Jump over the thick red gate

Author: Zhang Hanzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: Crossing the thick red gate, one sees the mists of history, the rain and dust of the ages, and the page of time yet unwritten. The ink on the inkstone has long dried—Zhang Shizhao's daughter, Qiao Guanhua's widow, Zhang Hanzhi, lifts the heavy clouds of time to narrate the remnants of yesterday's dreams: memories of her father, the joys and sorrows of the Republic, the ups and downs of life. This autobiography of over 300,000 words deserves special attention because of the history behind No. 51 Shi Jia Hutong; the hutong is noteworthy because of its two masters—Zhang Shizhao and Qiao Guanhua; and Zhang and Qiao are noteworthy because of their special identities and experiences: Zhang Shizhao, former Minister of Education during the Republic of China, was known to the nation for his public case with Lu Xun in the Women's Normal School incident, but he was also a democratic figure who received great respect from Mao Zedong. Qiao Guanhua, who burst into unforgettable laughter at the UN's restoration of China's seat, was a witness and actor in many major events in China's diplomatic history. Their glory and humiliation, along with the hutong's former "prosperity and bustle of traffic and the indifference of the world at its gate," together record the changing fortunes of an era. But to summarize this autobiography as a "little person in a big era" pattern from Hollywood films would not be entirely accurate. Zhang Hanzhi is known not only because of her father and husband. As Mao Zedong's English teacher, as the translator during Nixon's visit to China, and later as China's representative to the UN, she was also a participant and witness in many major events of the new China. Therefore, the historical figures and emotional details of history she writes about carry a certain authenticity of oral history. In the hutong, there is an old pear tree favored by Qiao Guanhua during his lifetime. When he fell ill, it too fell ill; when he passed away, it stopped blooming. Zhang Hanzhi wrote tearfully, "Who says plants don't feel emotions?" The book includes: Crossing the thick red gate, the years that drift away with the wind, ten years of wind and rain, a journey to the homeland, yesterday's old tales and lingering dreams, Qing Tong, Autumn Tong, and Lone Tong.