 at 10:42 上午
http://cid-21061d2af71fdd3e.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/%E7%94%9F%E6%AD%BB%E5%9C%A8%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%5E5%E5%86%85%E9%83%A8%E5%8F%91%E8%A1%8C%E7%89%88%5E6+%E9%83%91%E5%BF%B5%E8%91%97+%E6%96%B9%E8%80%80%E5%85%89%E7%AD%89%E8%AF%91.pdf
上面那个只能用7次，以前不知道，呵呵。
回复
注：图中合影照片为1964年拍摄，郑念女士时年50岁。其高贵、美丽的外表几乎让人看不出其年龄。
回复
女儿那么早就死了，可惜、可怜。
回复
没有葬礼,没有墓碑.她说不要骨灰.
走的时候身边有两个护士.
一个星期,只有在嘴唇上每天三次涂些吗啡,没有吊针,没有营养,
这是美国的Medicare规定的如果选择在家,就不可以打吊针.
就这样慢慢,慢慢的…..一星期以后,她走了.
其实她还可以活,至少最后她不想死…
回复
忌口 回复:
十一月 11th, 2009 at 10:24 上午
真的？没有留下任何可供祭奠的墓碑？
本来打算什么时候有机会去拍几张照片，以飧老李
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 11th, 2009 at 11:58 上午
不知道她晚年过得可好？
知道的话，能不能说说她的晚年生活。
如果她女儿活着的话，就不至于无亲人送别了。
回复
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by tianxyx and 同情兄, 同情兄. 同情兄 said: 11-9 一个柔弱而不屈的女性——郑念逝去了 http://bit.ly/198NlA [...]
梅平是我的小姨, 她比我大5岁,我们小时非常亲密。在1957年底前,在我的学校暑期休假和冬季假期之间我常常住宿在他们的家里. 当时我很喜欢和她睡在同一个房间谈至午夜,看书，玩……我也很喜欢他们的狗.有很多的有趣的回忆将会与我的永远在一起。最后一次我看到她是1964年在我前往沙漠之前, 当时我16岁，她是21岁. 数年之后(1966年)我返回上海时梅平已经走了,我带着我的朋友们一起去看了曾经有她的尸体躺在那里的在南京路上的人行道. 我记得, 当时我在我的心里面尖叫着…我流泪了.
Lily F
回复
陈青蓝 回复:
十一月 14th, 2009 at 10:53 上午
郑梅萍好像演过谢晋的《女篮五号》。可叹。愿你的小姨在天堂快乐
，愿她与她母亲在天堂相见。
不知道当初的杀人者现在何处？是已经身居高位，还是退休在家、儿孙绕膝，或者下岗之后靠低保维持生活，或者已经死翘翘？希望他们受到应有的惩罚，如果还活着，希望他们横死，如果已经死翘翘的话，希望他们下地狱。
——请那些道德家们不要在这里讲什么宽容。我是主张人应当为自己的作恶付出对等的代价的。对恶魔没有宽容可言。
回复
Lily F 回复:
十一月 14th, 2009 at 1:32 下午
Thanks for your comments. And yes, 梅平姨 had a very small part in 谢晋的《女篮五号》,
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 18th, 2009 at 5:21 下午
非常赞同。
个人一定要为其所做所为负责任。
否则，社会就没有权利的起点了。
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 23rd, 2009 at 1:03 下午
据说此人仍健在，儿孙绕膝。
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 18th, 2009 at 5:31 下午
看过书后，每次走到南京路上，我都要想想原来的体育场在哪个位置，梅萍的身体是从哪里掉落的，掉落在哪里。
回复
Lily Fisher 回复:
十一月 19th, 2009 at 12:56 上午
不是体育场，是上海体育俱乐部在南京路.
