Why do I start with love? Shi Tianquan: Writing about "Chinese Women Over the Sea" Love | Li Yushan | China
"In 'Carmen', it is said that love is like a free bird. In my eyes, love is irreplaceable, never giving up, and even a miracle. On the first day of the 2023 Shanghai Book Fair, 'Chinese Women Over the Sea' made its debut in the new activity area of the East Second Pavilion, with a full audience.". The author of the new book, Shi Tianquan, said that with the red thread of love, she would rather write about the experiences of a generation of Chinese people exploring the world. "Watching their struggles and struggles overseas, I am often moved to the point where I cannot sleep at night. Not writing these stories seems to be sorry for the people who moved me, and even more so for the era we have experienced firsthand."
Shi Tianquan was originally a teacher at the School of Journalism at Fudan University. He was one of the earliest scholars to go abroad after the reform and opening up, and also a firsthand witness to China's reform and development over the past half century. In August 1984, Shi Tianquan was transferred from Nantong Radio and Television Station to the Journalism Department of Fudan University as a teacher. During her 6 years as a teacher at Fudan University, she founded the Radio and Television major from scratch, compiled a series of radio and television textbooks, and made contributions to the education of radio and television in China. In 1990, Shi Tianquan went to the United States alone as a self funded visiting scholar. Over the course of 12 years, she worked as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Northridge and the University of Oregon. She had worked in professional media organizations and had entrepreneurial experiences. With a keen perspective as a journalist, she observed American society and personally experienced and witnessed many twists and turns in the struggles of Chinese people overseas.
Before going abroad, Shi Tianquan taught radio and television at a university. When he started writing, he wanted to write a TV script. Later, he adapted the stories of the three female protagonists into three novels, which were independent and interconnected. The novel tells the story of how Chinese women on the other side of the sea survive and struggle in the context of China's reform and opening up and the mutual reflection of world culture. It shows the echo of the structural changes of overseas Chinese from weak to strong, from the bottom of society to the upper class.
In the first part of the trilogy "Love is irreplaceable", the protagonist Zhou Yiting left China to work hard in the United States to get rid of his deformed marriage. After struggling alone for 8 years, he reunited with his daughter. The daughter, who lacked companionship for a long time, believed that it was her mother's entrepreneurial partner who took away her mother's love for her. It was not until she grew up and experienced a romantic relationship that she truly understood the struggle of her mother's generation, and the two generations of new immigrants reached a reconciliation. In Shi Tianquan's view, the growth process of Zhou Yiting, a generation of Chinese who went to the United States, resonated and went in the same direction as the development of the motherland, benefiting from the wave of reform and opening up. During their arduous years of entrepreneurship overseas, love became an irreplaceable spiritual force, comforting every heart that bravely moved forward.
In the second part of "Love is Not to Leave", young university lecturer Chen Weihong goes to the United States as a visiting scholar to pursue further studies and meets a wealthy overseas Chinese businessman who has recently lost his spouse. The wealthy businessman wants to compensate Chen Weihong's husband Wu Dawei with $1 million and ask him to let go. Two young Chinese people, stimulated by this, are determined to stay in the United States and work together to create their own $1 million. The two people who originally studied humanities switched to computer science and, taking advantage of the development of the IT industry, achieved their dreams in 10 years. After Wu Dawei returned to China, the two of them experienced a marital crisis, but in the end, their past grievances were cleared and their hardships created a love story of "never leaving or abandoning".
In the third book "Love is a Miracle" just published this month, the protagonist Li Ruolan comes from a scholarly family, and his uncle Li Yushan and father Li Yulin were both former American students studying abroad. With the support of her uncle, Li Ruolan went to the United States to study. After her uncle passed away, she could only struggle alone. After a third party intervened in her relationship with bank senior employee Zhang Jingwei, Li Ruolan chose to resume her studies and established a friendship with young teacher Steve. She discovered that both fathers were classmates and friends. With the help of Steve's father, 60 year old Li Yulin came to the United States with his wife on a student visa and completed his studies that were interrupted in 1949. Encouraged by family and friends, Li Ruolan also stood out from beauty pageants and became a well-known TV host in the United States.
"I am also fortunate to have witnessed the tremendous changes in China over the past half century. After 30 years of closed doors, China has finally undergone reform and opening up. Countless talented young people have crossed the country's borders, hoping to see the true face of the world and embark on their own path in life. Although I was not confused back then, I still had a beautiful childlike heart, willing to travel with young people along the way with the tide of the times." Shi Tianquan sighed. In 1990, she crossed the ocean barehanded, fought hard with international students and new immigrants at that time, and forged a path where there was no way. She has personally experienced and witnessed many tear jerking stories, with emotions, sighs, and indignation; The profound understanding of creation and human manipulation is like the ingenuity of nature, and the twists and turns of its plot are beyond imagination.
"As a literary enthusiast, for many years, I have always felt that there is something unfinished and a major event in life that has not been completed. I have always thought about recording the footsteps of this generation of brave people and letting more people know the hardships of these pioneers." Shi Tianquan said, "The main plot of the novel unfolds in the United States, hoping to present a panoramic view of American society at that time. There are some basic rules and regulations in the United States, such as what can be done at the ages of 12, 16, and 21; there are bits and pieces of life knowledge, such as the practice of applying to high school or university, personal trust accumulation, and the process of registering and establishing a company; and these descriptions are not only the real life of the protagonist of the novel." The background of public life experience may also help readers have a more intuitive understanding of American society
