Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 07-13-12 21:34
鄭三發別名蔣介石 Zheng Sanfa alias Chiang Kai-shek
On 31st October, twenty five years before the Republic of China (1887),
a baby boy was born into a family by the surname of Zheng (鄭). This family
was in a little village called Houzheng Zhuang (後鄭莊) which was near the
town of Fancheng Zhen (繁城鎮) in the city of Xuzhou (許州 present day city
of Xuchang 許昌) in Henan province (河南省). This baby boy was named Zheng
Sanfa (鄭三發) by his father. The eldest brother of Zheng Sanfa was called
Zheng Shaofa (鄭紹發) who was seven years older than him. Zheng Erfa (鄭二
發), his second brother was four years his senior.
Zheng Sanfa's father was a diligent and industrious farmer who owned a reasonable
fertile farm of about twenty Mus (畝 6 Mus = one acre). Sanfa's father also
owned a mill. The villagers paid Sanfa's father a small fee for using his
mill to grind their wheat into flour. A family of five lived quite comfortably.
As Sanfa was the youngest his parents pampered him. When Zheng Shaofa was
five years old he was employed by a neighbouring family as a cow herd and
so did Erfa when he was six. However, at the age of seven Sanfa still behaved
like a spoiled child.
Three Lis (one Li = 1/3 of an English mile) away, there was a village called
Qianzheng Zhuang (前鄭莊) where there were big houses and the residents
were prosperous farmers. Whereas the residents of Houzheng Zhuang were much
poorer. The Zheng family was considered as a well-off family in Houzheng
Zhuang. Sanfa's mother, in every way, wanted to follow the way of life as
that of the residents of Qianzheng Zhuang. She wanted to send Sanfa to school
and she did not want all her sons to be peasants. 人向高處爬﹐水往低出流
or a man should climb high and water usually flows downward that she repeatedly
said in front of Sanfa's father. Frequently, Sanfa's father replied his
wife by saying that it cost money to send Sanfa to school. Eventually his
father did not agree with his mother's insistence of sending him to school.
Sanfa was a naughter boy and many a time he congregated the kids in the
village and forced them to recognize him as their king. When the kids refused
to his demand Sanfa would wallop them until they submit. Among the kids
in the village he was really a big bully. Sanfa also liked to make friends
with those kids in Qianzheng Zhuang as they were the children of the wealthy
farmers.
Shaofa and Erfa followed their father tilling in the field. Since he was
spoiled and pampered by his mother Sanfa did not labour in the field. Sanfa
only helped in the field during the harvesting season when there was a shortage
of labour.
In the eighteenth year reign of Qing Emperor Guang Xu (清光緒 i.e 1892),
when Zheng Sanfa was six years old there was a famine in Xuzhou in Henan
province.赤地千里﹐寸草不生 (a thousand li of barren and nothing grows),
the peasants were leaving the land. Zheng Sanfa's father wanted the family
to flee to Luoyang (洛陽), in the northwest of Henan province, but his wife
refused to leave home. She insisted that she rather starved to death at
home than die on the road.
The next day before Zheng Sanfa's father left home he asked his three sons
if they wanted to follow him to Luo Yang. Only Lao Da (老大), Zheng Shao-fa
followed his father. Lao Er (老二 Er-fa) and Lao San (老三 Sanfa) stayed
behind with their mother.
The following day there were some people arrived at the village wanting
to buy young girls to become housemaids and young boys to serve in the army.
Erfa sold himself off for a biscuit and two dumplings which could sustain
his mother and his younger brother for a few days. Then Erfa followed the
buyers heading to the city of Tianjin (天津) in Hebei province (河北省).
Zheng Sanfa and his mother were left in the house.
Several days later, all the hungry residents had left the village of Houzheng
Zhuang except a few who were so stubborn like Sanfa's mother that they refused
to budge. Eventually, they had to give in to hunger and left the village
to go somewhere else. They were heading for Kaifeng (開封), in the northeast
of Henan province.
On the way, Sanfa and his mother met a lot of hungry refugees like themselves
heading for Kaifeng. From Xuzhou to Kaifeng they had to pass through the
places of Wunudian (五女店), Yanling (鄢陵), Chaizhuang (柴莊), Weishi
(尉士), Zhuxian Zhen (朱仙鎮) and Xinghua Ying (杏花營). On their way, Sanfa
and his mother met a crippled man called Jiang Erguai (姜二枴) who was the
only man from their village. The three of them continued their trudging
to Kaifeng.
It was snowing when they finally reached their destination, Kaifeng. During
those time there were no refugee camps or charity hostels. The three of
them put up in a dilapidated old temple. There was no way they could sustain
themselves except by begging in the streets.