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 19th, 2009 at 2:26 下午
原来是在现在的南京西路上。
“上海体育俱乐部，位于上海市南京西路150号，交通极其便利，尽占天时地利、助您潇洒纵横上海。
上海体育俱乐部是综合配套实施一应俱全，以有各类餐厅共1200平方米，豪华客房、客房从标准行政房到豪华套房共150间、歌舞、酒吧、健康娱乐实施、美容中心和保健中心。俱乐部拥有可容纳300人时豪华宴会厅及进行多种商务活动的多功能会议厅、贵宾室、商务中心，停车场和24小时洗衣等功能服务 ”
回复
赞一个。我希望横死的人，还包括某些极端憎恨贵族的人。比如北大孔某教授。康有为的女儿康同璧，和郑念女士是同一类的人。章诒和女士那书出来之后，北大此教授，有如此评论：
康同璧生活艰难吗？不艰难，艰难不艰难是要比的。当时不知道你们家过的什么样生活，我们家过的生活是吃馒头非常罕见的，吃窝头也不一定能很好的吃，因为没有菜。我们家还生活在城市里，还有很多人捱饿，我们国家欠了那么多外债。在那种情况下，他们家过的非常好，吃腐乳都要吃二十多种。他那个阶级是我们政权的敌人，那个阶级过的那么好，共产党对他们的政策是极其宽大的，他们继续过着很奢侈的生活。共产党对他们这么好的情况下，他们仍然梦想变天，他们时刻梦想着骑在人民头上，后来拼命要翻案，说当年反右反错了。你当年是不是真实的反党？你如果当年确实反对共产党，把你打成右派一点不冤枉，是对的，你应该站起来说：我就是反对共产党，我是堂堂正正的英雄，为什么要求共产党平反？你不是反党，那你跟党的观点是一致的，可是你现在跟党的观点不一致，现在拼命说革命是错的，50年代，文革，错的，给你平反又说对的。你这人格有问题啊，这人格放在资产阶级里也是卑鄙的啊。我说此书写的好，说他感情真挚，真的留恋那样的生活。书里说你们家毛巾这么脏，毛巾要每天换一条，这才是人过的生活，那我们工人农民解放军过的都不是人的生活，我们一年能买几条毛巾，我们家毛巾买不起，我们家毛巾是工厂发的，是社会主义给的福利品，一年发两条毛巾，我爸发两条，我妈发两条。而他说毛巾要天天换，不然过的不是人的生活，床单是每天一换，洗的很白。书里边赞美很多东西，都是不自觉流露出来，在我看来都是有问题的。比如说史良的婚姻是多么好的爱情，周总理关心她，给介绍的小白脸，原来是上海巡捕房的，岁数小很多，晚上到卧铺睡觉了，小丈夫拿着小箱子，两个钉子，一个小帘，在卧铺钉两个小钉，一挂，自己坐在火车旁边，望着外面茫茫的原野，说这是爱情，这是爱情吗？我读到这里万分恶心，这怎么叫爱情？这种生活当然是你的自由，有那个条件，没人管，但有什么可炫耀的？当时我们过这样的，你们过那样的，不错啦，在这样的情况下，他们天天说这个党不好。要斯大林那样的党，就枪毙，到斯大林那儿，全部要消灭。我们中国是有人道主义的国家，关键是思想的问题，解放以后什么都没有变，他们的孩子坐汽车，我们的孩子雨里泥里爬着去，他们还欺负我们。那些大右派，看见漂亮女孩子就跟着人家走，一旦出了事，一旦反右运动开始，他们这些人互相出卖，陷害，人格丧尽。从共产党的角度来讲，反右是一点错误没有，从他们的角度来讲，反右也没有错误，有什么错误？你就是右派嘛，要推翻执政党，对政权构成威胁，不应该批评你？批评你是轻的，已经宽大了，你说错误，关键站在什么立场，你说中国今天是好时代，坏时代？没法说，如果家里有亲属刚刚在矿井上砸死的，跟我的立场就不一样，刚刚吃完十万块钱大宴的人，立场也不一样，中南海的人立场也不一样，即使在五十年代，大多数人生活比较一致的时候，立场也不一样，有的人认为这个国家欣欣向荣，有的人认为这个国家很艰难。怎么艰难，就认为不如他当皇帝好，不如他在紫禁城里，随便杀人那样好。作者是真诚的，他没有掩饰自己的心情，但他那种叫艺术吗，我可能跟他的艺术观不一样，他们建立在别人血汗之上的那种东西叫艺术，还是凡高、齐白石那种叫艺术？他们那种东西是靠金钱堆起来的。
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 18th, 2009 at 5:29 下午
好像是孔庆东说过类似的话，他的话语，就是典型的受过无产阶级教育的无产阶级的话语。
如果再有一次大规模的没收私人财产的话，他肯定是第一个手舞足蹈的人。
但是，这样的人，才是文明社会的不稳定分子。
对他人权利的的蔑视，主要是对他人财产权的蔑视。
蔑视的目的，是把别人的财产收归己有。
回复
Tea Time with Ms. Nien Cheng 8/19/06
Preparing for my Shanghai trip
Prior to my business trip to Shanghai in April 2006, I wanted to read up on the city’s political and social history. I peered through my book shelf and saw a copy of Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng. I had bought the book a few years ago from a library book sale because it looked like an interesting read; however, I had never read the book. So, I thought this was a good opportunity for me to educate myself on a slice of Shanghai ’s past.
