WULOLIFE
Where is Home? Author: Wang Zengwu Publisher: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
Where is Home? Author: Wang Zengwu Publisher: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
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Description
Introduction · · · · · ·
Wang Gungwu, a famous overseas Chinese historian, wrote about his "long-term semi-nomadic life" when he was nearly 90 years old. His life started in Southeast Asia during the colonial era, and he experienced colonization, war, unrest, and revolution. He spent most of his life migrating between three continents, forming a rich and unique history of wandering in the historical torrent of the 20th century.
The memoir consists of two volumes. The first volume, "Where is Home?", looks back at Wang Gungwu's childhood experience, which was full of uncertainty and transitions. This period of time had a profound impact on him and became the foundation of his academic research and life.
Wang Gungwu was born in Nanyang in 1930. He received classical Chinese and orthodox English education since childhood. He had to drop out of school due to the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia. He wandered the streets for several years, learning Cantonese, Malay, Hakka, and Minnan with the curiosity of a teenager, and had an initial understanding of the intricate "Chineseness" of the colony. By a miraculous chance, he resumed his studies on the eve of Japan's defeat and was admitted to National Central University, but he personally witnessed the disillusionment of the homeland China that his parents had taught him. However, the confusion and anxiety of the young Wang Gungwu about "where is home" gradually subsided at this time. Standing at the intersection of the "multiple worlds" shaped by his childhood experience, he "began to feel that nothing could stand in my way of understanding everything."
The second volume, "Home Is Where the Heart Is", was co-authored by Wang Gungwu and his wife Lin Pingting, continuing their emotional and intellectual journey of exploration.
About the Author · · · · · ·
Wang Gungwu, born in 1930, is a distinguished professor at the National University of Singapore and a member of the Academia Sinica. He has extensive research interests in Southeast Asian history, maritime history, modern Chinese history, overseas Chinese history, and other fields, and has published many books. He has served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Malaya, Singapore, Head of the Department of Far Eastern History at the Australian National University, and President of the University of Hong Kong. After retiring from the University of Hong Kong, he has lived in Singapore for a long time and has made contributions to institutions such as the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute), the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and the East Asian Institute.
In 2020, Wang Gungwu was awarded the fourth "Tang Prize for Sinology" and Singapore's "Distinguished Service Order".
The translator, Lin Wenpei, holds a bachelor's degree in foreign languages and literature and a master's degree in history from National Taiwan University. He is currently a full-time translator. He has translated books such as From That Mountain to This Mountain and 1919, Japan and China: John Dewey and his wife's letters from the Far East (co-translated).
