4.1. 80 Memory Lane: A Life of Three Blessings
≪ 4. Remembering my Older Brother | Table of Contents | 4.2. The Award of Exceptional Merit ≫I was born into troubled times of clashing warlords and a collapsing population. My childhood was marred by the destruction of war as I watched the corruption of an old society and the destitution of the people. When I came of age, everybody celebrated and welcomed the national liberation I believe this refers to the communist revolution that followed World War II. It may seem strange to call this a “great fortune”, but it marked the end of a violent conflict and preceeded the disasters of Maoist China. , and it was the first great fortune of my lifetime. Those first thirty years were chaotic: not only were there three years of famine, but that was followed by ten years of political instability. After these tumultuous experiences, I was already 50. We welcomed Reform and Opening-up These refer to a set of economic reforms enacted by Deng Xiaoping around the 1980s. Liu Xiehe was an academic and a doctor, so the cultural revolution was not kind to him. The impact of the Great Chinese Famine was very severe in Sichuan as well, so the rebound under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership was a welcome change of pace to some. and the peace and prosperity that followed, forming the second great fortune of my life. Over that half-century, China’s psychiatric field developed quickly and caught up to the world despite those stagnant thirty years. Now, psychiatry sees a full palette of subdisciplines, and the field is brimming with talent. The liveliest spring follows the heaviest downpours, and the brightest stars shine in the night left by a summer sun. Though my footprints are cluttered with struggle and hardship, it makes the path forward appear bright and boundless. To have experienced and grown so much in a single lifetime forms the third great fortune of my life.
As the ancients once said: blessed are our three lives The saying appears to have Buddhist roots, and the “three lives” refer to the past, present, and future. ; to have three blessings in one life, is that not blissful? I borrow idioms and abuse platitudes The original text contains a surprising number of poetic phrases and idioms; these do not have similarly idiomatic translations in English. , not for anyone else, but for my own sake: writing this recollection is both my duty and my passion.
Liu Xiehe
Early 2008, Mountain View, California
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Image: May 2007, some family and friends celebrating Professor Liu Xiehe’s eightieth birthday. Liu Xiehe is in maroon, holding the young (and uninterested) translator.