(PICTURES AND STORIES BEHIND Series No.2)
Last weekend, I paid a short visit to Mr. Weng, a man in his eighties, who is one of my dad’s best friends. When my dad was hospitalized in recent years, he frequently visited him until the end of his life.
We had a very warm chat over Longjing tea and out of it, unexpectedly, came some extraordinary personal and family stories, which are really worth writing down.
Photo taken at the entrance of the house built by Meng's grandparents over a hundred years ago.
Weng’s family has lived in Meijiawu (梅家坞), a mountain village very famous, if not the most famous for Chinese green tea, for many generations. After the communists took power in 1949, he generally lived a peaceful life, until mid~50’s when Mao’s holiday residences were planned to be built around the West Lake. The local government spearheaded a campaign to "clear up" the neighbouring areas in order to create a kind of safety zone. As a result, graves and tombs were removed or relocated, including those of historical significance. People considered to be politically untrustworthy due to idealogical differences and so-called "historical blemishes" were forced to re-settle elsewhere. And Mr. Weng was one of them. Over two dozens of families in his community were uprooted, having to change from being tea farmers into paddy farmers. It was until 1980’s, he and his family were allowed to return to their home of origin.
Now, although in his eighties, he is still running against time to accomplish a seemingly impossible mission - bringing justice to his father who died more than 80 years ago in the anti-Japanese war.
Some of the documents collected by Mr. Weng
His father was an aide-de-camp in the KMT army and involved in some of the fierce battles in a bid to stop the Japanese forces from crossing the Qiantangjiang River and moving further southwards. He was brutally murdered by the occupiers as a result of a local villager giving him in when he went into hiding to recover from gunshot wounds. Weng at that time was only one year old.
Because there has been no solid documentary evidence to prove that, and there is no political will and incentive for the current government to revisit the case, the case seems to get nowhere near to its close. He told me that he had left no stone unturned. The last resort, if he is physically fit and financially capable enough, could be a visit to the KMT archives across the Strait. I admire him for his relentless efforts to get down to the bottom of the truth and I wish him all the best.
27th Oct, 2018
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