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Midterm Paper Topic: Lin YuTang (林語堂 ), for謝老師 Calligraphy

Preface

Last summer, my dad, while lecturing me on life, suggested that I read Lin YuTang's

My Country and My People. At first, I balked at this idea (as I did to many of his ideas, Imust admit). Having been born and raised almost entirely in America, my Chinese reading skills were poor, to say the least. But, he reassured me that the book, although bearing aChinese author's name, was written in English. I waved the thought aside, for I felt I hadbetter things to spend with my time.

Returning to the JHU campus, I found myself in the library one day. Since I wasthere already, I decided to look up this mysterious book. There it was, at the bottom of theshelf on D-Level. Its worn, green, cloth covers proclaimed it had undergone book repair inprior years, but the text was still securely intact. "My Country and My People," it said in goldlettering on the spine. It was within these covers that I was first introduced to Dr. LinYuTang's work.

Though the book was written in 1935, and originally intended for Westerners, Ifound the material quite applicable to one as myself. As an American-Born Chinese, I findmyself so far away from the Chinese culture of generations past. And yet, I am inexplicablytied to this unfamiliar culture by my bloodlines. Reading about the Chinese character andthe Chinese lifestyle, through the unwavering and perceptive eyes of Dr. Lin YuTang, notonly drew me closer to my ancestral history, but also helped me understand my parentsbetter. So this was the culture Mom and Dad grew up with! I suppose my newfoundinsights fueled an improved sense of filial piety, for I seemed to get along with them betterafter reading this book.

Which brings me to this paper for Calligraphy class. Initially, I had planned to writea quick biography of Dr. Lin YuTang, and then spend the rest of this essay discussing aselect few of his works, such as My Country and My People, Between Tears and Laughter,

The Pleasures of a Nonconformist, etc. These were some of the dozen or so books Imanaged to scrounge up in our humble little college library.

There was also one other book, titled 林語堂傳, written by Dr. Lin YuTang's

daughter Anor Lin. "What a great find!" I thought. Unfortunately, Mrs. Anor Lin authoredthe book entirely in Chinese. Since my reading skills, as I mentioned before, are less thanfluent, I didn't think this book would be much use to me. However, as I began researching and writing, I continually referenced this book again and again. The value of firsthandaccounts appealed greatly to me, and I was enthralled to find out so much about Dr. LinYuTang's struggles and obstacles he faced growing up. About two pages down, I realized Ihad enough material to write 10, if not 20 or 30 pages just on Dr. Lin YuTang himself. Forthis paper, I have written a condensed biography of his life up to the time of his first book,

as it happens to be the one that influenced my own life, My Country and My People. I hopeto continue this exposition in the final class paper.

Due to the difficulties I faced reading in Chinese, I spent several hours a day going through just one chapter of 林語堂傳. This is one of the reasons the paper has taken such a

long time to finish. The other reason is my personal standards for thoroughness andattention to detail. I hope it amounts to a good read.

Eugene Wu吳至鈞

March 2006

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CHILDHOOD

Aboard a small raft, among a throng of passengers, two young brothers tussle witheach other, laughing merrily. The raft meanders down a shallow stream, winding its waybetween the opposite banks. The stream is shallow, sometimes so shallow that the raft

captain and his passengers must alight and carry it upon their shoulders. The children,excused from the adult task, clap and splash joyfully along, especially the younger brother.He is nine years old, and for the first time, he is leaving his cloistered little town in themountains and trekking with his older brother to Xiamen to attend primary school there.The older brother is HeQing (和清 ), and the younger brother is HeLe (和樂 ), who is to

become the scholar, author, philosopher, translator, world traveler, and poet Lin YuTang (林

語堂 ).

Lin YuTang was born on October 10, 1895, in ZhangZhou(龍溪（漳州）縣 ) of Fujian Province (福建省 ). His father, Lin

ZhiCheng (林至誠 ) was a Christian minister. Together with his wife

Yang ShunMing (楊順命 ), they had eight children. Lin YuTang numbered the fifth son. ZhiCheng had led his entire life as a farmerand entered seminary at the age of 24. Returning to the fields of hishome, ZhiCheng continued to practice his beliefs. Under theinfluence of Reverend W.L. Warnshius, he obtained a subscription toa newsletter called Christian Intelligence , which kept him informed

about the rest of the world. Often sharing the news stories with hischildren, ZhiCheng read about the work going on at famousuniversities and hoped his sons would one day attend an eminentuniversity somewhere in the Western world. This first step,sending his boys to primary school in Xiamen, was made possible

because the school was organized by Christian missionaries, whooffered free education.

