The Dream of a Young Man
Shu-Ping Lin, Taipei, Taiwan
This story is about the dreams of Po-Po Lin , my grandfather.
His first dream was to leave home to seek his fortune, the second
he uttered on his death bed: "all my life I have longed to
back to Mainland China".
When he was a very young fisherman in 1945, grandpa took his
lovely wife and four children to Mazu (Matsu) island, 9km from
his home port of Jiezu in the northern part of Fujian province,
which is on the southeast coast of China. With the dreams of youth,
he set off for Mazu to make something of himself, planning one
day to return to Jiezu with newfound wealth and fame. He toiled,
far away from his extended family and ancestral village, confident
that the day would come when his dream would be realized.
The Chinese civil war destroyed this dream along with those
of many other Fujianese like him living away from home on Mazu. When the People's
Liberation Army defeated the Kuo Min Tang Nationalists, Chiang Kai-Chek and
his army retreated to Taiwan. The KMT managed to hold on to Mazu, with the help
of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, separating its inhabitants from their loved ones
on the mainland. Mazu became a military camp, the front line in the long standoff
between the United States and China. Over the years Mazu and Fujian drifted
apart into different worlds separated by water, politics and economic systems.
"All my life I've longed to go back to mainland China,
the homeland of my dreams." After saying these words, Grandpa
passed away on Mazu in 1991. I hope he's home now, as his soul
is free from the politics of time and space...
About the Author/Contributor
Shu-Ping Lin is a graduate student in the social psychology
program at National Taiwan University. Her current research involves
the effects of modernization and social class on values and attitudes.
She has taught music education at the elementary school level
and is a writer. (She is second from the left, top row, in the
photo.)
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June 1998 Table of Contents