■Zhang Jiahong

Writing a detailed, comprehensive, and complete biography of the entire family is not Liu Denghan's original intention. The passage of time has brought with it pale memories, blurred imprints, and a lack of evidence, a dilemma that stretches like a mountain and is impossible to overcome. This is Liu Denghan's self-knowledge, and it is also everyone's helplessness in the face of history. On the basis of the ancestral hall, genealogy, and photos, Liu Denghan strung together his personal memories with deep or shallow memories before polishing the silhouette. Based on the lack of information, the silhouette outline is the best of one's own ability in helplessness, which is a light in the predicament, which Liu Denghan's "Silhouette of an Overseas Chinese Family" captures.

The deeds of his great-grandfather Cheng Yanggong in Nanyang are speculated based on historical facts and materials. In his "Autobiography", he said that "at the beginning, he looked for a broker to make money", which should be to do some small business or help people introduce and promote it, and make a little money from it. There is more imagination from oneself, how to go all the way from Liu Lin Village in the northwest of Nan'an to the Philippines, can only enter the big history to study, the era of wooden sailing ships in the middle of the 19th century, so that all the way south is destined to die for life. "It's a long journey, and the real floating journey takes ten days and a half months, or even longer. As the old saying goes: If you sail and sail, you will have three lives, and it all depends on God's face! Smooth sailing is your blessing, and typhoon raids, bad waves, overturned boats, and near-death on the way are also common. "There's reasoning, there's imagination, there's a record of faithfulness to memory. In this way, the silhouette of the family comes more from the face or back of the person in the family, whether explicit or hidden.

"Mother is a Mountain" is the heaviest article in the whole book, and it is also the one that Liu Denghan uses the deepest strength. If there is no mother, how can the future of the four brothers be supported? Especially in the bleak time after his father in Nanyang no longer sent overseas Chinese remittances, his mother's forbearance and hard work were the infinite memories of Liu Denghan's life. "A long ball of wool will weave a hundred and ten patterns in the mother's hands, and in three days and two days, it will become a high-necked woolen sweater, or a wool vest with a sweetheart collar, or a women's wool coat, or a little girl's wool dress......" Because of the mother's skillful craftsmanship and the splendid finished products, those years seem to be plated with a gold edge, which still shines today.

What is special about this book is that Liu Denghan uses the tone of prose to express rich and strong emotions between the lines. Not only is there a sober exposition of doctrine, not just a truthful list of evidence, but a repeated confirmation of the soul belonging of the person who inherits the bloodline. This journey of exploration is a life experience of intertwined sorrow and torn flesh and blood. The writing of this book is a clear proof that he combed through history and returned to the past, stumbling and tirelessly looking for the traces left in the depths of the years. "History can tell this process very open-mindedly and easily, but for every flesh-and-blood passer, there is an endless story of life." This sentence is a high-level summary of Liu Denghan's writing position. Other people's history can be joked, interpreted, or even just watched from the sidelines, and one's own history does not tolerate the slightest joke and joke, because its arbitrary tossing and turning is related to the original way of life and the final destination of life. This is the difference in stance, isn't it a difference in the depth of probing? Although Liu Denghan's account is an individual case, it is extremely representative.

"Overseas Chinese are kites floating in foreign skies, and only a few can soar to the glory of their hometown, and most of them can't withstand the rain and storms, and the news is unheard, or they fall into a foreign land. This is the fate of overseas Chinese, the fate of countless passers-by and their dependents who stayed in their hometowns. "In the writing process of "The Silhouette of an Overseas Chinese Family", the strength of the paper is the ubiquity of hardship, hard work, and hardship. Liu Denghan uses the past years of his ancestors as a starting point, revealing the epitome of the plight of overseas Chinese. That's the majority that few have had the opportunity to say. Only these majorities, plus the very few who return to their hometowns with glory, are all the truths of the history of overseas Chinese and the history of struggle. Of course, this kind of inspiration may still not be the original intention of Liu Denghan's creation. It is his original intention to comfort the ancestors who have returned to a foreign place or buried their bones for generations with a petal of heart incense, and to express their concern and respect.

Caution is a cultural tradition of the Chinese since ancient times. It is an inevitable prerequisite for people to better live in today's society. Isn't the hard work and diligence of our ancestors for the sake of the ease and comfort of our children and grandchildren? The wind and rain before the arrival of the sun is exactly the blue wisps and courage of Liu Denghan's grandfathers.