At the Xiamen primary school, Lin YuTang found theschoolwork easy and busied himself with kicking shuttlecocks andplaying soccer. Although he had also attended the local missionaryschool back in his village, his education at Xiamen was the first toexpose him to true Western culture. Though the schoolwork wasn't particularly challenging, Lin YuTang was constantly reminded by his father and hissiblings of the seriousness of his academic endeavor. The family slogan might well havebeen「讀書成名」. Under this urging, he earned an admission to St. John's University in

Shanghai (聖約翰大學 ) at the age of 15. Like many short-sighted youth, Lin YuTang wasreluctant to go. Instead, he wished to stay with his family. Not to see this opportunity fly by,

his older sister MeiGong (美宮 ) stepped in and then said:「我們是窮人家，二姐只有這

四角錢給你．你不要糟蹋上大學的機會．我因為是女的，所以沒有這種福氣．你要

立定決心，做個好人，做個有用的人，好好的用功讀書，因為你必得成名．你從上

海回家時，再來看我．」These simple but heartfelt words moved young Lin YuTang.

He took it upon himself to achieve academic progress for his family, for his 二姐 MeiGong.

Above, Lin YuTang

as a boy. Below,his childhood home.

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Returning for summer vacation the following year, hevisited MeiGong in her new town, for she had gottenmarried. MeiGong asked endless questions about hislife in Shanghai and his studies, but they quickly partedas Lin YuTang continued on the rest of his journey

home. Sadly, that autumn, MeiGong fell deathly ill andparted from the world, carrying her seven-month-oldunborn child with her. Lin YuTang overcame theunbearable sadness with a new determination to fulfillhis sister's hopes. Thereafter, regardless of time or age,

the very mention of 二姐的四角錢 would push Lin

YuTang to tears.

COLLEGE AND LOVE

St. John's University in Shanghai was known for its excellent English curriculum.Thus, the student body was diverse, ranging from small towners like Lin YuTang to otherchildren of more eminent parents, walking and chortling around in Western suits. Moststudents came here for two reasons: to make rich friends, or to help Shanghai in foreigntrading and business. To Lin YuTang, however, his goal was clear--to pursue education.

Upon entering the school, Lin YuTang changed his name from the childhood name

和樂 to玉堂. Again, much like in Xiamen primary school, he found the studies quite easy,

and often took to furtively reading his own books during class. His method for learning English was simple. Using a dictionary, he studied one word at a time, examining thedefinition and the use of the word in context. His self-discipline required him to fullyunderstand the usage of every word before he could move on to the next. Pronunciation, he

also figured, was no problem once one recognized the correct syllable on which to place thevocal stress. In this manner, he mused,「把英文差不多學通了」.

The library of St. John's University carried over 5000 books. Lin YuTang read themall, and complained the library was too small, 「不過癮」. He sought answers to his

questions about life, and when he did not find answers in one book, he went on to the next.Initially, Lin YuTang entered the university to study in preparation of pastorhood, tocontinue in the footsteps of his father. However, after a year of study, too many questionsabout Christianity remained unanswered and unexplained. All the Scriptures told that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, yet all educated people agreed that it was a physicallyimpossible act. And yet all believers were expected to believe this to receive baptism. And

furthermore, if God knows man is born with sin, why does He condemn man for hissinfulness? Perhaps his change in beliefs and unresolved internal conflict was dourlyaffected by his sister's untimely passing as well. Lin YuTang returned from summer vacationan unbeliever and switched his major to Language Studies (文科 ).

Doing extraordinarily well in school, Lin YuTang had little to worry about at thispoint in his life. But a big change was about to take place. One day, a fellow Xiamenclassmate brought his little sister along to meet Lin YuTang. Her name was Chen JinDuan

1903 Lin family portrait. 8 year old LinYuTang stands third from the left, his

sister MeiGong second from the right.

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(陳錦端 ), and she went to the nearby St. Mary's (聖瑪麗女校 ), an all-girls school. At the

time, there was little chance for the boys to meet the girls, as they attended different schoolsand different churches, but since JinDuan, her brothers, and Lin YuTang were all fromXiamen, it was natural for them to spend time all together.