Cheng’s book recounts in compelling details her persecution and imprisonment at the hands of Mao Zedong’s red guards in the “Cultural Revolution” (1966-1976). Inquisitors accused her of being an “imperial spy,” but she never gave in during her six years of solitary confinement. Her only daughter Meiping was murdered in the first year of her incarceration, but she did not find out until shortly before she was released. The Library Journal wrote, “We read this, not so much for historical analysis, but, like the literature of the Gulag in Russia, for an example of a humane spirit telling terrible truths honestly, without bitterness or cynicism.”
I stayed up all night to read the final 150 pages of the 560 page book. It sounds trite, but I could not put the book down. Parts of her book will make you cry. When I finished the book, I was so moved that I wanted to see if the author was still alive. She was 71 when the book was published in 1986, so she would be 91 now. Instinctively, I googled her. I found a DC address and a phone number. When I called, an elderly woman’s voice was on the outgoing message, “Please leave your name and number.” So, I suspected that she was still alive. I wrote her a little note thanking her for writing the book. I also wrote that if it is possible, it would be my honor to meet her one day. I did not expect a reply.
That Memorial Day weekend, I went hiking in the mountains of Western Maine . When I returned, I found a message in my email account from the author. She wrote that ever since her book was published, she has never refused to see a reader. “I am honored when a reader wants to see me. Generally they are interested in China. Usually they are full of interesting questions.”
Nien’s friends have cautioned her on welcoming so many visitors: “They ask me, ‘why do you let all these visitors come? What if they kill you?’ But, why would they do that? I’ve never done anyone wrong.”
The meeting
After a few months of email exchanges, we finally settled on an afternoon meeting for August 19, 2006 .
When I meet her, I shake her hands. They are pale and slightly gnarled—the result of arthritis compounded by six years of torture at the hands of fanatical red guards. “It is an honor to meet you,” I began.
“It is good to meet you. It is always good to see young Chinese. You know, most of my visitors are American (meaning, non-Chinese).”
At 91, Nien appears to be more energetic than many 70 year olds. She is skinny, upbeat and very lucid. Her hair is now completely white. Glasses sit atop her sharp nose. She speaks in a cheerful tone with a slight British accent.
“Should I take my shoes off?” I ask politely.
There are fresh vacuum tracks on the blue-green carpet. “No, that’s not necessary,” she says as she invites me in to sit down on the couch. She walks to the kitchen to prepare tea.
Her living room walls are decorated with various Chinese scrolls. On one side of the room by the door, books line the shelves. I see a few Chinese end tables here and there.
I take out my two prepared gifts: a small package of baklava from my corner Halal meat store and a package of Taiwan ’s High Mountain green tea. She accepts the baklava, having never eaten it before, but declines the tea. I think she is just being polite. “You must accept the tea,” I insist.
“I cannot. It’s a medical condition—I’ll explain.”
She serves me a huge piece of Black Forest chocolate cake with frosting and two cups of tea. When I begin to drink, she explains that both cups of tea are for me. She cannot drink tea. She had one of her kidneys removed many years ago. Since then, her doctor has advised her to abstain from tea, since the acid will build up in her remaining kidney and eventually damage it, killing her. “From the time my kidney fails to my death, there will be about three days,” she explains in a matter-of-fact way.
