A few months ago, I was rushing through the check-in process at the airport when a man’s chattering voice caught my ear. He spoke animatedly to his companion as he exited baggage claim. He had the long white beard of a settler descended from European immigrants.
He spoke perfect Chinese. I felt a mixture of jealousy and awe at his perfect tone, his pronunciation habits that gave each Chinese word his five different meanings.
It’s been a long time since I lived in China. Still, my tone remained haphazard. For example, I never asked anyone for a pen. If you use the wrong tone, you could be asking someone to lend you their vagina. So props to the pioneer guy.
Last month, I revisited China on behalf of two writers when they came to town. First, Peter Hessler appeared at Flathead Valley Community College as part of the University of Montana’s Mansfield Dialogue.
One of the first Peace Corps volunteers authorized in China, Mr. Hessler recalled his time teaching at Fuling Normal School in a remote town along the Yangtze River in his award-winning “River Town” ” was recorded. “Outside the back door was countryside, with buffalo and rice terraces,” said Hessler, whose 5-foot-9-inch frame towered over his students as he described the first time he saw Chilblains. .
He said the students had “little advantage, but they were born at the right time.” Twenty years later, Hessler returned to teach in Chengdu and visited his former students.
“It was amazing how their financial situation changed,” he says. The children, whose English names are Youngsey and North, now drive Hessler in a gold Mercedes, showing off the fruits of their hard work and chance. Current students also demonstrated the benefits of improved nutrition, better living conditions, and higher disposable income.
Although our countries are on opposite sides of the world, Americans and Chinese have a lot in common. Both China and the United States are net importers of food. We have all witnessed the rise in xenophobia and efforts to enforce political conformity and restrict previously permissive reading and clothing practices.
Personally, many of us share what Hessler calls an “informal and practical” nature. He surveyed his students about the desirability of a multiparty political system. One person objected: “We already have one corrupt political party. We don’t want any more.”
Through this “Xi generation,” Hessler realized that “history has always existed, but not in the way we expect.”
Nine days later, Tessa Hulls came to talk about her nearly 400-page nonfiction graphic novel, “Feeding Ghosts.” A dynamo of her research and practical talent, Hals had never written or drawn on such a scale before, but she did a great job of understanding the lives of her grandmother and mother who left China. I was obsessed with that.
“I taught myself this medium to draw this book,” she said during a talk at Highline Design hosted by prominent local author and illustrator Jonathan Fetter Vohm.
Nine years later, her book chronicles her family’s history, starting with her grandmother, a journalist whose mental breakdown under Mao’s regime hinted at a chain of events. “I use history as a kind of armor,” Hals said, looking toward new challenges in the future, much to the ghouls’ satisfaction.
Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana Historical Museum, can be reached at mdavis@dailyinterlake.com.