Lin YuTang fell in love with JinDuan at first sight. She aspired in art, he inliterature--it seemed a perfect match. During that year, their love for each other grew as theyspent time walking in the park and watching movies together. But it was not to be. Uponsummer, Lin YuTang feverishly visited the Chen household in Xiamen, yearning for aglimpse of JinDuan. She had hidden herself in her room. Her father (陳天恩醫師 ),

knowing the boy's intentions, as well as his departure from Christianity the years prior (forthe Chen household was deeply religious), saw Lin YuTang as an intelligent but waywardyoung man. Not to mention the fact that the Chen family was quite well-to-do, while the Linfamily essentially consisted of farmers. Dr. Chen wanted his daughter to marry well, and LinYuTang was no match. Instead, Dr. Chen cleverly proposed to introduce Lin YuTang to adaughter of his neighbor's friend. Her name was TsuiFeng (翠鳳 ).

Denied his true love, Lin YuTang fell into despair. Amidst the uncontainabledisappointment, he offhandedly agreed to the matchmaking and subsequent engagement with TsuiFeng. In his heart, though, he never forgot JinDuan. Even in his later years, hiseyes would light up at the news of JinDuan being in town, and he would merrily prepare toreceive her at his home, bubbling with excitement like a mere child.

Graduating as salutatorian of St. John's University in 1916, Lin YuTang shuckedconventional customs and put off marriage. He had no love for TsuiFeng. Instead, on

hearing word of scholarship opportunities to America through QingHua University (清華大

學 ), Lin YuTang followed the recommendation of his principal and headed north to Beijing,

intent on pursuing an education in the States.

TEACHING IN BEIJING

Beijing was not just the political or educational capital of China. It was also acultural capital, and it enveloped its visitors with cultural icons of hundreds and thousandsyears past. In this way, Beijing besieged Lin YuTang's understanding and knowledge of hisown culture. Having given up the calligraphy brush in favor of the fountain pen for English writing at St. John's, Lin YuTang came to realize at Beijing his complete ignorance of Chinese cultural history (not to mention his now horrible calligraphy). He eagerly picked upevery book he could get his hands on to learn more. However, too ashamed of hisignorance to ask for guidance, he ended up just pawing through mounds of books by himself.He still had his pride to maintain.

Besides, he was here to teach, and he couldn't lose face in front of students.QingHua University offered a program where scholars could come teach for three years, atthe end of which they were awarded a scholarship to an American university to continuestudies at the third or fourth-year levels. Lin YuTang continued to study language while atQingHua. However, he faced a growing frustration with they way Chinese dictionaries werecurrently organized. Delving deeper into possible solutions, he published his first-ever

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Chinese-written article, <漢字索引制說明>, in the local student magazine. The article

called for linguistic reform of the classification of Chinese characters, and caught theattention of the university president himself. Soon, funds were appropriated for acommittee on the reorganization of the Chinese language, with Lin YuTang serving as amember.

Lin YuTang also pushed for expressionism and realism in Chinese writing, favoring

the everyday vernacular (白話 ) over the old, formal way of writing (文言文 ). Lin YuTang

was not alone in this endeavor, for many students at the time also agreed with the newparadigm shift. Much tumult followed the numerous student revolutions, but Lin YuTang would not be there to see the results of student efforts. In 1919, he finished the three yearsof teaching service. Much to his dismay, however, the school only awarded him a half-scholarship. Determined to continue his education, he applied for study in ComparativeLiterature (比較文學 ) at Harvard University (哈佛大學 ). Harvard accepted.

Back at home, TsuiFeng had been waiting. Lin YuTang had put off marriage for

four years now, claiming his studies in the north would keep him busy and unable to tend toa family. But now, with his imminent leave of the country, there was no telling when he would return, if at all. It was time. Lin YuTang and TsuiFeng married on July 9, in thesummer of 1919. Together, they headed off to America.

EDUCATION IN AMERICA AND OVERSEAS

Aboard the Colombia Steamboat, just one month after the wedding, TsuiFeng camedown with appendicitis. There were no doctors on board, much less any medicalimplements. TsuiFeng suffered in her room, Lin YuTang by her side. The other passengers,knowing it was their honeymoon, misinterpreted and made fun of the constant confinement,unaware of their pain. Should they stop at Hawaii, Lin YuTang wondered? The half-scholarship wasn't much, and Lin YuTang didn't have much money of his own, but if needbe, they decided medical treatment would be necessary. Thankfully, the pain subsided.