On day, Jiang Erguai told Sanfa's mother that there was a family by the
surname of Jiang (將) requied a nusery governess. The man of this family
was called Jiang Zhaocong (將肇聰), whose wife had passed away several days
ago and he had a baby son called Xihou (錫侯) and a daughter called Ruichun
(瑞春). Jiang Zhaocong was a salt dealer as well as a scholar who had bought
himself an advocating license and was allowed to handle court cases. The
hometown of Jiang Zhaocong was in Fenghua (奉化) in Zhejiang province (浙
江省).
Actually, the surname of Sanfa's mother was Wang (王) and she was about
thirty years old and was quite beautiful. Jiang Zhaocong agreed to employ
her and called her by the name of Wang Ma (王媽). Jiang Zhaocong also agreed
to allow Wang Ma and her son, Sanfa, to move in to live with his family.
Since Jiang Erguai was crippled no one wanted to employ him. Jiang Erguai
survived by begging in the streets and the handout from Wang Ma who was
now in charge of the house work of Jiang family. Wang Ma blamed Jiang Erguai
for knowing too much about her. So one day, when Jiang Erguai came for food,
Wang Ma asked Sanfa to tell him not to come to bother her any more. Since
then the mother and son had not seen or heard of Jiang Erguai.
Jiang Zhaocong (蔣肇聰) had been a businessman in dealing salt for many
years and had a little fortune. Since his wife had passed away he was thinking
of remarrying so that there would be a woman in the family. However, he
was afraid that his children might not get along well with their new mother.
Since Wang Ma was a refugee with only a son and without other members of
her family it was a good idea to marry her. Besides, Wang Ma was very kind
to his children and Zheng Sanfa was treating his children as if they were
his own brother and sister. Jiang Zhaocong was thinking of going back to
his home town for good. His home town was in Xikou town (溪口鎮) in Fenghua
county (奉化縣) of Zhejiang province (浙江省); as the proverb says: 葉落
歸根 (the leaves fall and return to the roots - everything reverts to its
original source).
During the spring the next year Jiang Zhaocong married Wang Ma and decided
to retire to his hometown. It was a not elaborate marriage. Jiang Zhaocong
wanted Zheng Sanfa to change his surname and name. So he named his stepson
Jiang Zhoutai ((蔣周泰) alias Jiang Ruiyuan (蔣瑞元) and school name was
Jiang Zhiqing (蔣志清). From then on Zheng Sanfa's surname was Jiang (蔣
). However, the neighbouring kids called him "Tuo You Bing 拖油瓶" which
meant the child or children of a remarried woman. Jiang Zhiqing (蔣志清 or
Zheng Sanfa 鄭三發) hated to be called "Tuo You Ping" by the kids. So he
gave himself a name and called himself Zong Zheng (宗鄭). Zong (宗) meant
ancestral and Zheng (鄭) was his surname. To Jiang Zhiqing it meant that
although his surname was Jinag (蔣) yet his ancestral (宗) surname was Zheng
(鄭). In his later life, when he was involved in politics he called himself
Jiang Zhongzheng (蔣中正) which sounded the same as Jiang Zongzheng (蔣宗
鄭).
When the spring season was over the Jiang family headed for home. Jiang
Zhiqing was sent to study under a tutor called Ren Jiemei (任介眉). Jiang
Zhiqing was a extremely naughty boy and within a few months he was expelled
by the tutor. Then he was sent to study under a relative of Jiang Zhaocong
called Jiang Qinfan (蔣謹藩). By then Wang Ma had given birth to a baby
girl who was named Ruilian (瑞蓮) by Jiang Zhaocong.
The next year, Wang Ma had another baby girl who was called Ruiju (瑞菊).
Actually Jiang Zhaocong had an old father living at home. He was called
Jiang Yubiao (蔣玉表) who was over eighty years old. Jiang Yubiao was very
angry when he discovered that Wang Ma was a refugee. There was nothing he
could do because Wang Ma had already given him two granddaughters. In the
tenth month of the twentieth year reign of Guang Xu (光緒 1894) Jiang Yubiao
passed away.
The next month Wang Ma gave birth to a baby boy who was called Ruiqing (瑞
青). Unfortunately, in the seventh month of the following year (1895) Jiang
Zhaocong passed away. He was fifty four years old. However, without the
knowledge of Wang Ma and Jiang Zhiqing, the father of Zheng Sanfa also died
during the same month in Henan province. This is:
夫君窮途潦倒死,
妾在深閨那得知.
The main point of this story is:
Zheng Sanfa, Jiang Zhiqing, Jiang Zhongzheng was known as Chiang Kai-shek
(蔣介石) in the West.
Posted to asiawind.com
By CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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