Schooling
As a young woman, she studied at the Yan J ing University in Shandong Province . Her father, who was fond of Britain , sent her to study at one of England ’s finest Universities. People in England , he said, knew their places in society. In other words, he preferred the class distinctions. (Nien observed however, that the US is special because “in one generation, you can do better than your parents.”)
Her tutor at the London School of Economics could not pronounce her name Yao Nien Yuan, so suggested that she adopt “Nancy” or “Nina.” She refused. She asked her tutor to simply call her Nien. In time, she would take her husband’s surname Cheng to form Nien Cheng. However, to her American friends now, she is known simply as Nien.
While at School in London , she met a young Mr. Cheng, whom she would eventually marry. He invited her to movies and dinners and would go to the country with her on a green bus only after lunch because of his morning church service. A religious man, he began to invite Nien to his Presbyterian Church service. Despite a Buddhist mother and a non-religious father, she would eventually adopt Christianity. She is now Methodist.
A Return Visit to England
In the mid 1980s, She made a visit to some friends and former coworkers from Shell Oil, her old company. While staying at their home, the daughter of her hosts was also visiting from school. She invited along her friend, who was in the book publishing business. When Nien recounted her story and her completed manuscript, the daughter’s friend wanted to read it. Nien promised to send her a copy.
After she returned to DC, she went to the post office to post a copy of the manuscript to London . “At the time, I did not have much money,” recounted Ms. Cheng. The package would cost her about $20. She asked for a lower rate. The clerk explained that the lowest rate was surface or about $6.00, which sounded like a much more reasonable figure to the cash-strapped author. She understood that at the surface rate, the package could easily take a month or more to make its way to London on a ship.
Later, she received a phone call from London . It was the book publisher. “Nien—have you had a chance to post the manuscript yet?”
Nien explained that she had indeed, about a week earlier.
“But, I have not yet received it,” she replied.
“I sent it by surface,” Nien explained.
Her book publishing friend was stupefied.
After the manuscript arrived safely and the book publishing friend read it, she offered Nien £30,000 (In today’s currency, accounting for inflation, this amount is roughly $100,000). Having never published or sold a manuscript before, Nien consulted some friends in New York City . Both of them advised her to accept right away for some key reasons: first, since she was an unknown author, many publishers would not take a chance on her. Second, £30,000 wasn’t a bad amount for a first book. Once the book came out, it became a bestseller. Soon, publishers in the US and Australia wanted to buy the rights to her manuscript.
Lecture circuit
The speaking invitations arrived shortly after the book was published. First, it was the Universities. So, Nien traveled across the country speaking to young people about her story. Then, corporations and businesses came calling, asking her to speak to their conventions. She traveled to Japan and many other places for a few years. In Japan , she delivered five speeches at $10,000 each.
One year, President Ronald Reagan invited her to a state dinner. She sat to one side and another guest from Central America sat to his other side. However, the other guest spoke no English, so required a translator. So, President Reagan was more comfortable speaking with Nien the entire night.
She served on a special government commission to sponsor a radio program that would be broadcast to the Chinese. Similar to the Voice of America, the program would teach democracy to the Chinese audience. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) sponsored the legislation creating the program. To dedicate herself fully to this government appointment, she cancelled her speaking engagements for the year.
Nien believes her book has been more successful than other accounts of the Cultural Revolution for two reasons. First, her book contains historic background besides an account of her personal suffering. Understandably, her book is used in high school classrooms and universities to study the Cultural Revolution. Second, she did not use too many Chinese names, which can be very confusing for Western readers. For example, she would introduce her cook as Lao Zhao, but thereafter refer to him simply as “the cook.” Nien recently bought three copies of the new book Mao: The Unknown Story, by Jung Chung. She kept one for herself, but gave away two to friends. One friend says she cannot finish the book because “there are too many names for her to keep track of.”
Forgiveness
I’ve found that forgiveness is a strong theme in Christianity. In 1981, Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt. Two years later, he forgave his would-be assassin and even met with him in prison, saying “I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.” What feelings does Nien hold for her red guard tormentors? Surprisingly, Nien says she has forgiven them, saying simply, “They were doing their jobs.” However, “I cannot forgive my daughter’s murderer.”