Finally arriving in Boston, they rented two rooms on Mt.Auburn Street, sharing a kitchen with the landlady and two othertenants. TsuiFeng did all the grocery shopping, cooking, laundry,and cleaning herself, determined to hold a tight purse on theirliving expenses. Unfortunately, her appendicitis returned. Thistime, there was no avoiding the costly surgery.

At the hospital, Lin YuTang soothed TsuiFeng, assuring

her it was a simple and quick procedure. So confident was he inthis fact, that he studied Anglo-Saxon grammar while waiting.Only three hours later did he realize that TsuiFeng was still in theoperating room. Apparently, the doctor had never operated on anAsian woman before, and took his time in poking around herinner cavities before completing the surgery. After this, TsuiFeng contracted an internal infection. She returned to the hospital toundergo surgery again, and had to stay in the hospital for a while.

Lin YuTang and TsuiFeng inBoston, 1919.

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Now all of their money was indebted toward medical expenses. Lin YuTang telephonedTsuiFeng's brother for money. For a week until the money arrived, Lin YuTang lived onQuaker Rice Cakes. When TsuiFeng was finally released from the hospital, it was February.A soft blanket of snow quietly covered the ground. Lin YuTang pulled TsuiFeng home on asled. From after the hospital experience, their intimacy grew, and Lin YuTang could study

with his mind at ease.

To many of us, Harvard is the epitome of academia in business, law, social sciences,and reputation. But to Lin YuTang, Harvard was really just one thing--the Widener Library, where millions upon millions of books waited for him. This was his scholastic heaven, andhe spent every waking moment of his life engorged in the books. His professors includedBliss Perry, Irving Babbitt, Von Jagerman, among others. Bliss Perry once praised LinYuTang for his paper, "The Change in Vocabulary in the Critical Essay", saying it wastantamount to a Masters' thesis. Lin YuTang actively spent all his time reading, thinking aloud, questioning the ideas in books and reflecting on his thoughts. Needless to say, hebrought his work home with him, and often read himself to tears or laughter. Though he would sometimes read such a passage to TsuiFeng, she would rarely understand its

implications, and simply emulated his reaction.

They were like polar opposites, married by the forces of fate and fathers. He likedexercise, she liked quiescence. He liked pork, she liked fish. He liked talking, she kept toherself. They were like strangers getting to know each other for the first time. But TsuiFeng felt safe with Lin YuTang, especially during the cold nights, when they huddled together for warmth amidst the harsh Boston winters. Sometimes, she would find him sitting with hispipe, just staring out the window at night, coming to bed only at 1 or 2 am. Other than that,though, he was always healthy in body, mind, and spirit, and they only argued if she botheredhis reading.

Lin YuTang had not been at Harvard for even a year when his half-scholarship wasmysteriously cancelled. QingHua University offered no explanation. Only some timeafterwards did the couple find out that one of the fellow scholarship recipients had lost afortune in the stock market and committed suicide. Whether this had anything to do withthe scholarship cancellation, they never found out. In any case, they were now in desperateneed of cash. Before he had left China, Lin YuTang had agreed with Peking National

University (北京大學 ) to take a professorship there upon his return. He now beseeched the

school, through his QingHua colleague HuShi (胡適 ), to send him $1000 U.S. dollars to

cover living expenses. While he waited for their response, Lin YuTang brought food to thetable by submitting to a monthly literary competition. He won three times in a row, earning $25 each time. Afterwards, too embarrassed to continue, he stopped.

While his grades at Harvard his first year were nothing less than spectacular (heearned straight A's in all his classes), Lin YuTang had no financial aid to help him continuehis studies. Unable to enroll again, he applied for work with the Young Men's ChristianAcademy (YMCA, 基督教青年會 ), to help teach Chinese laborers in France to read and

write. The Chinese laborers had originally been sent there during the First World War tohelp bury the dead. YMCA accepted his application, and paid for Lin YuTang andTsuiFeng's travel expenses. Off they went to Le Creusot (樂魁素 ), France.

