china, for you & me

Cynthia Ge

long ago, when the world was young and man was still beautiful, ten suns coexisted in our sky. bright and handsome and innocent, they took turns running across the horizon, chasing the moment through different dimensions. one day, in their playfulness, all ten suns decided to gather in the sky and refused to leave. scorching summers and famine befell mankind, but despite constant begging from the emperor, the suns remained stubborn, holding steadfast to their new playground. after realizing the futility of his efforts, the emperor sent his best archer, hou yi, to liberate his kingdom. courageous and filial, hou yi planted a knee in the deep desert and took aim: one by one, the suns fell from the sky, until only one remained. a millennium later, and we are still living with the consequences of hou yi’s decision. 

to reward him for saving mankind, the emperor gifted hou yi a single dose of the elixir of immortality. despite the immense lure of assuming godly status, hou yi found himself conflicted. he did not want to leave behind his wife, chang e. indecisive and hesitant, hou yi hid the elixir, hoping to reach a decision. before he could, however, his wife made the choice for him. some say that chang e, jealous of her husband’s fortune, found the elixir and greedily drank it herself. others say that hou yi’s apprentice planned on stealing the elixir, and chang e consumed it before immortality fell into the wrong hands. either way you look at it, she took what was her husband’s. either way, it’s betrayal. 

fearful of her husband’s retribution, chang e fled to the moon, hiding in the embrace of a sacred celestial body. a millennium later, she still lives out her sentence, forever confined to the dark side of the moon. 

a letter to my future daughter: 

culture is about history, and this is the story china left behind—passed on from generation to generation. when it falls into your hands, i hope you realize how many others it has touched. from thirty-year lives to bandaged feet, through countless wars and in sickness, all the way down to you. you are the collection of those experiences, a testament to china’s resilience—a representation of the country this story embodies. you hold legend, folklore, history, truth; isn’t that wildly humbling and recklessly inspiring? 

i promise, i’ll show you the land where ten suns found home. i’ll take you to the red-brick building my mother grew up in and the marble fountain i used to ride my bike around. i’ll buy you food from the street right outside your great-grandparents’ house, and teach you how to kick a 毽子 with the old grandpas in the afternoons. you’ll see that the skies are a clear, crisp blue; they used to be dull gray and depressing. when you walk around the city, make sure you notice the balance of space—for history, for innovation, for the people. take the time to revel in the variety of options at the supermarket, laugh at the indescribable chaos that is traffic, and love the way every person in this crowded space seems like family. i promise, you’ll see that this country is changing, is beautiful, is home. 

so on days when you cannot remember the smell of freshly fried 油条 in the morning and find yourself torn between red and white and blue, i hope you remember chang e’s story and find peace. he forgave her—did you know that? after years of bitterness and anger, hou yi let their love wash away the taste of betrayal and found forgiveness. he left chang e’s favorite cake outside as a peace offering whenever the moon was full, in hopes that his wife would glance down and find closure. our people continue hou yi’s tradition every year, offering mooncakes to the goddess who can never return. when chang e looks down from her celestial cage, i like to imagine her with a small smile, reminiscing about her husband and celebrating the fact that a millennium later, their love story lives on. 

i hope you have the same kind of love for china—the kind of love where distance can be filled with the experiences you shared and regret is eclipsed by second chances. even if you are an ocean, a planet, a lifetime away, like chang e staring down at earth with a resigned compromise, i hope you know you can always look towards the east and find peace in the fact that there is a world out there that will always accept you. 

love, 

mom