Epic novel tracing PRC's history took writer decades to complete
Story tracing history of the PRC took writer decades to complete
Writing an epic novel that portrays the first three decades of the People's Republic of China proved to be as daunting as the subject matter itself.
As the name suggests, is a massive undertaking. In fact, the four-volume work took writer Wong Heung-ming more than half a century to complete.
"It's about the road of my life, of the Chinese race, and of China as a country," said Wong, aka Xiang Ming, on the eve of the book's launch on Friday at the University of Hong Kong, where he teaches Chinese.
Wong's background makes him a de facto authority in modern Chinese history - being born in Hong Kong into a Guangdong Hakka family with close ties to both the Kuomintang and Communist top brass in 1937, the year China's conflict with Japan escalated into a full-scale war, he saw history unfolding right at home.
"My father was commander of the Fourth Army during the Northern Expedition in 1927.
"His chief of staff was his [hometown] buddy Ye Jianying , who later became one of the 10 People's Liberation Army marshals and chairman of the National People's Congress.
"Mother was close to Soong Mei-ling [one of the three Soong sisters and wife of Chiang Kai-shek]. The two formed a charity to take care of some 30,000 war orphans."
For all their connections in high places, however, things took a dive when Wong senior defied Chiang, then leader of the KMT, by refusing to fight in the civil war against the Communists.
For that, he was sent to head the Chinese military delegation in Berlin.
"We stayed in Germany for a year. It was big-decision time and, at the end, Father chose Beijing over Taipei. That's 1949, the year my epic novel begins."
In some two million words, the lengthy account features about 800 of the who's who in history, from Mao Zedong to Josef Stalin, told through three fictitious figures - a former KMT general, a PLA war hero and a medical doctor.
"These three main characters are fictional only in name. Many of their encounters are real, and the approach of a novel allows me unlimited space in imagery to depict scenarios from high politics to daily living in those 30 years" of residence in Beijing, up to Wong's return to his birthplace in 1982.
Wong admitted to giving full rein to the artistic licence allowed in novel writing, such as in his narration of an ill-fated cook serving under the PLA war hero. During the great famine in the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the cook revisited his hometown - where the meat he ate actually came from his grandson.
"A historical novel enjoys a longer legacy than a memoir," he said, citing Leo Tolstoy's and the Ming dynasty epic .
The road that modern China took was a mistake, he sighed, and that had an impact on Hong Kong as well.
"China has more than 5,000 years of culture, which gives us a common identity much better than Marxism," he said.
"The road to communism is doomed to fail. Hong Kong will not change after 50 years, but China will, and is already turning capitalistic."
Wong was grateful to his home city for the freedom that allowed him to complete the epic in 2013. The initial print is 500 copies and an English version is available for the first volume.
"We need to rescue history and preserve its accuracy so we can face our future generations unashamed," he said.
For his daring work, the worst consequence he expects is a ban on travel to Beijing.
"I am quite sure I won't get assassinated for that. But it would mean some sacrifice if I cannot pay tribute to my parents at Babaoshan Cemetery," he said.