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Though the work with YMCA was satisfying to some spiritual extent, Lin YuTang

wanted to continue his academic studies. Due to the deflation of the German mark, theyopted to move to Germany, taking advantage of a lower cost-of-living. Lin YuTang appliedand was accepted at the University of Jena (耶那大學 ) in Germany. He sent a letter back to

his academic advisor in Harvard, asking permission to substitute courses at Jena to finish hisMaster's degree. His advisor wrote back with an OK, but also encouraged Lin YuTang tofurther his education and pursue a doctorate.

In 1922, Lin YuTang finallycompleted his Master's degree inComparative Literature from Harvard. Notsatisfied, he pursued a doctorate at Leipzig University (萊比錫大學 ), focusing now on

Chinese Language (中國音韻學 ). Leipzig

University was known as a top university in

language studies. Lin YuTang wrote backhome to tell his father, knowing he wouldbe happy to hear the news. Despite hisacademic achievement, however, LinYuTang struggled to pay bills. He had toask for another $1000 from Peking NationalUniversity. To help support him, TsuiFeng had to sell her precious jade jewelry too, givento her as gifts on her wedding day. Sadly, Westerners were unable to appreciate jade, and thejewelry fetched low prices on the market. Lin YuTang tried comforting TsuiFeng,「鳳，等

我賺了錢，買還給你．」

After three years, TsuiFeng finally conceived. Wanting to raise their child in China,this forced Lin YuTang to hurry up and finish his doctorate degree. His doctoral thesis was"Altchinesiche Lautlehre" <古代中國語音學>. Lin YuTang was so confident in himself

that he arranged to leave the night of his doctoral oral examination. After a full morning of running from one professor's office to the next, Lin YuTang ran home to find TsuiFeng already waiting for him at the door.

「怎麼樣？」 She asked.

「好了！」 And they kissed in the middle of the street, linked arms, and togethersaid goodbye to Germany.

RETURN TO BEIJING

Adet Lin (鳳如，後改名如斯 ) was born in Xiamen on May 6, 1923. TsuiFeng and

the baby stayed in Xiamen until autumn, when they rejoined Lin YuTang in Beijing. He hadbegun a busy life in their absence. The first thing he did was pay a visit to the universityprincipal, thanking him for the $2000 forwarded to cover living expenses. To Lin YuTang'ssurprise, the principal said, "什麼兩千塊錢？" Unbeknownst to Lin YuTang, it was his

dear friend HuShi who had squeezed the money out of his own pocket to help him. HuShihimself had been busy in the literary circle in China. He had started, carried, and indeed, was

1923, classmates and friends at Leipzig. Lin YuTangtop row second from right, TsuiFeng bottom far right.

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now a central figure in the new literary movement for the vernacular (白話 ). HuShi even

held meetings at his house.

After Lin YuTang settled in as professor of English Philology at Peking National, healso started meeting with other like-minded individuals, at Beijing Central Park (中央公園 ).

They discussed anything and everything, and eventually started a magazine to vent theiropinions, entitled Yu Ssu (語絲 ). At this time, Lin YuTang changed his name to語堂, as

we now know him. He wrote many essays, mostly criticizing the inefficient and corruptChinese government of the time. The Chinese government was undergoing treacherouschanges, and it was not a good time to be in Beijing, much less be writing rebellious essaysabout the government! Amidst the student riots, TsuiFeng grew increasingly worried abouther husband's safety and, it seemed to her, his obstinate stupidity in continuing to writeinflammatory articles.

At 8 am on March 18, Lin YuTang received a call from a female student, LiuHeZhen (劉和珍 ). There was a demonstration going on at Tiananmen Square (天安門 )

that day, and as a student representative, she was asking for class to be cancelled. LinYuTang thought there should be no hazard, and agreed, telling her to give earlier notice nexttime. At 2 pm that afternoon, Lin YuTang arrived at the school meeting to hear that LiuHeZhen was dead. Apparently, some two hundred students had been massacred.

Then, on April 20, General "Dog-Meat" Zhang ZongChang (狗肉將軍張宗昌 )

took the helm of the government. A list was posted, of dissenters, and Lin YuTang's name was on that list. The military took two people on that list and shot them that night. It wastime to leave Beijing. Together with their newborn daughter Anor (玉如，後改名無雙，

再改為太乙 ), the Lin family escaped to Xiamen.

