Long Lost Relos

The reason why I am in Guangzhou is to visit some long lost relatives. These relatives were lost when my great grandfather decided to leave their home due to the instability of the country. China then had only twenty years ago broken away from dynastic rule (think the last Emperor, Opium Wars, Colonial rule), the country was then split with regards to how it was to govern itself - leading to civil war after the death of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. The struggle between the KMT and the Communists lasted 24 years - 14 years of which the country was occupied by the Japanese. These 24 years were largely glossed over in history as a result of far more disastrous events before and after, but the country was no less depredated. My grandfather and his family left just before the Japanese occupation, which would place the date just before 1931, making him only 5 years old. The family hopped on a boat, taking a grave risk, to reach Malaysia where eventually the rest of my family took root.

It was an incredible risk to take - but if they didn't, the family would have fallen into the hands of the disaster that was Mao Ze Dong's policies. Land was nationalized, with landlords, intellectuals and pro-capitalists persecuted, though the usual result is to be beaten to death. If they had not died then they would have had to go through the Great Leap Forward which lead to the Great Famine which lasted over three years.

Given the attention that has been showered on China over the last five years it is hard to imagine that all this happened just only 50 years ago. So much pain, suffering and blood was shed to get to this point in history. And much to the same, so much of the past has had to happen exactly how it did for us to be here. Not that I am a believer in fate - but we should always cherish how it was that we got here, and to appreciate the current moment.

My grandfather's cousins

Therefore the men on the right my father's second cousins and the kids on the left my third cousins