A Precious Picture: 外公的照片

 #2021-0305

I'm Curious about You, Grandpa

I don't know you, Grandpa. Or more precisely, I know you just very little. Where did you come from? Where did you live, and how was your life like, before you met with my mom's mom? Oh, Waigong (that means "mother's father" in Mandarin Chinese), what made you decide to leave your first wife and children -- and to start living with a woman 25 or 26 years younger than you?

Was that something too personal to let other people know? I'm -- I -- as your youngest daughter's first son, I am so curious about you. I've never seen you, because you died in your early seventies when my mom was just thirteen or so -- I heard mom say 13, but I wonder if it was xusui, the nominal age (based on the East Asian age reckoning), or shisui, the real age. Now my mom, or your youngest daughter, has passed away; and I (as well as my younger brothers and sisters) miss her so much that I'd also like to recall that she had a father who was dúshū rén (讀書人), an educated man -- a scholar and also a "doctor" of Chinese medicine!

My mom told me little about you, Grandpa. And not much had my Grandma, your beloved one, said to us (your descendants) about the story of you and her. So we all have little understanding of you; and seeing this only photograph of you, I'm especially curious about you: your family background, your main occupation, your marriage life, your field of expertise, your hobbies and interests, etc. 

(Note: In addition to this precious picture, I remember seeing a small number of books that my Grandpa had used in his life, including a whole set of Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典), a big book of Calligraphy (named 書道大鑑), and a few books that deal with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Unfortunately, we've lost most of these precious old books.)