The story of the family and country in the bank, the voice of overseas Chinese across the mountains and seas.
The letters are not only a bridge between overseas Chinese and their hometowns, but also record the stories of their entrepreneurship, struggle, and mental journey, as well as the life changes of overseas Chinese families.
In June 2013, the "Overseas Chinese Archives - Overseas Chinese Bank and Trust" was inducted into the "Memory of the World Register", which attracted global attention. This memory not only contains the national spirit of the ancestors of overseas Chinese who endured humiliation, dedication and integrity, self-reliance, pioneering spirit, and tenacious struggle, but also reflects their deep concern for their hometown and humanistic care for friendship and mutual assistance.
Huang Baoshi wrote to his family on March 29, 1973.
In the cover of a letter written on March 29, 1973, Huang Baoshi was very happy to learn that his son Huang Zhuocai's family was on vacation in Guangzhou. He said that although he had never been to Guangzhou since he was born, he would visit Guangzhou one day if his life permitted.
At the same time, he mentioned that the Indochina War had been signed a peace agreement, and that the people in all regions of Southeast Asia were at peace and did not need to worry about the war day and night. In addition, he said that the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Chinese Republican people** is inevitable.
With regard to this year's remittances, Cuba has already sent a delegation to Beijing for consultations, and if the agreement is signed, the remittances can be approved. Wong Po-sze said that he was in normal health, and although he was 74 years old, he was still able to move regularly.
He hopes that the happy scene of his son's family celebrating the festival in Guangzhou will bring them good memories.
Huang Baoshi, left on March 1, 1952 in the city of Gran Sagua, Cuba**. He mentioned the changes in the international situation at that time, two important aspects of which were the truce of the Indochina War and the possibility of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
The Indochina War, also known as the Vietnam War, was the signing of a peace agreement between the United States and the Saigon regime on January 27, 1973, which stipulated that all U.S. troops and their servants should be withdrawn from South Vietnam by March 29.
Regarding Sino-US relations, Huang Baoshi has been paying close attention. In his letter of October 10, 1971, he mentioned that the United States sent high-level officials to visit China, and world peace might change, and this change referred to Kissinger's first secret visit to China from July 9 to 11, 1971.
In 1971, Kissinger visited China twice, which turned China and the United States from antagonism and hostility to contacts and exchanges. In particular, Nixon**'s visit to China in February 1972 further improved Sino-US relations, marking the end of hostilities between the two countries and the beginning of a new chapter in peaceful exchanges.
Huang Baoshi believes that this is a major change in world peace. Based on these circumstances, in this letter he wrote in 1973, the day when China and the United States formally establish diplomatic relations will not be too far off.
His concern for the international situation reflects Huang Baoshi's noble sentiments of loving the motherland and peace. It is worth noting that the letter was written on March 19, 1973, more than a month before the Chinese New Year.
Generally speaking, it takes more than a month to send an air letter from China to Cuba each way, and it will take longer if there are special circumstances. During the Spring Festival in 1971, Huang Baoshi wrote a letter to his family that he was very anxious because he had not received a reply to the previous letter for four months.
In the old days, it only took 40 days to make a round trip, but now it takes 70 days. In the era of communication, family letters are the only link between overseas Chinese and their families, due to the barrier of Guanshan, it is not easy to send family letters, which often leads to overseas Chinese and other letters eager to wear.
The big history behind the family letters.
Huang Baoshi's shop in the city of Gran Sagua, in the province of Villaclara, Cuba, taken in the 30s of the 20th century. During his days in a foreign country, he relied on family letters to keep in touch with his wife and children back home.
Most of these letters have been lost, but his son Huang Zhuocai kept 44 letters, most of which were written to him between 1952 and 1975.
These letters not only reveal the trajectory of Huang Baoshi's life and the changes in his family life in the second half of his life, but also record the impact of the Cuban Revolution and the establishment of the new **. In 1959, the Cuban Revolution was victorious and the first socialist country in the Americas was established, which had a far-reaching impact on the international situation and the lives of the Cuban people and overseas Chinese.
In the book, Huang Zhuocai briefly recounts these historical events and introduces the development of Sino-Cuban friendship. In 1964, Huang Zhuocai's mother died in Guangzhou, which was a huge blow to their overseas Chinese family.
Family letters are not only a portrayal of personal life, but also a witness to social history.
Huang Baoshi's family letter reveals the deep affection of overseas Chinese for the motherland. As a member of overseas Chinese, he paid close attention to the development of the motherland through channels such as **, and even delivered a speech at the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War held at the Chinese Association in Cuba, speaking highly of the major contributions made by the Communist Party of China and the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army under its leadership.
However, Cuba's policy towards overseas Chinese and the difficult situation of the old overseas Chinese made him advise his son to give up the idea of immigrating to Cuba, because China's low-wage system is handled in accordance with the domestic environment, although it is not very rich, but every citizen has food.
Huang Baoshi attaches great importance to family letters, and he believes that returning to China and remittances are the main content of many books, and the remittances he sent back from Cuba not only cover his family's expenses, but also do not forget to subsidize his mother-in-law and wife.
His son Huang Zhuocai strictly obeyed his father's teachings, took "self-creation" as the principle of life, and relied on his unremitting efforts to overcome one difficulty after another in work and life, and achieved extraordinary results.
In June 2014, Mr. and Mrs. Wong Cheuk-choi led their family, including their son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, to Cuba in search of their father's footsteps. Behind the group photo they took is the Tai Sha Hua Chinese Association, and the third from the left is the then chairman of the association, Huang Mario, who is of Chinese descent.
This article was originally published on January 19, 2023, in the 11th edition of the Spring and Autumn Weekly of the People's Political Consultative Conference Daily, by Zhang Ding, a research librarian and deputy curator of the Family Book Museum at the Chinese People's University.