Grandma Wu gave each of us a red candle in a bamboo basket, telling us to remain silent and to speak only after lighting our candles. She turned off the lights, lit a candle for herself and placed it on the floor in front of her. Then she sat on the stool with the three boys and me in a semi-circle around her. It was strange to see the boys quiet after all the talking and joking at dinner.
I could see Grandma Wu’s white hair and refined features dimly outlined in the quivering candlelight. Her expression was serene and thoughtful. I half closed my eyes to concentrate. Within a few minutes, a sense of calm flowed through me. I knew I was entering an extraordinary world: a unique spiritual shelter.
Grandma Wu began to speak, her voice clear and calm. ‘We are gathered here this evening to welcome CC Ye, the niece of Grandma Liu’s goddaughter, Ye Jia-ming. The Dragon Society is a branch of the Shaolin Association of Wandering Knights that has existed in China for over fourteen hundred years. Our members have a tradition of helping those who have suffered unjustly and have nobody to turn to. During times of war, many children must fend for themselves. We are here for them.
‘A large part of China, including our great city of Shanghai, is occupied by Japanese invaders. Times are difficult. No one knows how long this will last.
‘I want you to understand that both happiness and unhappiness arise from within. A person’s strength lies in his desire to do the right thing by his conscience. I know that we all have different religious backgrounds. David is Christian, Sam is Jewish, Marat is Muslim and I am Buddhist. As a Buddhist, I consider God to be the same as heaven, and life as a Tao, journey, that takes us step by step towards the goal of heaven. To reach heaven is beyond our power. Our goal is to try to get there.
‘You, CC, have expressed a wish to join the Dragon Society. We are willing to consider this, but membership depends on merit. If you are found worthy, you will be invited to join. When you join, you will have to swear allegiance to our society for the rest of your life. Are you prepared to do this?’
Mindful that I was not to speak without lighting my candle, I nodded my head solemnly. Inside I was feeling a little uneasy. ‘The rest of my life is a big commitment,‘ I told myself. ‘Besides, I don’t really know anything about the Dragon Society yet’
‘You are forbidden to reveal anything that happens in the alcove. Candlelight meetings such as this must be kept secret at all times,’ Grandma Wu continued. ‘We are living in dangerous times and there is no room for error. The enemy is all around us.’
Grandma Wu turned to face me. ‘Tonight you must reveal yourself to us, CC. Tell us the story of your life so that we will know you from the heart. See these two boxes next to the bonsai tree? The one on the left is a door to your past. The one on the right is a window to your future. Here is a match. Light your candle. Now that your candle is lit, you may speak.’
I moved to the centre of the circle, where Grandma Wu handed me the box marked Gu Yi He and indicated that I should look into the two holes cut out at eye level. All I saw at first was a jumble of black dots against a white, brightly lit background.
‘You are looking into a Memory Vision Box, CC,’ Grandma Wu said quietly. ‘Our Academy places as much emphasis on dyanaor chan , meditation, as physical training. We aim to match the expansion of your mind with the development of your body. We need to understand your past so that we can blend the outside with the inside parts of your nature.
‘Look deeply into the box! The dots you see will rearrange themselves every time you press the button on the left. Take your time! Tell us what you see.’
Even before Grandma Wu finished speaking, I had already pressed the button on the left of the box. The dots organized themselves into a picture, like an old family photo in black and white. There was a large bed on which sat a family of three dressed in silk pyjamas: a father, mother and baby. The mother had the baby in her arms and I could see the father holding up a picture of a horse. I suppressed a gasp when I saw their faces.
‘I see my father and mother!’ I said, overcome with emotion. ‘And me! It was a long time ago when Mama was still alive. She used to read to me before putting me to bed. Sometimes, Papa would sit with us. I remember that evening: Mama told me I was born in the year of the horse and Papa showed me what a horse looked like. He tried to write the word “horse” with a brush, but ink dripped on to the sheet and Mama scolded him.
‘Mama!’ I whispered, as I stared hungrily into the box. ‘Papa!’
