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More on Tientsin, from David Hulme, Editor, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan “Journal.” <dhulme@paradigm.co.jp
I collected a fine body of material from former (pre-PRC) residents of Tianjin, published under the title of TIENTSIN. If interested, you can find it at www.amazon.co.uk/.
I have included below (and attached) a summary, a few excerpts and some comments from readers and reviewers. Appreciatively, David
SUMMARY TIENTSIN by David C. Hulme available at www.amazon.co/uk and iumix.com/
These are tales of a world obliterated by revolution; the foreign concessions of Tianjin (Tientsin), North China, as seen through the eyes of pupils at Saint Louis College.
These were children destined to grow up knowing that history has no bystanders. Their Marist Brothers school welcomed all nationalities and all creeds. It was a lens through which the reader can view the complex tapestry of influences bearing down on North China in the first half of the 20th century.
Its pupils were the children of Russian refugees, Chinese compradors, Japanese industrialists, British bankers, Italian soldiers, German restaurateurs and Parsee wool traders, thrown together to make the best of things in demanding and exciting times.
Their lives were affected on a daily basis by such cataclysmic events as China’s epochal collision with the western powers, the rise of Stalinism, machinations of warlords, the emergence of Chinese nationalism, Japan’s disastrous attempt at colonialism and finally the triumph of Maoism.
These children, their teachers and their families witnessed and experienced, in deeply personal ways, events and trends that post-revolutionary China deliberately forgot or revised.
Drama abounds as fortunes are made and lost, empires rise and fall, dreams are fulfilled and lives are smashed.
There is the saga of two doctors, both 1917 graduates, one conscripted by the Red Army, the other by the Whites, destined to separately battle for years across Siberia, to Manchuria and eventually to practise in Tientsin, where their children attend the same school.
There is also rich characterisation in ebullient, individualistic Brother Konrad Bauer; sensitive, sharply observant Monica Wolf; and ambitious, determined Atsuo Tsukada and many others.
Brother Konrad calls himself “Der Führer of La Cuvette” as he rescues novitiates from the Marist Brothers’ retreat near Beijing, but other Brothers endure weeks as hostages of Chinese communist guerrillas.
Little Monica Wolf is dismissed as a dreamer by adults who fear her account of tortures taking place at a nearby Japanese compound. Atsuo Tsukada must evade the fists and rocks hurled by Chinese ruffians in order to reach Saint Louis College, where many classmates have recently returned from a Japanese prison camp.
EXCERPTS
Then the crowd moved. Atsuo watched, spellbound with horror as the unbelievable happened, and the crowd seemed to meld with the old brick walls. Countless bodies, crawling, squirming and pushing, swarmed upwards into the orifices of the home, like ants streaming into the mouth and eyes of a helpless animal. In moments the downstairs doors opened. For an instant a well-dressed man was seen there but the crowd engulfed him in a rush. The contents of the home were disgorged into the street. Bedding, clothing, curtains and carpets were taken first. Some of the homeless looters battled each other over these precious items. Shouts of anger and cries of triumph mingled in the hubbub, and from within the house came high-pitched screams. Then the residents appeared, huddled together.
. . .Chapter 6: The Defenders of Fuchen-li (Autumn, 1946)
As Boris rose there was another knock at the back door, and in that moment the front door crashed inward, almost flying off the hinges. Two armed Japanese soldiers in heavy boots crashed their way up the stairs. Their officer directed Binietsky&Mac226;s cook to open the back door, and more soldiers entered that way.
“Where is your radio?” the officer demanded, speaking Russian.
Boris indicated the lounge-room sideboard, where the radio sat. The officer barked at one of his men to check it. Clean, the soldier reported.
Clean indeed, thought Boris. Doomed by castration to speak only the falsetto of local Japanese and Chinese announcers.
“You have a shortwave radio here,” the officer snapped at Boris.
“No. We don’t have any other radio,” he replied calmly. “We heard that you do.” Igor saw his father dragged up the stairs to answer questions and witness the search, then down again, while the Japanese yapped at each other in their own tongue.
“What’s there?” a soldier demanded, pointing at the cupboard above the coal bunker.
. . .Chapter 15: Radio Drama (1942)
Soon the more elderly captives, the two priests and the Brothers Faustus and Prudent, began falling behind in spite of dire threats and some rough prodding. On the third afternoon, as preparations were underway for another forced march, Faustus and Prudent were brought before Comrade Liu.
“What is wrong with you? Why don&Mac226;t you walk faster?” he snapped gruffly, at Faustus.
“If you had my legs you would know,” the old man replied calmly, bringing such a fearsome sneer to the face of an ugly guerrilla near Liu, who wore a dark enough expression himself, that Brother Prudent felt compelled to interject.
“Sir, we are old, as you can well see, and we are not trained for this kind of exertion. We have been trying our best.” he said. His feet were blistered, his joints and muscles all ached, and his head was beginning to swim.
“Shoot them both now. And the worthless priests! We are wasting time.” growled the ugly lieutenant.
“Do you want to die?” asked Liu.
“Personally,” responded Prudent quickly, secretly fearing the resentful Faustus might be on the verge of embracing martyrdom, “I am ready to die, but I would much prefer to keep walking.”
“Walk faster, or you will die.” Liu stated flatly.
. . .Chapter 25: Hostage (1937)
COMMENTS
A deeply insightful book looking at Tientsin, China, mainly during and after World War II through the eyes of the pupils of St. Louis College. However, that is not all the book is about... It also provides a useful history of China and Japan, their relationship, as well as the relationship between China and the West during this pivotal stage in Chinese history. Tom Wilson, reviewer
This book will appeal to anyone interested in China, Japan, and the interrelationships of Western Powers in China. But as well as this, the book is a great "human interest" story. - Jeff Boon, reviewer
A unique work, thoroughly researched and sensitively presented. - Reviewer
You have captured the living essence of the those times long gone, and have skilfully combined the individual narratives with the historical events of the times in a seamless and cohesive fashion. A. Liu, old China hand
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