What did your ancestors give you?

      In about 1100 BCE, Shang Jiang was raised to the king of Qi which located in the Shan Don province in China. It is because he helped the kings Wen and Wu of Zhou fought battle against the Shang in the past. Some of his children kept his given name, Shang, as their family name instead. That is where I got my family name from, so I will keep my family name for good. My family name is so unique that it is easy to remember. Although it is one of the important key for others to recognize me, my family name has had little effect on my family and me. I think the establishment of modern China have made greater effects on three generation of my family already.

For a start, both my grandparents migrated to the same city because of the Chinese government. Which means that none of my grandparents lived in the city Fushun, where I was born. On my father’s side, the migration started in 1912. To develop the economy of Northeast, farmers like my grandparents were encouraged to move their residence to Northeast provinces from the middle part of China. My father’s family chose Fushun to relocate, because it was built as an industrial city. Right after the factories were built, more and more people migrated there. Unlike my father, my mother’s family has been farming in North for a long time. However, they decided to move to Fushun for the same reason in 1953, a larger working opportunity.

Instead of migrating encouragement, my parents’ lives were influenced by the wars later. During the war, my parents’ life is much harder than how I live now. Most of citizens like my parents were struggling for their next meal. It was impossible for two parents take care four teens by their salary at that time. Which means that both my parents and their siblings must take care themselves as soon as they could. My mother always tells me the story when she was a teenager. I couldn’t even count how many times she has told me the stories about she taking care some businesses in her house, such as cleaning, cooking, and washing. Thirteen-year-old male like my father started to looking for a job. He worked so hard because he knows his responsibility. Almost all my relatives consider my father a hard-working man, and so do I.

As for myself, I am trapped by the One-Child Policy. Since there was no such policy when my parents were born in the 1960, both my parents have three siblings. My parents’ responsibility of caring the elders is divided with their siblings. Also, my parents could gain help from their siblings if they need to. In the contrast, the burden of caring my parents is on me. Since the Two-Child Policy effected from 2016, the burden is heaver for my generation. In this case, not only must I take care both my parents without any help, but I must also take care two children in the future. Though I am trapped by the One-Child Policy in certain ways, I am still benefit from it. My parents and I always say that finding a suitable job in China could be harder for me.

Altogether, my family’s life and mine as Chinese citizens have been fully influenced by my homeland. China is a country with a unique history. The modernization of China appears to affect every Chinese and the world. With no doubt that China have already influenced three generation of my family. Its effect to my family in the future remains unknown, because I came to the United States. Regardless how China will affect me and my children, there is one thing for sure. The only thing their ancestor Shang Jiang left my children is their family name. For that reason, they probably won’t remember their ancestor, Shang Jiang, but they will remember China as their homeland.