Last Mazurka (Shanghai Memories)

Author: Shu Fen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-08-01
Features: The Rise of a "Tycoon Family" and the saying "Wealth Does Not Last Three Generations"
In 1997, Hong Kong Tian Di Tu Shu You Xian You Xian Gong Si published a long-formliterary work I wrote titled "Fragrant Dreams." The book contains over 600,000 words and is divided into three volumes: "The Rise of a Tycoon Family," "Through Stormy Waters," and "The Centipede." By the end of 1998, the mainland edition of "Fragrant Dreams" was published by Hunan Literature and Art Press. Due to the cover and content summary of this book both stating that it is a record of the author's family history, many friends felt strange after reading it and asked me the following questions:
When people write family histories, autobiographies, or autobiographical novels, they usually focus on good deeds and things that bring honor, while avoiding mentioning bad or embarrassing events. But in your book, it seems your family has never done anything good—only bad things and misfortunes. What is going on here? Are you dissatisfied with your family?
Do I have any dissatisfaction with my family? The answer is no. Although my family included officials, landlords, and comprador bourgeoisie—referred to as the "three mountains"—during the era of "never forgetting class struggle," it was always in a position of opposition to the ruling class. The Cultural Revolution also brought me much mental and physical suffering. However, I have no reason to complain about my family background. After all, this family gave me life, raised me, provided me with education, and granted me over thirty years of a comfortable life. Even now, I still benefit from the legacy of my family.
It can also be said that if I had not been born into such a family, I would not have written the works published so far or engaged in the profession I am in now. Additionally, I am the only male descendant in this family, and no one has wronged me. Even if someone once plotted against me, they ultimately failed. I have no need to deliberately distort or vilify my family. I simply believe that since this is a documentary work, it should be written responsibly, based on the facts as they are, without glossing over the truth or inventing things.
There is a Chinese proverb: "Wealth does not last three generations." Some people think this is a curse uttered by the poor out of jealousy toward the wealthy. But based on what I have seen, heard, and experienced, this saying has proven true time and again—even if not 100%, at least 80% of the time. Many famous families in modern Chinese history have collapsed completely within three generations.
The first generation rises, the second squanders, the third declines.