Wang Huizu's Autobiographical Chronology in Two Forms

Author: Wang Huizu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-05-01
Features: Excerpt:
"Once, my great-grandfather angrily threw himself at me, saying, 'You have a scholar's status, yet I still lack one. How can you be so frivolous in mocking others?' When I knelt and apologized, he said, 'I hope you will become a scholar in the future and wear a blue robe to pay respects at my tomb.' In the middle of October, my elder sister returned to the Sun family. I secretly went out and boarded the boat to watch the ceremonial carriage. By accident, I fell into the water and sank to the bottom of the boat. After some time, I was rescued. My great-grandfather severely beat me. On the 20th of November, my great-grandfather passed away. That year, I continued studying under my teacher, Jing Shan, for five years. In the year of Gengshen (1900), I was eleven years old. On the first day, I imitated playing cuju (a traditional Chinese ball game) and was scolded by the Viceroy of Zhongshu. I was taught a book titled 'Chen Jian Tiao Yi' by Chen Jiantao. Every day, I had to read half a chapter and was not allowed to go downstairs. Later, when I assisted in the office, I wrote parallel prose and gained recognition from the authorities. This was the beginning. That year, the county student Zheng Youting was invited to teach at the school with a ceremonial gift. When I first started studying under the Viceroy of Zhongshu, he made a living by buying land and owned over a hundred acres. He entered the officialdom according to the example. My uncle, who lived in the countryside, was bewitched by gamblers and lost most of his property. The Viceroy of Zhongshu, who had returned home, was once told that if he sued, he would surely win—the land could be recovered. But the Viceroy of Zhongshu could not bear to blame my uncle. By then, his finances were declining. After completing the management of my great-grandfather's tomb, he went to Guangdong to seek a livelihood. On the night of the 15th of August, he took a detour to pass through Kuaiji, the hometown of his mother's family. I followed him in a boat. It was drizzling like silk. I lay on the left thigh of the Viceroy of Zhongshu and walked for over ten miles. He helped me up, pushed open the canopy, and looked around, saying to me, 'Do you know why I came on this trip?' I had no answer."