Destiny in A Call to China
One of the central themes of the novel is the idea of destiny, Chinese: ming or yuanfen. Some people would take these terms to mean nothing more than luck or chance, others, religiously inclined, would think of them as implying something more, a great force or power that determines the events of our lives, call it God's will, pre-destination, karma, kismet, or the influence of our stars.
In the novel, destiny can refer to a direction or overall pattern of life--as Olivia's growing determination to return to China, or her becoming a Catholic; or to more specific events in her life, such as her meeting with Kaiyuan at the site in Beijing where their old Presbyterian manse is being demolished.
Of course, it is always a matter of how to interpret such things. A non-religious person will likely say that such life trajectories or specific events are simply a matter of chance or coincidence, no reason for their happening need be sought outside the individual involved--her or his DNA, brain capacity, endowments, types of intelligence (mathematical, social, artistic, etc.). A roll of the dice.
A religious or spiritual person will believe that there is some greater power or force that operates in their lives beyond the confines of one's individual boundaries or limitations. The novel suggests such an interpretation of the lives of its main characters--Olivia becomes a Catholic, despite the fact that her mother is inclined toward Buddhism, Victoria is kidnapped by a Chinese sectarian group that is mostly Daoist in its orientation, but is hidden in a Buddhist nunnery because of the dangers posed by Japanese occupation of north China, so that when she does not quite fit in with the sect's plan for her, her Buddhist training helps her adjust. And when she has a kind of enlightenment experience it is Buddhist in nature. In the final scene, when the two sisters finally meet, the earlier events of their lives allow them to come together in a realization of a spiritual family that transcends blood ties.
The call to China, for their father, is his missionary call. For Livia it is her inner urging to return to find her sister, and finally it means the call of both sisters to find in China the unity and belonging they could not find in their blood family.
But when I came up with the title for my novel, I realized that it refers to me as well, my own call to China, which began at age 13 when I read a book called "The Good Earth," by Pearl Buck. At the time I knew nothing about China, nor were my parents interested in it. We moved into a new home and the book was left in it by the previous owner. It made a deep impression on me but I didn't realize it at the time. Some twenty years passed, including seven years in the Franciscan Order, and I can still hear my academic advisor at U. Chicago saying: "you must study religion in a particular culture. Will it be India or China?" Although I was strongly attracted to Hinduism, without knowing exactly why, I replied without hesitation, "China."
Then I began learning the language, the history, the art, the religions of China, passing tests, writing a dissertation, getting a job teaching at UNCCharlotte, and forty years after reading "The Good Earth," my wife and I adopted a Chinese daughter. Maybe that was what it was all about, the real purpose of so much that came before. Then I wrote a novel about it, and now, almost 80 years old, I'm blogging about it! One thing is certain for me. I can't believe that this hole chain of events, is just chance, luck, co-incidence, a roll of the dice.
In the novel, destiny can refer to a direction or overall pattern of life--as Olivia's growing determination to return to China, or her becoming a Catholic; or to more specific events in her life, such as her meeting with Kaiyuan at the site in Beijing where their old Presbyterian manse is being demolished.
Of course, it is always a matter of how to interpret such things. A non-religious person will likely say that such life trajectories or specific events are simply a matter of chance or coincidence, no reason for their happening need be sought outside the individual involved--her or his DNA, brain capacity, endowments, types of intelligence (mathematical, social, artistic, etc.). A roll of the dice.
A religious or spiritual person will believe that there is some greater power or force that operates in their lives beyond the confines of one's individual boundaries or limitations. The novel suggests such an interpretation of the lives of its main characters--Olivia becomes a Catholic, despite the fact that her mother is inclined toward Buddhism, Victoria is kidnapped by a Chinese sectarian group that is mostly Daoist in its orientation, but is hidden in a Buddhist nunnery because of the dangers posed by Japanese occupation of north China, so that when she does not quite fit in with the sect's plan for her, her Buddhist training helps her adjust. And when she has a kind of enlightenment experience it is Buddhist in nature. In the final scene, when the two sisters finally meet, the earlier events of their lives allow them to come together in a realization of a spiritual family that transcends blood ties.
The call to China, for their father, is his missionary call. For Livia it is her inner urging to return to find her sister, and finally it means the call of both sisters to find in China the unity and belonging they could not find in their blood family.
But when I came up with the title for my novel, I realized that it refers to me as well, my own call to China, which began at age 13 when I read a book called "The Good Earth," by Pearl Buck. At the time I knew nothing about China, nor were my parents interested in it. We moved into a new home and the book was left in it by the previous owner. It made a deep impression on me but I didn't realize it at the time. Some twenty years passed, including seven years in the Franciscan Order, and I can still hear my academic advisor at U. Chicago saying: "you must study religion in a particular culture. Will it be India or China?" Although I was strongly attracted to Hinduism, without knowing exactly why, I replied without hesitation, "China."
Then I began learning the language, the history, the art, the religions of China, passing tests, writing a dissertation, getting a job teaching at UNCCharlotte, and forty years after reading "The Good Earth," my wife and I adopted a Chinese daughter. Maybe that was what it was all about, the real purpose of so much that came before. Then I wrote a novel about it, and now, almost 80 years old, I'm blogging about it! One thing is certain for me. I can't believe that this hole chain of events, is just chance, luck, co-incidence, a roll of the dice.
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