Neither of my parents looked at me. I pressed my face against the box and felt a terrible ache inside, half pain and half nostalgia. For the first time since Mama’s death, I spoke openly of her. I told Grandma Wu and the boys of my mother’s last illness and the nightmare of her death; the anguish of meeting Papa’s girlfriend and being forced to call her Niang; the increasing coldness of my father and the knowledge that I had become a thorn in his side; the daily humiliation and incessant criticism at home. As the words tumbled out of my mouth, I felt a heavy weight gradually lift from my shoulders. I ended by telling them of the quarrel with Niang that had resulted in my being kicked out of my father’s house. Tears flowed down my cheeks.
Suddenly the room was lit up with the light of three more candles and the boys were kneeling in front of me. They held their candles aloft in their raised fists as they chanted in unison:
We are members of the Dragon Society
We are the reincarnated Wandering Knights of Mount Liang
We help people seeking for truth to find the Tao
We fight on behalf of those unjustly accused.
The yielding conquers the resistant
The soft vanquishes the hard
Overcome the opponent by stillness
Subdue the enemy at the instant of attack.
The one standing on tiptoe does not stand firm
The one taking the longest strides may not be the fastest.
United we stand till the end of our lives
In Unity there is Power.
An enormous sense of relief swept over me. For the first time since Niang had come into my life, I was surrounded by people who were on my side. I was no longer alone. We bowed three times, first to the characters Fu Dao, then to Grandma Wu and finally to each other.
Grandma Wu lit her candle. Her expression was fierce and compassionate at the same time.
‘Oh! CC!’ she said tenderly. ‘Thank you for your moving words and for sharing your past with us. Tonight’s ceremony marks a new beginning. Tomorrow you will start your apprenticeship and your life with us at our academy. If you do well, you will be asked to become a member. Meanwhile, we as a family welcome you. Besides your Big Aunt, you now have me as your grandmother, Master Wu as your second father and David, Sam and Marat as your brothers. Members of our society are linked to other like-minded people throughout the world. All of us believe in equality, democracy, morality, independence, justice and fair play. That is what we are fighting for.
‘Chinese people now have the choice of resistance or submission to the Japanese occupation of our country. Our society has chosen to resist, so China can become free and independent one day. This is our sacred mission.’
Grandma Wu handed me the second box marked Wei Lai He, Future Vision Box. This time there were no eyeholes, but a decorative lid, which I opened. The box was divided into two chambers. The larger contained a red robe, a hat and a pair of sandals. Inside the smaller compartment was a tattered book bound in red cloth. A bundle of sticks, neatly tied with a cord, was attached to the book’s spine.
‘It looks very old,’ I said.
‘This book was written over three thousand years ago,’ she said. ‘It is called the Yi Jing or Book of Changes. We Chinese believe that everything in the world changes with time. The only thing that does not change is that everything changes.’
‘I know about the Yi Jing’ I exclaimed. ‘At thebazaar this afternoon, the fortune-teller in the stall next to yours was fiddling with a bunch of sticks. I heard him
tell a customer that the Yi Jing is a Book of Magic that can foretell everyone’s future!’
‘The Yi Jing is actually a Book of Wisdom,’ Grandma Wu said. ‘If I were to tell you that a mysterious stranger might visit you tonight, there is nothing you can do about his visit but wait. The stranger may or may not arrive. That is fate. Consulting the Yi Jing will not help in such an instance.’
‘But is it a Book of Magic?’ I asked.
‘Yes and no! There are times when we‘re uncertain as to what we should do, knowing that our fate hangs in the balance. But how do we know which is the right road and which the wrong? How do we make the correct choice? On those occasions, when we wish to decide our own future but are confused as to what to do, the Yi Jing can definitely be of help.’
‘Please may I read it now?’ I asked eagerly.
Grandma Wu smiled gently at the hunger in my eyes but her voice was firm. ‘It is not the right time yet, CC,’ she said. ‘When that time comes, I will tell you.’
