Flowers, grasses, and life Bodhi

Author: Cai Cheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: A Heart Full of Gratitude
This story comes from the United States, and its authenticity is 100%. The storyteller is one of the main characters in the story. Just yesterday morning, he sat opposite me, savoring Tieguanyin tea while traveling through half a century of time to recount a long-lost but never-forgotten era. In the past, many Chinese people, driven to San Francisco in search of the American Dream due to poverty and hardship, found that their dreams of wealth were repeatedly dashed. A Guangdong man, who left Enping for San Francisco, spent several years without making any money and even fell seriously ill. While others sighed and shook their heads, an elderly Chinese man who had some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine saved his life with a folk remedy. After recovering, the Enping man was deeply grateful to the old herbalist, but he was too ashamed to offer anything in return for the man's life-saving kindness. Several years later, the Enping man finally saved enough money, only to learn that the old herbalist had passed away by the time he went to find him. The Enping man opened a small grocery store in San Francisco and married the daughter of another Chinese immigrant who had come to Malacca earlier. After his son was born, the Enping man immediately decided to send him back to China to study traditional Chinese medicine. The Enping man never imagined that his decision would bring great suffering to his son. The son endured countless hardships to return to China for his studies, experiencing the loneliness of being far from his parents at a young age. Later, when the Cultural Revolution broke out, this young man with "overseas connections" suffered unimaginable hardships. Yet, he endured everything and never forgot his father's strict command: "If you don't master traditional Chinese medicine, don't come back to see your parents!" Through the absurd years, the young man grew into adulthood, but thankfully, he had already achieved academic success. He went to the United States. In the U.S., there were many opportunities to further his education, and many people advised him to switch to Western medicine—because at the time, studying traditional Chinese medicine was almost synonymous with a dead end, while Western medicine was closely tied to wealth and success. TheEnping man told his son the story of his life in detail and let him make his own decision. Without hesitation, the son chose to travel to densely populated Chinese communities in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and other places to refine the traditional Chinese medicine knowledge he had learned in China. Later, he opened a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Los Angeles, naming it: Zhangzhou Lin Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic. The storyteller asked me, "Do you know why I named my traditional Chinese medicine clinic 'Zhangzhou Lin Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic'?" I shook my head. The descendant of the Guangdong Enping man, who has now opened six chain traditional Chinese medicine clinics in the U.S., explained, "My father didn't know the name of the old Chinese man who saved him, but he knew his last name was Lin and that he came from Zhangzhou, Fujian." This successful and aging overseas Chinese told me that the clinic's business was initially very poor, and he even had to rely on generous financial support from his siblings who had already settled in the U.S. to make ends meet. But he persisted and was eventually rewarded with a bright future—the ancient and mystical art of traditional Chinese medicine was gradually gaining popularity in the U.S., and the "Zhangzhou Lin Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic" opened branch clinics one after another. The elderly overseas Chinese told me that he takes his children back to China every once in a while, and one of the things they do is visit Zhangzhou, Fujian, to see the strangers who have become familiar to them.