Notes on Hsiao Li-Hung's "A thousand moons on a thousand rivers"

Just finished reading a contemporary novel by Taiwanese writer Hsiao Li-Hung. The book was downstairs in the TAV's computer room/library and happened to catch my eye, along with a few other titles. Originally published in 1981, Michelle Wu translated the book into English in 2000.

The novel tells the story of a young woman named Zhenguan, who is born in 1949 in a small coastal town, and follows Zhenguan through childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Zhenguan is strongly connected to the place where she grew up and to her family. There are many scenes of domestic and family life - preparing for various festivals (lunar new year, grave-sweeping, Chinese Valentine's Day, etc.) - little inklings and insights into the culture - for example, dumplings made for Chinese Valentine's day are made with a small impression meant to catch the tears of the mythic weaving girl who is separated from her lover the cowherder - the two reunite once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month. Also interesting to me are the moral/didactic texts from which Zhenguan quotes and must remember by rote memorization - the Book of Maxims (for younger children) and a text called The Thousand-Word Classic or qianzi wen. Phrases like

Defy not your teachers.
Deceive not the Almighty.
Insult not your borther.
Spoil not your children.
Exagerrate not your words.
Discard not your books.
Blame not your poverty.

and

Echoes resound in hollow valleys, modest hearts learn to listen.
Bad causes accumulate bil, good deeds accumulate good will.
A foot of jad is no treasure, an inch of time is far more precious.

I would not be surprised if these were texts which my father learnt and memorized in his youth, considering his propensity for whipping out Chinese maxims as if on cue. This style of learning, ultimately, I think, aided him in his affinity for learning the English language and memorizing poetry.

The story at the heart of "A thousand moons...." is Zhenguan's unrequited love for a distant cousin - Daxin - a city boy from Taipei, who visits his extended family over many years and comes to forge a deep connection with his cousin. Daxin has been in love before, only to be jilted by his ex-girlfriend for a foreigner. He gets to know Zhenguan through letters and visits with one another. When Daxin goes off to military service, he drops off communicating abruptly with Zhenguan for a two-month period. Eventually, a letter written by one of Daxin's fellow servicemen arrives explaining Daxin's silence - he has been sick and unable to write. In her worry, Zhenguan informs Daxin's mother (her aunt) and dooms her relationship by this impetuous act. When Daxin finally writes to Zhenguan he writes only "I can never forgive you for this." In haste, Zhenguan retaliates by tearing up his love letters (which she saves and tapes together) and sending Daxin back the gifts he has presented to her over the years. A bad move - adding insult to injury.

In the world of credible narrators/narration - the story exists on the border. In 1970s Taiwan, it is somewhat conceivable that a young girl in her 20s could fall in love with a man she never kissed or slept with and feel deep passion for another (i.e. first love/innocence). But the breakdown in communication and of the relationship from a contemporary perspective does perplex. It is hard to know why relationships fail, yet, after sharing such deep connection and even bonding over poetry, it is hard to believe that the whole thing should come apart so quickly. But pride can be a very damaging, self-sabotaging quality - one I see often in my own family - the thing that holds a person back from taking ownership of his/her actions.

The strength and closeness of Zhenguan's family is what really keeps her together. As a subplot, her 1st Aunt who's husband disappeared during the War and went missing for 30 years, resurfaces with a Japanese wife and children and the desire to return to his homeland. First Aunt wishes to leave the world to become a nun, but her husband's mother/her mother-in-law, forbids it and would rather disown her own son than to lose her 1st daughter-in-law. So when Zhenguan's Grandmother finally dies, the Aunt finally has the freedom to fulfill her destiny. For 30 years, she prayed to the goddess Guanyin to bring her husband home - if she did, she promised to devote her life to the Buddhist path and enter the temple as a nun. So Zhenguan accompanies her Aunt up to Blue Cloud temple and visits her on several occasions. On the last one, she find her Aunt has gone into deep retreat and is unable to see her. So she stays for a few days and receives teachings and when she can not make sense of them, she goes back down the mountain only to see the teachings in practice when she meets an old woman and her grandson who's silkworms are in the process of transforming - breaking free from their coccooons to start a new life.