I was desperate to open the book, but knew I had to be patient. I kept silent but couldn’t help wondering whether the boys had also looked into the two Vision Boxes at some point. If so, what had they seen? Had they been allowed to read the Yi Jing yet? What did it tell them about their future?
Waves of weariness suddenly swept over me and I started to yawn. Soon everyone was yawning.
‘Catching, isn’t it?’ Grandma Wu said with a smile. ‘It’s been a long day. Especially for you, GG. This meeting is now over and you can all go to bed. Please blow out your candles. Even though there’s no school tomorrow because it’s Saturday, I expect to see the four of you downstairs in the kitchen at seven o‘clock sharp.’
6
Kung Fu
I woke to find a ray of light from a skylight on my face, and David standing over my bed. ‘Wake up, CC!’ His hair was tousled as usual, his eyes eager. ‘Everyone’s waiting for you.’
For a moment I couldn’t work out where I was. With a dull thud, I remembered the events of the previous day. Had all of that happened in just one day? What would Father be thinking as I hadn’t come home all night? I hadn’t told him about Big Aunt leaving for Nan Tian Island. Would he assume I was staying with her? But as I relived how he had thrown me out of the house, my fear was replaced by anger. David must have sensed my sombre mood, but he said nothing about it. ‘Hurry up! Grandma Wu wants you to get dressed and come downstairs as soon as possible!’ he urged as he left my room.
I dressed quickly in my school uniform, as I had nothing else to wear. Sam, Marat and David were already eating breakfast when I came to the table. They were dressed in identical dark blue cotton pants and black T-shirts. I apologized for being late and sat down at the place they had set for me between David and Sam. I was starving, and the simple breakfast of congee, boiled peanuts and salted duck egg tasted wonderful.
‘Where’s Grandma Wu?’ I asked between mouthfuls.
‘She’s watering her plants and feeding her pigeons,’ Marat said, scrutinizing a sheet of paper in front of him. ‘She’s given us our chores for the week. David and CC are to plan next week’s daily dinner menu, cook the meals and do the washing up. Sam and I have to do the laundry, water the plants, clean the toilets and sweep the rooms. Everybody helps to make lunch today.’
‘Oh, no!’ Sam groaned. ‘I’d much rather cook than clean toilets!’
‘I’ll help clean the toilets if you teach me how to cook!’ I suggested shyly. ‘Those dumplings last night were wonderful! What did you and Marat put in them?’
‘Minced chicken, ginger, scallions, water chestnuts and soya sauce,’ Sam said. ‘Nothing to it. Cooking’s easy!’
‘Never trust a skinny cook!’ said David, eyeing Sam’s slender frame and laughing. ‘Let’s stick to Grandma Wu’s schedule. I can show you how to cook, CC.’
‘Does that mean you won’t be helping me with the toilets?’ Sam asked me.
‘The truth is, I don’t know how to clean toilets either,’ I said, feeling useless and dejected. ‘We always had servants to do stuff like that. But I need to learn to clean toilets too. If you‘ll show me how, I‘ll do it for you.’
‘OK! That’s a deal!’
After we’d finished washing up, Grandma Wu called us into the courtyard. She lined us up according to our height: David, Marat, Sam and me. Then she handed me a piece of paper. On it was the poem from last night.
‘The boys already know this poem by heart,’ she said. ‘You need to learn it too, CC.’
The four of us chanted in unison: ‘We are members of the Dragon Society…’ until the end.
‘Now let’s show CC what you can do,’ Grandma Wu said to the boys.
They moved into position and started to stretch their limbs, turn somersaults, leapfrog over one another and dance on their toes while shadow-boxing in the air.
While they were warming up, Grandma Wu told me: ‘My purpose in teaching you kung fu is to give you inner courage and self-confidence. You will learn to climb walls like a lizard, swim like a dolphin and run through fire without burning. Most importantly, you will learn about focusing the direction of your qi (pronounced chee) , the powerful life force that exists within all living things. Skill and power in kung fu come from channelling your qi and transforming it into movement and fluidity. Qi is the foundation of a person’s courage, will and perseverance.’
