Dear Mr  Lian ShihSheng,

      Greetings!

     The day I learned of my award, I pulled Western Heroes from the bookshelf. To be precise, it wasn't mine; it belonged to my father. A vertically printed edition, with tiny font, read right-to-left, a book from 70 years ago, the pages yellowed with age. Why, after all this time, did I still have your 1953 Western Heroes, published by Nanyang Press? Why had this old book remained on the shelf, giving way to newer books in our crowded bookcase?

     Holding it, turning the pages slowly…… a calendar page slipped out. June 1st, 1953, Monday, Mangzhong (芒种).  I realized my father, a man of humble means, had used it as a bookmark.

     He was studying in Huazhong, nearly dropping out of his second year of high school due to poverty. Many thanks to his classmates, helping him with the school fee. He then managed to finish his studies. He became a teacher after graduating in 1949. He had a widowed mother and younger siblings still in school. The book's price was one yuan. In the 1950s, before the colonial government subsidized Chinese schools, teachers earned between sixty and one hundred yuan. To put that in perspective, a bowl of noodles cost five cents, a cup of coffee one cent, and a can of abalone, one yuan…… Western Heroes cost him the equivalent of twenty meals. Despite his financial struggles, he bought and read books. It showed me the kind of books he read in his youth – a time when people truly loved books. The book's publication date is May 1953, so judging by the bookmark, he bought and read it before June 1st. He was clearly a fan.

     Of course, Dad wasn't the only one who read Western Heroes in our family. In the 1960s, I eagerly awaited each month's Children's Paradise and Nanyang Children. Otherwise, I'd spend my time browsing the bookshelves. Oh, I wouldn't say I read them, not in the sense of understanding; I just skimmed. People talk about genetic inheritance, but I believe the family's cultural atmosphere, intentionally or not, is a powerful part of that code. I remember we also had Along the Seine, Famous Mountains and Rivers, and A Biography of Tagore, but years later, bookworms infested the bookcase, ruining many books. We had to throw them away. By then, your image as an erudite scholar was already firmly established.

     The annual pre-Lunar New Year cleaning is a tradition in Chinese families, and ours was no exception. This included clearing out the bookcase. Magazines could go, as could insubstantial reading material, and books read once could be given away. Yet, Western Heroes survived, years and years later. It's fate, a miracle, and perhaps inevitable.

     I just used Baidu to look up Mangzhong:  “Wheat with awns is ready to harvest, rice with awns can be planted.” Whether planting or harvesting, it was a busy time. In 1953, my father was 24, and you were 44. Both ages represent the summer of life. In an agricultural society, spring plowing, summer weeding, autumn harvest, winter storage…… I imagine a young farmer seeking guidance from a seasoned one, even as society began its transition to an urban one.

     Rereading Western Heroes transported me back to the 1950s, revealing the reading trends, concerns, and sociocultural aspects of that time. It introduced Alexander the Great, Louis XIV, Queen Elizabeth, and other influential figures.  Their stories still fascinate me.

     Your book spans generations of reading in my family.   I wonder if you knew?

With respect,

Thierry Wong

February 20, 2013