The Last of the Whampoa Breed: Stories of the Chinese Diaspora

by Chi Pang-Yuan (Editor), David Der-wei Wang (Editor)

Whampoa Military Academy was China's first modern military institution. For decades the "Spirit of Whampoa" was invoked as the highest praise to all Chinese soldiers who guarded their nation heroically. But of all the battles these soldiers have fought, the most challenging one was the civil war that resulted in the "great divide" of China in the mid-twentieth century. In 1949 the Communists exiled a million soldiers and their families to compounds in Taiwan and cut off communication with mainland China for forty years.

The Last of the Whampoa Breed tells the stories of the exiles written by their descendants, many of whom have become Taiwan's most important authors. The book is an important addition to the vastly underrepresented literature of Taiwan in translation and sheds light on the complex relationship between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. Western readers will not at first recognize the experiences of these soldiers who were severed from a traditional past only to face unfulfilled promises and uncertain futures. Many of the exiles were doomed to live and die homeless and loveless. Yet these life stories reveal a magnanimous, natural dignity that has transcended prolonged mental suffering. "I Wanted to Go to War" describes the sadly ineffectual, even comic attempts to "recapture the mainland." The old soldier in "Tale of Two Strangers" asks to have his ashes scattered over both the land of his dreams and the island that has sheltered him for forty years.

Some of the stories recount efforts to make peace with life in Taiwan, as in "Valley of Hesitation," and the second generation's struggles to find a place in the native island society as in "The Vanishing Ball" and "In Remembrance of My Buddies from the Military Compound." Narrating the homeland remembered and the homeland in reality, the stories in this book affirm that "we shall not let history be burned to mere ashes."

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2003

About the author

Chi Pang-Yuan (Chinese: 齊邦媛) was a Manchurian-born Taiwanese writer, academic, and Chinese–English translator. She was instrumental in introducing Taiwanese literature to the Western World through translations.

Chi studied English literature at Wuhan University under the tutelage of Zhu Guangqian and Wu Mi. In 1947, she became a teacher of English at National Taiwan University. In 1956, she went to the United States on the Fulbright Exchange Teachers' Program and in 1967, she went to St. Mary-of-the-Woods College as a Fulbright scholar again. She enrolled at Indiana University Bloomington in 1968, but returned to Taiwan six credits away from completing a Master of Arts degree due to family matters.

In 1969, Chi founded and served as head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Chung Hsing University. In the '70s, while working at the National Institute for Compilation and Translation, she pushed for the de-politicization of the mandatory Chinese textbooks in Taiwan and started translating Taiwanese literature into English. From 1977 to 1988, she was professor of English literature at NTU and was granted emeritus status after retiring. Chi subsequently became editor-in-chief of The Taipei Chinese PEN.

Chi's autobiography, The Great Flowing River, is a bestseller in the Sinophone world. It has been translated into English, German, and Japanese.

President Chen Shui-bian awarded Chi the Order of Propitious Clouds in 2004. In 2015, Chen's successor Ma Ying-jeou awarded Chi the Order of Brilliant Star.

Chi turned 100 in early 2024 and died on 28 March of the same year.

Reviews

[Benemint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigh. Taiwanese history makes me tearful in so many ways. KMT refugees in Taiwan are one of the gravely forgotten categories of people in modern history. The stories beautifully capture their life, sentiment, and aging experiences.

[Pier · Rating 4 out of 5]

The translation is a little rough around the edges, diminishing the impact of certain scenes and sections. However, this is still a valuable look into the mindset of this early generation’s move to Taiwan. Sometimes it felt as if we only scratched the surface of things without getting into the inner psyche, such as in the first story ‘Shore to Shore’. A decent knowledge of Chinese history is recommended as only one or two of the stories has some footnotes with references. And I do mean Chinese history. I think that’s the most important thing this book highlights— the importance of remembering your roots and where you came from, instead of discarding or burning up the past in favor of a new Westernized identity.

My favorites from this collection:

1. State Funeral
2. The Stone Tablet at the Cove of the Loving Mother
3. I wanted to Go to War

[Jarda Kubalik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, I am the first to rate and/or review the book. Well, it apparently does not lure crowds of readers and brings about melees in libraries so let me just introduce it. It is a collection of short stories aiming to capture emotions and traumas of a generation of Chinese soldiers and their nearest and dearest after being forced to leave the Chinese mainland for Taiwan, following the KMT army. Even though an uneducated Western reader may not fully grasp the cultural background, it is still an interesting reading. Most stories are slow-moving melancholic reminiscences, so typical of today`s Chinese literature.