Ancestral Leaves: A Family Journey through Chinese History

393 Pages·2011·3.86 MB·English

by  Joseph W. Esherick

Esherick, Ancestral Leaves 9/24/10 4:53 PM Page a
A
B O O K
ePhilipE.Lilienthalimprint
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attheUniversityofCaliforniaPress
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andtohighstandardsinthefieldofAsianStudies.
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epublishergratefullyacknowledgesthegeneroussupport
ofthePhilipE.LilienthalAsianStudiesEndowmentFund
oftheUniversityofCaliforniaPressFoundation,which
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Ancestral Leaves
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Ancestral Leaves
A Family Journey through Chinese History
Joseph W. Esherick
UnivErSity OF CALiFOrniA PrESS
Berkeley LosAngeles London
Esherick, Ancestral Leaves 9/24/10 4:53 PM Page iv
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,oneofthemostdistinguisheduniversity
pressesintheUnitedStates,enricheslivesaroundtheworldbyadvancing
scholarshipinthehumanities,socialsciences,andnaturalsciences.its
activitiesaresupportedbytheUCPressFoundationandbyphilanthropic
contributionsfromindividualsandinstitutions.Formoreinformation,
visitwww.ucpress.edu.
UniversityofCaliforniaPress
BerkeleyandLosAngeles,California
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Ltd.
London,England
©2011byeregentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Esherick,Joseph.
Ancestralleaves:afamilyjourneythroughChinesehistory/JosephW.
Esherick.
p. cm.
includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-520-26699-5(cloth:alk.paper)
isbn978-0-520-26700-8(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. yefamily. 2. China—Biography. 3. China—Genealogy.
4. China—History. i. title.
CS1169.Y42 2011
929'.20951—dc22 2010024831
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
isbookisprintedonCascadesEnviro100,a100%postconsumerwaste,
recycled,de-inkedfiber.FSCrecycledcertifiedandprocessedchlorinefree.
itisacidfree,Ecologocertified,andmanufacturedbyBioGasenergy.
Esherick, Ancestral Leaves 9/24/10 4:53 PM Page v
InmemoryofYeDuzhuang
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Contents
ListofIllustrations ix
Preface xi
Part I. The Imperial Era
1. FleeingtheLongHairs 3
2. Familyroots 18
3. Father,Son,andFamily 36
4. rebellion 55
5. OfficialLifeintheLateQing 69
6. Atimeoftransitions 99
Part II. Republican China
7. DoingBusinessintianjin 117
8. GrowingUpintianjin 128
9. StudentLifeinthe1930s 148
10. War 182
Part III. The People’s Republic
11. FamilyLifeinnewChina 223
12. HundredFlowersandPoisonousWeeds 250
13. eCulturalrevolution 278
Epilogue:AertheDeluge 301
Notes 317
GlossaryofChineseTerms 357
SelectedYeFamilyBibliography 361
Index 363