In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

c h a p t e r 5  “Another C. Y.” Chiang Yee wrote a New Year’s resolution in Chinese with a brush pen on absorbent rice paper. Though undated, it is probably from the late 1930s. From today on I will consistently work very hard on my English language skills for two years, learning to speak fluently and write quickly, and I will then go to America to live there for a few years. Above all, I should perfect my painting techniques. The world is so big that one can surely find a place to survive. New Year’s Resolution by Silent Man1 The signature “Silent Man” in its original Chinese was ya-zi: ya means “mute,” “dumb,” or “silent;” and zi is a noun suffix, meaning “man” here. Like most of his contemporaries, he had a school name, that is, 仲雅 Chung-ya (or Zhong-ya), from which came the new name—重啞 Zhong-ya—he made for himself soon after arriving in England. This new name was homophonous with his school name but entirely different in meaning: 重 zhong stands for “heavy,” and 啞 ya for “mute.”2 This new name carried a doleful undertone, as Xu Beihong later noted. However, Yee defended his decision by explaining that he had left China because he was fed up with endless disputes with local bureaucrats and the government, and he appreciated the peace that ensued after his resignation as an immeasurable joy. Nevertheless, the name certainly had a somber tone. As the Chinese proverb goes,“A dumb person tastes bitter herbs—suffering in silence.” Without linguistic competency in this new world, Yee had virtually transformed into a deaf and dumb person.3 Obviously, this new name became his favorite. From 1935, it appeared in his letters, paintings, and writings, and quite often he simply used the word ya, that is, “silent” or “mute.” In the meantime, he used the pen name 啞行者 yaxingzhe, or “silent traveller.” The phrase 行者 xingzhe, which literally means “walking man” or “traveler,” also 65 chiang yee 66 carries some religious connotations as it could refer to a “monk” or “priest.” Shih-I Hsiung stated in September 1935 that Yee “sometimes signs his pictures with the pen-name of ‘The Silent Priest.’”4 Yee discussed this pen name in the following undated poem: There have been only three Travellers in the world, The first being Sun Wukong and the second Wu Song. The third is the Jiujiang folk, Who can neither subjugate a tiger nor display any superior power.5 Sun Wukong, also known as the Sun Traveller or Monkey, is a legendary character in the classic novel Journey to the West. Gifted with magical powers and faithful to his master, he successfully accompanied the Buddhist monk Xuanzang to India in search of the sacred sutra. Wu Song, also known as the Wu Traveller, is a heroic character in the classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh. His story of fighting and killing a monstrous tiger with his bare fists is one of the most exciting stories known to the Chinese. Admitting, rather self-deprecatingly, to his lack of physical strength and prowess, Yee identified himself as one of the trio. However, there is a major difference between him and the other two: rather than affixing his family name Chiang to “Traveller,” he instead used ya, or “silence,” as though this had become his identifying nomenclature. On January 2, Yee received three letters from Innes Jackson. She had just left with her mother for Palestine to visit her sister, who was working in Jerusalem. From there, she was to travel via Suez to China to attend university. “Dearest 靜,”Yee began his reply on January 3.“I had your three letters together yesterday morning! I was overjoyed. After I read them one after the other I found myself deeply affected by you and thought myself to have gone to your side! Oh, dearest, how good of you to have written so and you know, as I told you, that you are the only dearest person of mine in this world.”6 His beautiful cursive handwriting flowed across the page, and his long pentup feelings gushed out. The distance between them now allowed Yee to express his feelings in words, though he complained that it was “so hard and difficult to express my ideas” in English. You know, my dear, I am a very very [sic] sentimental person. Although I am like that, yet I have never been able...

Share