We three

Author: Yang Jiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: A long journey of searching and longing, a simple and warm scholar family, supporting and caring for each other, meeting and parting. "I alone miss our trio," she writes after the pain fades, leaving behind a profound and optimistic understanding of life and death. Qian and Jiang, a highly respected couple in academia, gained widespread fame with their best-selling novels Fortress Besieged and The Bath. However, little is known about their family life. In 1998, the passing of Mr. Qian left the cultural world deeply mourning. Yet, few are aware that their only daughter, Qian Yuan, had passed away before them (in 1997). The loss of both their lifelong partner and their only daughter left Yang Jiang with a late-life sorrow that few could comprehend. Four years after her husband’s passing, at the age of 92, Yang Jiang meticulously recorded the 63 years of joys and sorrows of their special family, compiling the memoir We Three.
This book is divided into two parts. In the first part, Yang Jiang, with her characteristic wisdom and unique style, narrates the emotional experiences of her family of three relying on each other in the last few years through the form of dreams. The second part, written in simple yet touching prose, records the little-known hardships of their family from 1935, when the couple studied abroad in England and joyfully welcomed their daughter in Oxford, to 1998, the year Mr. Qian passed away. Their journey spanned half the globe and crossed over half a century of turbulent changes: wars, illnesses, political storms, and the inevitable separations. Yet, no matter how fierce the storms, they supported each other, and their beautiful family became a safe haven for Yang Jiang and her loved ones.
Heaven and earth may be separate, and the paths of life and death may diverge, but true affection cannot be severed. Alone by the dim lamp, Yang Jiang silently pours out her heart to her loved ones across the river. As a traditional intellectual, her words are restrained yet filled with an indescribable tenderness and sorrow that permeate every line, moving every reader. The meaning of life does not change with the rise and fall of the body. The warm family bonds, rooted in the tranquility above the impermanence of the world, have forever united them as a trio. The essence of home is fully explored in her book.