8. A Youngster that Left Home
≪ 7. Remembering my Cousin Qiling — The Miss Lin that Fell from the Sky | Table of Contents | 9. A Life of Wind and Rain ≫In the book “A Bloody and Isolated City — The 47-Day Battle for Hengyang
Chinese: 《浴血孤城—四十七天衡阳保卫战》
Pinyin: yú xuě gū chéng — sì shí qī tiān héng yáng bǎo wéi zhàn.
” on page 161, the author Mr. Xiao Pei
Chinese: 萧培. This is the same name as a Chinese editor and politician, though I don’t know if they are the same person. It is hard to find this book title online.
wrote the following description:
I’ve collected five photos of our nation’s loyal martyrs' This appears to refer to military commanders and generals that have served the country. resting places, each of them depicting different perspectives. One of the photos is of an inscription by Ge Xiancai Chinese: 葛先才, a Chinese commander that fought in the war against Japan. :
This is one of the cemeteries for the valiant soldiers of the Tenth Army who died protecting Hengyang. → The person in the photo is Mr. Ding Ziqin Chinese: 丁子钦 , friend of the Tenth Army, who is paying his respects. Inscription by Ge Xiancai, Summer ‘35.
The arrow refers to the person kneeling in the photo, Ding Ziqin himself, who was the owner of the Great Far Eastern Wine House Chinese: 远东大酒店
Pinyin: yuǎn dōng dà jiǔ diàn and assisted in rescue operations. Of course he was a friend of the Tenth Army. It pains me to say that despite many visits to the Ding family’s home and the Xian Mountain Village Chinese: 岘山乡
Pinyin: xiàn shān xiāng of Hengyang, I couldn’t find any of Mr. Ding Ziqin’s descendants. They are likely from Taiyuansi Chinese: 台元寺人, pinyin: tái yuán sì rén. It is unclear to me where 台元寺 is, and an internet search yields results from Japan. It is sometimes translated as Native Taiwanese, and other times as “Taiyuan Temple”, but neither seem to fit well. , but I unfortunately did not have the time to continue searching. I hope that this photo of him paying his respects will one day reach his descendants!
Eventually, the photo (pictured below) made its way to me, Ding Ziqin’s grandson, so I helped Mr. Xiao Pei realise this aspiration. I made a few copies of the photo before sending them to the descendants of the Ding family whose contacts I still had. Among them were people that I hadn’t spoken to in decades, and after an exhaustive effort, I finally contacted my younger cousin and Ding Ziqin’s eldest grandson If you’re wondering how Ding Ziqin’s grandson’s younger cousin is his eldest grandson, it’s because my grandfather was Ding Ziqin’s daughter’s son. The original text said 长孙 (pinyin: cháng sūn), which likely means the eldest son of a son (i.e. still within the Ding family). , Ding Qingjian Chinese: 丁清健 .
Ding Qingjian was only 12 during the national liberation, and since Grandfather Ding was accused of being a landowner, a capitalist, and a counter-revolutionary (convicted 1951, vindicated 1980), Ding Qingjian had a childhood wrought with hardship.
A spontaneous opportunity arose one day. The construction crew for the Xiangqian Railroad Chinese: 湘黔铁路, pinyin: xiāng qián tiě lù, also known as the Hunan-Guizhou Railway. came to Hengyang for recruitment. By both lying about his age and exaggerating some hardships, he was able to join the workforce. He subsequently worked on the segment from Hunan and Guangxi to Guiyang, on one hand toiling his life away, but on the other steadily moving forward. He worked until they reached Duyun Chinese: 都匀, a city in Guizhou, roughly 997 km away from Hengyang. , where he ultimately started a family.
Ding Qingjian received my photo and found it to be a pleasant surprise. He sent me back a lengthy letter alongside a family portrait (Ding Qingjian is in the middle of the second row).
When I got his letter and his family photo, I was deeply moved. I imagined a young twenty-three-year-old, his home receeding into the horizon behind him, and sprouting new roots in an alien city. To never return to Hengyang is unimaginably difficult to me.
One day, I called him and asked how he endured those dark days. He replied with a proverb from home: “One drop of dew, one blade of grass
Chinese: 一滴露水一根草
Pinyin: yí dī lù shǔi yí gēn cǎo
The above is a literal translation. The proverb describes how grass never stops growing, even if the only water it gets is from a single drop of dew in the mornings. It never stops growing with what little it has, and the proverb captures the resilience and will to live that even a little blade of grass has. It’s sometimes said as “一根草一滴露” instead.
”!