LITERARY CULTIVATION

Through a doctor friend in Beijing, Lin YuTang landed a position at National AmoyUniversity (廈門大學 ) as Dean of College of Arts (文科主任 ). Many other intellectuals,

escaping from Beijing, had followed him here as well. The program quickly flourished, butafter repeated problems with a co-worker, Lin YuTang left the school. It was now spring of 1927, and Lin YuTang headed into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the WuhanRevolutionary Government of China to work as a secretary (武漢國民政府外交部英文秘

書 ). In addition to working alongside a former Beijing colleague, the work was exciting and

spirited. But Lin YuTang would not stay very long. Just a couple months after his arrival,the Wuhan government began to split. Lin YuTang left to Shanghai.

In Shanghai, another former colleague pulled him into being a research fellow inEnglish for the newly established Academia Sinica (國立中央研究院 ). The title was

superficial, and Lin YuTang found himself with a small office and lots of free time. Hebegan writing a column for The China Critic Weekly , a newsletter focusing on social andpolitical issues, and written entirely in English. His column, titled "The Little Critic", drewgreat interest and was so popular that it was later compiled and republished in two volumes.

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Lin YuTang also composed an English textbook,aimed at secondary school students. Published as <開明

英文讀本>, it was wildly successful and became the top

seller for English students all over China. Shanghai's

DongWu University (東吳大學 ) invited him to be an

English professor. It was here at DongWu that LinYuTang met Hsu ZhiMo (徐志摩 ), a man much like

himself. Lin YuTang greatly admired his literary talents.

Besides writing articles, Lin YuTang also spentmuch of his time researching possible improvements toChinese typewriters. Typing in Chinese was not easy.Chinese characters involve thousands of strokecombinations, whereas in English, there are only 26 basiccharacters. Given the lack of a Chinese alphabet, typing inChinese at the time required hand-selecting a character

from some 2500 keys. Lin YuTang knew he must firstinvent a proper way to classify all the different Chinesecharacters. Over several years, he came up with severaldifferent methods. In 1931, as a representative of Academia Sinica, Lin YuTang attended a conference overseas (國際聯盟文化合作委員會 ).

On the way back, he stopped at England to enlist an engineer in helping him build aprototype Chinese typewriter. He stayed for several months.

The year before, in 1930, TsuiFeng had their third daughter, HsiangRu (相如 ).

While Lin YuTang was away, the Japanese attacked China. Anor, their second daughter,recalls,「我記得母親叫我們不要換睡衣，和服睡在樓下，以便隨時逃走．我只有五

歲，覺得睡在地上很好玩．」 Soon they were bailedout of Shanghai by a relative, and sailed back to Xiamen.Lin YuTang returned home from England, with just threecents in his pocket. All his savings had been funneledinto the typewriter, and yet it was not enough. Hebrought back the unfinished prototype. There was stillmuch work to do. Indeed, for the rest of his life, LinYuTang would pour his efforts into realizing thismechanical dream.

Returning to Shanghai, Lin YuTang had many

things to keep himself busy. He continued to write, andin 1932, started his own periodicals, the Analects Fortnightly

(論語 ), to promote humor (幽默 ), and This Human World

(人間世 ), to encourage the human spirit (性靈 ). He said,

「提倡幽默必先解放性靈；蓋卻由性靈解放，漸再

參通義理，而幽默自然孕毓也．」 Analects was an

instant success, reaping a readership unlike any before,and Lin YuTang's humorous articles garnered him the

Lin YuTang in Shanghai, 1930s.

1931 family portrait. From left,HsiangRu, Anor, Adet.

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title「幽默大師」 . This all happened amidst

severe political and social unrest in China. LinYuTang himself admits,「我在文學上的成功和發

展我自己的風格完全是國民黨之賜，如果我們

的民權不被取締和限制，恐怕我永不能成為一

個文學家...」 Had there not been such officialoppression, Lin YuTang might never had anything to speak against so vehemently. In many ways, theenvironment in which he lived forced him to adoptthe critical literary practice termed「諷刺文學」.