As I was pondering Grandma Wu’s words, she blew a whistle hanging around her neck. The boys stopped their exercises and raced to a bamboo pole that was leaning against a wall. Taking turns to hold the pole steady, they climbed to the top of the wall before jumping down and doing it all over again. Grandma Wu gradually decreased the angle between the pole and the wall. Finally, she removed the pole altogether. To my amazement I saw them scaling the wall like lizards, without the aid of anything but their bare hands and feet.
Next the three of them ran to an enormous barrel designed so that the water inside could drain only from a spout at the bottom. David climbed up the side of the barrel, all the way to its rim, followed by the others. Keeping their distance, the boys began to run faster and faster along the rim.
‘The purpose of this drill is to walk quickly and lightly and to balance your weight against the weight of others,’ Grandma Wu said to me. ‘Now I will take out some of the water. The boys have been learning to balance not just when the barrel is full, but even when it’s empty and wobbly.’
I felt as if I were in a world of make-believe, surrounded by-kung-fu heroes from the fabled Shaolin Monastery and wandering warriors who had descended from Mount Liang.
‘We all need to move noiselessly in times of danger and to leave no footprints,’ Grandma Wu continued. ‘The boys also know how to leave misleading footprints. Let me show you.’
Grandma Wu whistled again and the boys leapt down from the top of the barrel. Their skin glistened with sweat, but they were not even breathing hard. I marvelled at their superb physical condition and wondered if I would ever be so fit.
Grandma Wu moved to a sandpit, which she covered with large, thin sheets of paper. One by one, the boys stepped on the surface and walked so lightly that there was not a single tear. Then she removed the paper and the boys practised walking sideways on the sand.
‘Walking sideways leaves tracks that confuse the enemy,’ Grandma Wu explained to me. ‘It’s impossible to work out the direction of the footprints.’
The morning continued with the boys doing a series of exercises and drills: kicking, footwork, punches, knife-hand thrusts and speed drills. Sam and Marat then rehearsed separate routines and special techniques with David, in preparation for his big match the next day. I watched them rolling their bodies into balls, walking on their hands and knees like cats and tensing their stomach muscles while their abdomens were pounded. I began to copy them and Grandma Wu showed me a few simple movements to increase my flexibility.
The hours passed quickly and soon it was time for lunch. Marat washed and cooked the rice, Sam
whipped the eggs, David chopped the vegetables and I boiled chicken bones in water to make soup. There was a lot of laughing and joking as we all pitched in. The boys teased me about my clumsy hands and I became more and more determined to catch up. When I found a recipe book on the kitchen bookshelf I tried to memorize the recipes for chicken soup as well as fried rice with eggs and vegetables.
While Grandma Wu was picking herbs and vegetables in the garden, I asked the boys if they had ever used their kung fu on a secret mission.
‘Our finest hour was that night when the three of us fought the two Russian thugs who were trying to kidnap Ivanov,’ Sam said, looking at Marat.
‘Who’s Ivanov?’
‘Ivanov is my big brother,’ Marat said. ‘He is seventeen years older than me.’ He hesitated and looked down at the floor. ‘I should tell you the whole story. Otherwise you won’t understand - it’s complicated.’
‘Russian thugs!’ I said. ‘Are you Russian?’
‘Our mother was Russian and our father Japanese. They both died of tuberculosis when I was three years old. We used to live in Harbin, a city up north in Manchuria…
‘Ivanov’s best friend in Harbin was a talented French Jewish pianist called Simon Kaske, whose father owned a lot of hotels and was very rich. Times were bad. When the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931, some of the Russian refugees living there began to work for the Kempeitei, the Japanese Secret Police. The Russians would kidnap wealthy people for ransom and divide their loot with the Kempeitei. One of their victims was Simon Kaske. Simon’s father refused to pay the ransom, and Simon was killed.
‘My brother never, got over it. He was determined to find the killers. He discovered that they were members of the Russian Fascist Party. But when he reported them to the French Consulate in Harbin, he didn’t know that the murderers were being protected by the Japanese.