The Crippled Tree
Encyclopedia
The Crippled Tree is a history and biography by Han Suyin
. It covers the years 1885 to 1928, beginning with the life of her father, a Belgium-educated Chinese engineer of Hakka
heritage, from a family of minor gentry in Sichuan
. It describes how he met and married her mother, a Flemish Belgian, his return to China and her own birth and early life. (She was born in 1917).
She goes on to describe how her family's ancestors had fled from the Mongol invasion of North China, and became gentry in Sechuan, the 'land of the four rivers'. How they were involved in putting down a revolt by the Hui people
, Chinese Muslims who rebelled in sympathy with the great Taiping Rebellion
of the mid-19th century.
She follows her father's life as he goes to Shanghai
and then to Belgium
to be trained as an engineer. How he "became enchanted with Western Science"
She also tells how her mother, from a well-connected Belgian family, fell in love with her father and chose to follow him back to China, even giving up her Belgian nationality. Also the lower status that it gave her mother in early 20th century China
As her father tells it:
She then tells of her own early years, growing up in a China divided between rival landlords. Of the coming to power of Chiang Kaishek in 1926, and the moving of the capital from Beijing
to Nanjing
- the book uses the older English transliterations that were then standard, Peking and Nanking. At the time, the Chinese Communists seemed finished, and their guerrilla armies unimportant. As one of her uncles put it:
The story gets as far as 1928 and is continued in A Mortal Flower
. It gives an interesting insider view from someone who was familiar with both China and Europe. It is definitely partisan - though never a Communist, Han Suyin largely took her world-view from Zhou Enlai
, as she describes in her later books. But it also gives you a view you'd not find anywhere else.
Han Suyin
Han Suyin , is the pen name of Elizabeth Comber, born Rosalie Elisabeth Kuanghu Chow . She is a Chinese-born Eurasian author of several books on modern China, novels set in East Asia, and autobiographical works, as well as a physician...
. It covers the years 1885 to 1928, beginning with the life of her father, a Belgium-educated Chinese engineer of Hakka
Hakka people
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
heritage, from a family of minor gentry in Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
. It describes how he met and married her mother, a Flemish Belgian, his return to China and her own birth and early life. (She was born in 1917).
- A man's life begins with his ancestors and is continued in his descendants. My father's life, and after my father my own life, begins with the Family. To describe the Family I must go back into time past and tell how the progenitors came to the land where they settled. For they were HakkaHakka peopleThe Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
s, the Guest People, wanderers within the continent that is China.
She goes on to describe how her family's ancestors had fled from the Mongol invasion of North China, and became gentry in Sechuan, the 'land of the four rivers'. How they were involved in putting down a revolt by the Hui people
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
, Chinese Muslims who rebelled in sympathy with the great Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
of the mid-19th century.
She follows her father's life as he goes to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and then to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to be trained as an engineer. How he "became enchanted with Western Science"
- The discovery that the Universe was regimented by laws mathematically proven, that all phenomena, regarded as mysterious and transcendental, were predictable, within range of man's reason.
She also tells how her mother, from a well-connected Belgian family, fell in love with her father and chose to follow him back to China, even giving up her Belgian nationality. Also the lower status that it gave her mother in early 20th century China
- There is first the rivalry between the European women themselves, French, Belgian, Greek, Italian; then there is the coldness and disdain manifested to the European women married to Chinese engineers. These unfortunate European women are now aware that their husbands receive much less salary than Europeans...
As her father tells it:
- It was an English boat. I asked for first class, and was told courteously that no 'coloured person' was allowed in first class on this boat...
- In Singapore we were refused a room at the English hotel, and the Chinese ones were very hot and uncomfortable; there was opium-smoking, prostitution and gambling all round us.
She then tells of her own early years, growing up in a China divided between rival landlords. Of the coming to power of Chiang Kaishek in 1926, and the moving of the capital from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
- the book uses the older English transliterations that were then standard, Peking and Nanking. At the time, the Chinese Communists seemed finished, and their guerrilla armies unimportant. As one of her uncles put it:
- The Communists are finished, that is certain. There are only a couple of bandits down in Hunan. I believe one is called Chu TehZhu DeZhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...
, the other Mao something or otherMao ZedongMao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
. They are bandits of no importance at all, and will soon be eliminated. Why, they have only a few hundred men with them, less than the White Wolf bandit gang in our northern provinces here.
The story gets as far as 1928 and is continued in A Mortal Flower
A Mortal Flower
A Mortal Flower is an autobiography by Han Suyin. It covers the years 1928 to 1938: her growing up in China and her journey to Belgium and her mother's family. Also her marriage to a rising officer in the Kuomintang and the retreat to Chungking in the face of the Japanese invasion of China....
. It gives an interesting insider view from someone who was familiar with both China and Europe. It is definitely partisan - though never a Communist, Han Suyin largely took her world-view from Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, as she describes in her later books. But it also gives you a view you'd not find anywhere else.