May 09 2008
It’s about time
Mao Zedong adopted the Gregorian calendar on 10/1/1949? Is that so, horologically speaking? Americans are somewhat brands obsessed, but not many appreciate the beautiful and subtlety of a fine watch. Seeing Sasha Cohen promoting Citizen made me cringe, can’t she do better? If it’s not a Swiss, but at least some thing in the neighborhood of Dior or Tiffany. A Jap watch? God, what a mismatched pair.
Pocket watches had been fashionable in the past, white enamel dial with Roman numberals in a gold case, a great heirloom candidate. My Zengzu had been a collector of art works, watches, wenfan si bao 文房四宝Four Treasures of the Study: ink brush/ink/paper/inkstone. He was very into literature as well. After he retired, his literrati friends would come linger. Qi Baishi was one of them, often stayed the whole day. Many paintings he gave to Zengzu were his early works. Years later were sold by Yeye, actually by Nainai. There were few valuable pocket watches. To avoid the same fate, great grandma swear to Yeye that they didn’t exist, and gave to Lucy for safe keeping. Lucy left China in 1957, passing customer in Guangzhou, she had to leave them behind, her jewelry and the pocket watches. Mom’s friend went to Guangzhou attending a meeting, so she bought them back to Mom, keeping it in a drawer in her office.
During the Cultural Revolution, the entire box that containing Lucy’s jewelry and the pocket watches were confiscated by the red guards or Mom handed over to her dan wei, work unit to rid or avoid trouble. I don’t remember it’s after her suicide or prior, the content of the box was handed over to the government, People’s Bank of China, the dan wei received a little over 3,600 yuan. Dad made repeatedly fruitless trips to the dan wei, asking it to be returned, either the original content or the money. The Zoology Insititue refused. 3,600 yuan was a huge sum at that time - an average factory worker made 30 yuan a month, as was the nanny. One day while I was attending the Renda fu and living in Zoology Institute’s dorm, surprised to be called to their cashier’s office, the head, a lady offered me the sum, not lump, but I could ask any amount any time should I had the need. I was only 15. books and school were largely free, dorm was free. My only expenses were food fm cafeteria and cloth. So the lady suggested, “why don’t you come to get 10 yuan each month to start ..” Dad, to punish me, only provided 12 yuan a month for the first year I lived alone, then increased to 15 a month, even that was way below the standard. I guess for the ZI part, it’s the Chinese way to mending out law, meddling in their wards’ affair. It’s public knowledge that my dad had just gotten married (but soon widowed again), the dan wei felt I should be the heir to it, regardless of the circumstance or the ownership, especially many Mom’s former colleagues viewed this box did weight in on her trouble. So it’s justified.
There wasn’t a bar or night club to go out to celebrate, :) the sudden flush didn’t change much in my life, just made it easier, like having some one to wash my cloth and bedsheet. I continuously withdrew from this a/c for a year, mostly 10 yuan, but sometimes 50 yuan no questions asked, till Dad got in touch with Jiujiu again. They marched to Zoology Institute again, raised the issue. ZI eventually stopped the payment in deference to Lucy, an overseas Chinese. They made a lump sum payment to Jiujiu who acted as Lucy’s representative of oringinal sum of 3,600 yuan. Lucy wasn’t pleased, made another round of noise, the ZI got bank dished out another 1,000 yuan to her. I remembered one day at the ZI’s cafeteria, few people who knew the matter, told me sympathetically that they were regretfully of the turn of event. A female cadre was event agitated, said “your dad and uncle are just too greedy .. this money really should have been yours ..”
It’s rather inconceivable or ironic that the dan wei where Mom committed suicide would look out for my interest. Not sure many people (like the western hemisphere habitats) would or could grasp but I understood. Just like ZI would let me live there long after Mom had passed away, given the extremely tight housing situation.
Lucy tirlessly pressed for her case long after being compensated in 1978, she felt strong about it and had time on her hands. I knew there were locations that held the confiscated treasures but didn’t know exactly where. Lucy obviously didn’t have the right connection to get to it.
It didn’t sit well with me. One I felt it tinted partically with my mom’s blood. In their quest, no one ever consulted my opinion and feeling. No one ever asked if any thing belonged to my mom was in the box. Secondly Lucy’s been compensated (however little in her view), a bad taste. A settlement is a settlement, as a deal is a deal. When I called in 2003 prior to my trip back, trying to line up people for interview at ZI. The lady who answered the call, cried out loud, “haven’t you just called last week?” Apparently Lucy’s been on their back ever since.