Departure
I pull out my copy of her book and ask for her autograph. She takes the book to her living room table.
“What is today’s date?” Nien asks me as she begins to pen her note and autograph to me.
“August 19.” I reply.
“Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday,” she says softly.
I do a quick calculation in my head. Her daughter Meiping would be about 60 had she lived.
“Please come back in a few months, maybe late September or October and tell me how your law school plans go. I’ve given up driving, so if you come with a car, we can go to dinner at a Chinese restaurant.”
I thank her and shake her hand a final time. These are the hands that typed up her manuscript five times on a manual typewriter.
I look at my watch — 8:20pm . Four hours have passed.
I leave feeling that I’ve been blessed by meeting a graceful lady, whose best revenge of all may be that she has outlived her tormentors. I detect not a hint of anger or bitterness at those who caused her so much pain.
She has already suffered enough for many lifetimes. She lost her home, her liberty, her daughter and nearly lost her life. Despite all these setbacks, Nien maintains a remarkably optimistic Life Philosophy: everyday is a new day. Naturally, on the front cover of the book, she is smiling in her picture. I now know why.
Posted by andylei at 7:19 AM http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=27296767&postID=115763939958212330 http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=27296767&postID=115763939958212330
回复
Tea Time with Ms. Nien Cheng 8/19/06
Preparing for my Shanghai trip
Prior to my business trip to Shanghai in April 2006, I wanted to read up on the city’s political and social history. I peered through my book shelf and saw a copy of Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng. I had bought the book a few years ago from a library book sale because it looked like an interesting read; however, I had never read the book. So, I thought this was a good opportunity for me to educate myself on a slice of Shanghai ’s past.
Cheng’s book recounts in compelling details her persecution and imprisonment at the hands of Mao Zedong’s red guards in the “Cultural Revolution” (1966-1976). Inquisitors accused her of being an “imperial spy,” but she never gave in during her six years of solitary confinement. Her only daughter Meiping was murdered in the first year of her incarceration, but she did not find out until shortly before she was released. The Library Journal wrote, “We read this, not so much for historical analysis, but, like the literature of the Gulag in Russia, for an example of a humane spirit telling terrible truths honestly, without bitterness or cynicism.”
I stayed up all night to read the final 150 pages of the 560 page book. It sounds trite, but I could not put the book down. Parts of her book will make you cry. When I finished the book, I was so moved that I wanted to see if the author was still alive. She was 71 when the book was published in 1986, so she would be 91 now. Instinctively, I googled her. I found a DC address and a phone number. When I called, an elderly woman’s voice was on the outgoing message, “Please leave your name and number.” So, I suspected that she was still alive. I wrote her a little note thanking her for writing the book. I also wrote that if it is possible, it would be my honor to meet her one day. I did not expect a reply.
That Memorial Day weekend, I went hiking in the mountains of Western Maine . When I returned, I found a message in my email account from the author. She wrote that ever since her book was published, she has never refused to see a reader. “I am honored when a reader wants to see me. Generally they are interested in China. Usually they are full of interesting questions.”
Nien’s friends have cautioned her on welcoming so many visitors: “They ask me, ‘why do you let all these visitors come? What if they kill you?’ But, why would they do that? I’ve never done anyone wrong.”
回复
The meeting
After a few months of email exchanges, we finally settled on an afternoon meeting for August 19, 2006 .
When I meet her, I shake her hands. They are pale and slightly gnarled—the result of arthritis compounded by six years of torture at the hands of fanatical red guards. “It is an honor to meet you,” I began.
“It is good to meet you. It is always good to see young Chinese. You know, most of my visitors are American (meaning, non-Chinese).”
At 91, Nien appears to be more energetic than many 70 year olds. She is skinny, upbeat and very lucid. Her hair is now completely white. Glasses sit atop her sharp nose. She speaks in a cheerful tone with a slight British accent.
“Should I take my shoes off?” I ask politely.
There are fresh vacuum tracks on the blue-green carpet. “No, that’s not necessary,” she says as she invites me in to sit down on the couch. She walks to the kitchen to prepare tea.
Her living room walls are decorated with various Chinese scrolls. On one side of the room by the door, books line the shelves. I see a few Chinese end tables here and there.
