Sara
asked
Lisa See:
Dear Lisa, In your book on the women sea divers. You used a quote "falling down nine times and getting up eight." I'm familiar with this quote in Japanese culture as nanakorobi, yaoki which means fall down seven times, get up eight. Can you explain the origin of this quote? Thank you.
Lisa See
As I recall, this was related to a particular plant on Jeju Island. It had something to do with the resiliency of the plant. You could put it or pull it eight times, and it will still come back.
More Answered Questions
Eric
asked
Lisa See:
In your Author's Note for The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, you say, "When the novel starts, in 1988, tea leaves picked in the mountains of Yunnan sold for 4 yuan a kilo (approx. 50 cents US in today's money). The yearly income for tea farmers averaged 200 yuan (around $25 US) a month." When converting yuan to USD, did you use currency exchange rates or purchasing power parity?
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