By David 

Destiny and Change

Every war in China, throughout history, has come with death and rebirth. There is a very famous proverb in Chinese that says “losers are always in the wrong.” I recall hearing about the war, which happened between 1945 and 1949. Chinese people call it the Second Chinese Civil War. Due to that war, the class system in Chinese society changed. The People’s Republic of China was founded by the Chinese Communist Party. Led by Mao Zedong, the new forces replaced the old forces, and capitalists and manor owners were replaced by farmers and workers. Owning property became a crime for the social classes. Mao’s revolution changed the destiny of every Chinese person. His goal was to set up an equal country. At that time, my grandfather was part of the upper class. Hence, my family also had a considerable change during this war, and this change caused me to come to the U.S.

one of the most important effects of the war was that it made my grandfather lose all of his property and social status. My grandfather graduated from the Harbin Institute of Technology in northeastern China. As a capitalist, he had not only three factories, but he also was a manor owner. However, he became a political prisoner after the war ended. He and my grandmother were exiled by the new government to a small village. Not only that, he did not have a chance to work even though he had a bachelor’s degree. Finally, he became an accountant in the local government. The government only provided the food, which was enough to live on, instead of a salary. Even though his financial situation would change due to a policy change, which until the Great Cultural Revolution ended, the second half of his life was still miserable.

  In addition, my father’s destiny was also changed with the war. An unreasonable law at that moment made my father unable to get a good education, or have normal civic rights. The law said that children of political prisoners could not go to a good school or join the communist party. Not only that, my father was criticized and isolated by the teachers at his other school, because he was a son of a political prisoner. He eventually decided to be a seaman after he graduated. He completed all of the tasks excellently and got a medal, but due to the strict law, they did not make him a communist. At that time, if a soldier was a communist, he would have a good job in the government, and he would get a fat salary and all of the social welfare. Even if my father was an excellent soldier, he did not have that chance due to his special identity. Therefore, there are many people, including my father, who could not change the destiny of their special identity.

Finally, the war not only influenced my grandfather and my father, but it also changed my life. Because of the change of the social system, new aristocratic clans formed. It is similar to the old boy network in the U.S. The new elite class monopolized all of the social resources that include, education, jobs and power. I could not go to a good university with honors because these schools are for the children of elites . If I wanted to get a good job, bribing the elite class, it is my only choice. The war changed my family and me. Hence, if I want to be a success, I had to leave that unfair society.  

All in all, the Second Chinese Civil War changed my grandfather and my father’s lives, and it also influenced my life. Although it is unfair for my family and me, we have not had the ability to change reality. It is unjust for some families as well as my family. They had similar experiences at that moment. War comes with death and rebirth. Unfortunately, my family experienced many change from this war. It is a death of devastating destiny. Fortunately, I arrived to a country, where everyone is equal. Now, I am trying to blend into this country, and I wish that I can be a success with my endeavor, which will mean a rebirth for me.