I take out my two prepared gifts: a small package of baklava from my corner Halal meat store and a package of Taiwan ’s High Mountain green tea. She accepts the baklava, having never eaten it before, but declines the tea. I think she is just being polite. “You must accept the tea,” I insist.
“I cannot. It’s a medical condition—I’ll explain.”
She serves me a huge piece of Black Forest chocolate cake with frosting and two cups of tea. When I begin to drink, she explains that both cups of tea are for me. She cannot drink tea. She had one of her kidneys removed many years ago. Since then, her doctor has advised her to abstain from tea, since the acid will build up in her remaining kidney and eventually damage it, killing her. “From the time my kidney fails to my death, there will be about three days,” she explains in a matter-of-fact way.
Schooling
As a young woman, she studied at the Yan J ing University in Shandong Province . Her father, who was fond of Britain , sent her to study at one of England ’s finest Universities. People in England , he said, knew their places in society. In other words, he preferred the class distinctions. (Nien observed however, that the US is special because “in one generation, you can do better than your parents.”)
Her tutor at the London School of Economics could not pronounce her name Yao Nien Yuan, so suggested that she adopt “Nancy” or “Nina.” She refused. She asked her tutor to simply call her Nien. In time, she would take her husband’s surname Cheng to form Nien Cheng. However, to her American friends now, she is known simply as Nien.
While at School in London , she met a young Mr. Cheng, whom she would eventually marry. He invited her to movies and dinners and would go to the country with her on a green bus only after lunch because of his morning church service. A religious man, he began to invite Nien to his Presbyterian Church service. Despite a Buddhist mother and a non-religious father, she would eventually adopt Christianity. She is now Methodist.
回复
A Return Visit to England
In the mid 1980s, She made a visit to some friends and former coworkers from Shell Oil, her old company. While staying at their home, the daughter of her hosts was also visiting from school. She invited along her friend, who was in the book publishing business. When Nien recounted her story and her completed manuscript, the daughter’s friend wanted to read it. Nien promised to send her a copy.
After she returned to DC, she went to the post office to post a copy of the manuscript to London . “At the time, I did not have much money,” recounted Ms. Cheng. The package would cost her about $20. She asked for a lower rate. The clerk explained that the lowest rate was surface or about $6.00, which sounded like a much more reasonable figure to the cash-strapped author. She understood that at the surface rate, the package could easily take a month or more to make its way to London on a ship.
Later, she received a phone call from London . It was the book publisher. “Nien—have you had a chance to post the manuscript yet?”
Nien explained that she had indeed, about a week earlier.
“But, I have not yet received it,” she replied.
“I sent it by surface,” Nien explained.
Her book publishing friend was stupefied.
After the manuscript arrived safely and the book publishing friend read it, she offered Nien £30,000 (In today’s currency, accounting for inflation, this amount is roughly $100,000). Having never published or sold a manuscript before, Nien consulted some friends in New York City . Both of them advised her to accept right away for some key reasons: first, since she was an unknown author, many publishers would not take a chance on her. Second, £30,000 wasn’t a bad amount for a first book. Once the book came out, it became a bestseller. Soon, publishers in the US and Australia wanted to buy the rights to her manuscript.
回复
Lecture circuit
The speaking invitations arrived shortly after the book was published. First, it was the Universities. So, Nien traveled across the country speaking to young people about her story. Then, corporations and businesses came calling, asking her to speak to their conventions. She traveled to Japan and many other places for a few years. In Japan , she delivered five speeches at $10,000 each.
One year, President Ronald Reagan invited her to a state dinner. She sat to one side and another guest from Central America sat to his other side. However, the other guest spoke no English, so required a translator. So, President Reagan was more comfortable speaking with Nien the entire night.
She served on a special government commission to sponsor a radio program that would be broadcast to the Chinese. Similar to the Voice of America, the program would teach democracy to the Chinese audience. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) sponsored the legislation creating the program. To dedicate herself fully to this government appointment, she cancelled her speaking engagements for the year.
