Chang David Wen-wei (EN) — Scholar and the Tiger

Scholar and the Tiger краткое содержание

Scholar and the Tiger - описание и краткое содержание, автор Chang David Wen-wei (EN), читать бесплатно онлайн на сайте электронной библиотеки Lib-King.Ru.

The Scholar and the Tiger is at once a compelling family saga, thriller, social history, and spiritual journey. Written by a noted China scholar, assisted by a writer friend, the story brings to life a tumultuous period in Chinese history while providing surprising insights into Chinas emergence as a global power. Wen-wei Chang was born in 1929 as famine gripped northern China, taking the lives of countless peasants, including his father. Only his iron-willed mother kept the family alive. The eldest son, Wen-po, joined the army. Eighteen years Wen-weis senior, Wen-po fought bandits, opium smugglers, the Japanese, and Maos Communists, becoming known as Tiger Chang.Meanwhile, Wen-weia brilliant scholar from childhoodseemed destined for a career in the age-old mandarin tradition of civil service. But civil war intervened, forcing him to evacuate his ill mother and two sisters-in-law and their children only days before the Communists reached Beijing. In Shanghai, they were reunited with Wen-po, now a leading Guomindang general who commanded the citys final defenses. Wen-wei refused evacuation to Taiwan, insisting on caring for his mother and making the best life he could under the Communists. But a day after the occupation of the city, a terrified friend told Wen-wei that Wen-po had been left behind and was hiding in the friends apartment, putting all of their lives at risk.What follows has all the drama of a spy novel: narrow escapes and rescues, treachery and blackmail, and a final wrenching irony that would tear Wen-wei from his family and homeland. Only after thirty years in America, with a new life as university professor David Chang, is he allowed to return to China to learn the fate of his mother and loved onesand perhaps to heal his broken heart.