Engraving - An Autobiography by Wu Bide

Author: Wu Bide / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Family is a person's shelter from the storm and a sanctuary for emotions, and it is important to everyone, especially to children. Family is the cradle of nurturing and the support of growth. Although every household has different circumstances, in a child's heart, a family must have both a father and a mother. In this sense, most people have a home, but I did not. To be precise, I did not have the concept of "home" when I was very young and did not know where it was. I only knew that I was living in someone else's house. When anyone recalls their life, they invariably first remember their birthplace and the parents who gave birth to them. But when I recall my life, I desperately searched for memories of my birthplace and my parents, yet my mind was hazy and unclear.
The dark system of the old society and the Japanese invasion of China brought immense disasters to the Chinese nation, and also brought a series of misfortunes to me, causing me to lose my family at an early age and be separated from my biological parents, becoming an orphan without help. In my innocent heart, a tragic shadow fell. The hardships of history left me with permanent scars. My fragmented concept of home and the memories of my childhood were all told to me by relatives when I was a bit older. I was born in 1926 in a Hui family in Shanghai. Where was my family's ancestral home? What did my grandfather do? No one told me, and I knew nothing about it. I only heard that when my father was young, he worked as an apprentice in a jewelry store in Shanghai. Due to his diligence, eagerness to learn, and exceptional intelligence, he mastered the knowledge and skills of identifying jewelry, diamonds, jade, antiques, and calligraphy within a few years, quickly advancing from an apprentice to a skilled clerk. The shop owner highly appreciated him, trusted him, and gave him important tasks to complete independently, such as delivering a valuable piece of jade or jewelry to a client's home. Sometimes, he even accompanied the owner to deliver precious antiques and jade to Japan. It was clear that he had earned the owner's great trust, and it was said that he later became a small shareholder in the antique shop. However, misfortune struck. Once, the owner sent him to deliver a valuable item—a crystal ball—to Japan. During customs inspection, my father accidentally dropped the item, breaking it into two pieces and completely destroying its value, causing great losses to the shop. From then on, the owner no longer trusted him. Worse, the shop suffered heavy losses in a fire and was forced to close. My father lost his job completely. I was only two or three years old at the time, too young to understand anything.
After my father lost his job, the family's financial situation plummeted, and they became utterly destitute. With no choice, my father took the whole family to live with my older aunt in Nanjing. My older aunt came from a wealthy family and had a daughter who worked as a judge in the court after graduating from university. Since my father had beautiful calligraphy skills, thanks to the introduction of my aunt's daughter, he was able to secure a job at the Nanjing Local Court as a clerk. But the good times did not last long. Soon after, my father contracted hepatitis and lost his job again. In the dire circumstances of poverty and illness, he could no longer support me. Of course, he was even more afraid of passing the disease to me, so he entrusted me to my third aunt, who had a close relationship with him.
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