Nien believes her book has been more successful than other accounts of the Cultural Revolution for two reasons. First, her book contains historic background besides an account of her personal suffering. Understandably, her book is used in high school classrooms and universities to study the Cultural Revolution. Second, she did not use too many Chinese names, which can be very confusing for Western readers. For example, she would introduce her cook as Lao Zhao, but thereafter refer to him simply as “the cook.” Nien recently bought three copies of the new book Mao: The Unknown Story, by Jung Chung. She kept one for herself, but gave away two to friends. One friend says she cannot finish the book because “there are too many names for her to keep track of.”
回复
Forgiveness
I’ve found that forgiveness is a strong theme in Christianity. In 1981, Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt. Two years later, he forgave his would-be assassin and even met with him in prison, saying “I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.” What feelings does Nien hold for her red guard tormentors? Surprisingly, Nien says she has forgiven them, saying simply, “They were doing their jobs.” However, “I cannot forgive my daughter’s murderer.”
回复
Lily Fisher 回复:
十一月 19th, 2009 at 6:21 上午
Forgiveness is a strong theme in Christianity, I think we only can find peace inside of our heart if we can forgive. It is not easy to do so for anyone… not easy at all. But we are looking for the peace, are we?
回复
Arthur 回复:
十一月 19th, 2009 at 8:57 上午
Yes, I agree with you.
Forgiveness is hard to anyone.
I only posted the whole passage here to share her life.
回复
Departure
I pull out my copy of her book and ask for her autograph. She takes the book to her living room table.
“What is today’s date?” Nien asks me as she begins to pen her note and autograph to me.
“August 19.” I reply.
“Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday,” she says softly.
I do a quick calculation in my head. Her daughter Meiping would be about 60 had she lived.
“Please come back in a few months, maybe late September or October and tell me how your law school plans go. I’ve given up driving, so if you come with a car, we can go to dinner at a Chinese restaurant.”
I thank her and shake her hand a final time. These are the hands that typed up her manuscript five times on a manual typewriter.
I look at my watch — 8:20pm . Four hours have passed.
I leave feeling that I’ve been blessed by meeting a graceful lady, whose best revenge of all may be that she has outlived her tormentors. I detect not a hint of anger or bitterness at those who caused her so much pain.
She has already suffered enough for many lifetimes. She lost her home, her liberty, her daughter and nearly lost her life. Despite all these setbacks, Nien maintains a remarkably optimistic Life Philosophy: everyday is a new day. Naturally, on the front cover of the book, she is smiling in her picture. I now know why.
Posted by andylei at 7:19 AM http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=27296767&postID=115763939958212330
回复
Departure
I pull out my copy of her book and ask for her autograph. She takes the book to her living room table.
“What is today’s date?” Nien asks me as she begins to pen her note and autograph to me.
“August 19.” I reply.
“Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday,” she says softly.
I do a quick calculation in my head. Her daughter Meiping would be about 60 had she lived.
“Please come back in a few months, maybe late September or October and tell me how your law school plans go. I’ve given up driving, so if you come with a car, we can go to dinner at a Chinese restaurant.”
回复
I thank her and shake her hand a final time. These are the hands that typed up her manuscript five times on a manual typewriter.
I look at my watch — 8:20pm . Four hours have passed.
I leave feeling that I’ve been blessed by meeting a graceful lady, whose best revenge of all may be that she has outlived her tormentors. I detect not a hint of anger or bitterness at those who caused her so much pain.
She has already suffered enough for many lifetimes. She lost her home, her liberty, her daughter and nearly lost her life. Despite all these setbacks, Nien maintains a remarkably optimistic Life Philosophy: everyday is a new day. Naturally, on the front cover of the book, she is smiling in her picture. I now know why.
Posted by andylei at 7:19 AM http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=27296767&postID=115763939958212330
回复
Wanting to know more about her last life in Washington, I fond this passage.
Now post it here to share with all friends who know her, her book and her daughter.
The road to Heaven is easier for her.
回复
Chee 回复:
十一月 28th, 2009 at 11:57 上午
I wish I read her book a few years earlier. I just finished her book today and
i saw a true and beautiful soul.
回复
I wonder anyone knows her former residence in Shanghai before the Cultural Revolution?
I am keenly interested in the silent stories that architecture tell and would like to visit the neighbourhood if possible.
回复