Despite the very real dangers of writing sofreely, Lin YuTang continued to express hisindividual opinions on nearly every matter of

popular discourse. In addition to his magazines, he continued to write for The China Critic

Weekly . His column caught the attention of Pearl S. Buck (賽珍珠 ), a West Virginia-born

American author whose parents raised her solely in China. She had written her first novelEast Wind, West Wind in 1930, and followed it with her best-known work The Good Earthin 1931. While Pearl was staying in Nanjing, she often read Lin YuTang's column, and wasimpressed by his energy and fresh spirit in writing. She wanted to know, "Who is this manLin YuTang?" In 1933, Lin YuTang invited Pearl to his home as a dinner guest. Theconversation touched on foreign authors writing about China. At this, Lin YuTang mulled,

"I would actually much like to write a book about China, expressing my truethoughts."

"Why don't you?" Pearl warmly urged. "You could definitely do it. I've wished forso long to read a Chinese-authored book on China."

MY COUNTRY AND MY PEOPLE

Encouraged by Pearl, Lin YuTang began writing his book in 1934. It took him 10months to finish, amidst keeping up his regular publications. With the help of Pearl's suitorand publisher Richard Walsh, who owned the John Day Company, Lin YuTang made hisdebut in 1935. Titled My Country and My People (吾國吾民 ), his first book elucidated the

true nature of Chinese culture and Chinese character to Western readers. Being the first of its kind, in terms of authenticity in Chinese roots, the book catapulted to the top of the NewYork Times bestseller list. If Lin YuTang wasn't a household name before, it certainly wasnow, and not only in China, but all over the world, for the book was translated andrepublished in many languages. Sadly, in the Chinese version of the book that came out one

year later, many of Lin YuTang's whimsical charms were lost in translation. Though thebook fed a voracious Chinese audience, it also created and sparked a minority dissent. Dueto its objective and sometimes critical look at the Chinese, My Country and My People was

occasionally thrown around as「賣 Country and 賣 People」, reflecting the image of Lin

YuTang as a sell-out.

The three periodicals headed by Lin YuTang:

Analects, Cosmic Wind , and This Human

World . Cosmic Wind started in 1935 afterThis Human World stopped circulating.

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Regardless, Lin YuTang's first book rocketed him into the upper realms of success.He received praise from all over China, and indeed, all over the world. The New YorkTimes' R. E. Kennedy remarked,

"Reading Mr. Lin's book is a tremendous experience, and one feels

deeply grateful for the enlightenment derived from it. No one but aChinese could have given such an honest, faithful, unprejudiced account

of the people."

Additionally, Nathaniel Peffer of the Saturday Review of Literature wrote,

"Mr. Lin has lived in Europe and America and measured the ways

of the West with a critical eye. He is widely read in Western literature,

has an impressive erudition, and has not only 'learned' Western culture

but understands it. Withal he has the mellowness, the wisdom, and the

humor of his race... His book is therefore the best that has been written on

China in English, and I recommend it to all those who want a true and

sensitively perceived picture of China."

And in the introduction to the book, Lin YuTang's dear friend Pearl S. Buck herself writes,

"It is truthful and not ashamed of the truth: it is written proudly

and humorously and with beauty, seriously and with gaiety, appreciative

and understanding of both old and new. It is, I think, the truest, the most

profound, the most complete, the most important book yet written about

China. And, best of all, it is written by a Chinese, a modern, whose roots

are firmly in the past, but whose rich flowering is in the present."

My Country and My People capped the end of Lin YuTang's youthful dabbling inthe literary arena, and prepared him for a maturity that would lead to dozens upon dozens of

books in the years to come. Truly, he would fulfill the childhood ambition,「讀書成名」.

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References

Note: I must credit Mrs. Anor Lin for a substantial amount of the material in this paper.

In fact, much of what I have written was directly translated from her Chinese text. In

addition, all the pictures I have used are scanned from her book as well.

林太乙 (Lin, Anor). <林語堂傳> (Lin YuTang Zhuan). 聯經出版事業公司, Taipei,Taiwan, 1989.

"林語堂生平略影." The Lin Yutang House, <http://www.linyutang.org.tw/lin1.html>.

March 2006.

"生平年表." The Lin Yutang House, <http://www.linyutang.org.tw/lin2.html>. March

2006.

"作品年表." The Lin Yutang House, <http://www.linyutang.org.tw/lin4.html>. March

2006.

Lin, YuTang. My Country and My People. The John Day Company, New York, 1935.

"Lin Yutang." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003.

"Lin Yutang." Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Vol. 25. Thomson Gale, 2005.

"Lin Yutang." Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Yutang>. March 2006.

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