These days, some people always ask: Why is the Chinese ice hockey team a group of foreigners?
If you look closely, it is indeed ah...
In fact, these are naturalized players, they are either of Mixed Chinese and Foreign races, or their parents are Chinese, but their parents left China very early and went abroad.
In order to prepare for this Winter Olympics, the Chinese ice hockey team organized 28 naturalized players, 15 men's teams and 23 women's teams.
The oldest athlete in the Chinese delegation, Ye Jinguang, who is also a naturalized player, will turn 37 as captain of the men's ice hockey team in April.
In the competition with the strong team United States, Ye Jinguang faced the provocation of the American team members, and probed into the body to be a hug, strongly responding to the opponent.
In the battle with the German team, the boys also dared to fight, did not give up, only fell behind 0-1 in the first quarter, and chased two goals in the second game in the case of 0-3.
Although the men's ice lost 0:8 to the United States and lost to Germany 2:3, it achieved a breakthrough of zero in the Chinese men's ice hockey Winter Olympics: this is the first time that the Chinese men's ice hockey team has appeared in the Olympic arena, and the spirit of "men's ice momentum" is worthy of recognition.
A speech by Ye Jinguang before the game also made netizens cry, saying that this was the most simple but most touching text during the Winter Olympics.
"We will make an effort to make the world remember that we came."
"20 years later, if I turn on the TV and see a Chinese player on the top stage in the world, when someone asks him why he plays hockey, he will say, because in 2022, I witnessed the Chinese team playing in the Winter Olympics. I think that's the success of our generation. ”
He said his ancestors were in North America, but China has always been in the Ye family tradition.
In fact, his ancestors can be said to be a microcosm of the tragic history of Chinese workers, and also a portrayal of the blood and tears of chinese people surviving overseas.
Ye Jinguang's great-grandfather was a Chinese laborer who was trafficked from Guangdong to North America a hundred years ago to build the Pacific Railroad.
At that time, these transoceanic workers, known as "piglets", had the same status as black slaves, and were sold to the United States as coolies, doing the hardest, lowest jobs, and receiving the lowest wages.
They provide cheap services, but do not have the power to use public facilities such as schools and hospitals.
The United States got what it wanted, and that was the completion of the railroad. There is a saying that if there were no Chinese workers, the railways in the United States would have been built for 100 years.
After the "iron rice bowl" was gone, these Chinese workers turned to other industries. Because of his hardships and hard work, he soon showed his skills in various fields and laid his own world. Because Chinese workers are more submissive, more receptive to low wages, and more competitive than whites in the labor market.
As a result, the United States brewed an anti-China style. In 1849, the first Anti-Chinese incident in the United States, the "Toulumuen Riots", more than 60 Chinese workers were driven out of the camp by white miners, and since then, Chinese have been attacked continuously.
At the end of the 19th century, the slogans of "overseas Chinese must get out of the egg", "yellow peril" and "Threat to China" appeared in an endless stream in American society.
The prototype of the highly intelligent villain "Fu Manchu" was created during that period, maliciously portraying the Chinese as sinister, cunning and scheming criminals, killing americans, in order to brainwash americans and unite against the Chinese.
In California, where chinese people gather, the mob frequently attacked Chinese areas, killed people and set fires, and did nothing wrong, and the United States turned a blind eye and released the rioters on the grounds of "insufficient evidence". Instead of reporting the truth and condemning the rioters, the local media fanned the flames;
The San Jose Courier swore: "The Chinese as a group are born with few qualities that are in line with American citizens, like the barbaric Bushmen of South Africa." ”
In 1882, the United States passed the Law on the Enforcement of the Provisions of the Chinese Treaty, which was also known as the infamous American Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first immigration law in the United States for specific ethnic groups.
In the three years since the Chinese Exclusion Act came into effect, more than 50,000 Chinese workers have been forced to leave California, and many have been persecuted to death and remained in foreign countries forever.
These laborers want to change their fate by virtue of their duties, hard work, and ability to endure hardships, but they are snuffed out by the "black hand" again and again.
Even more hateful, the Chinese Exclusion Act was not repealed until 1943.
It is not because the United States believes that it is wrong, but because the Outbreak of Japan's War of Aggression against China, the bloody resistance of the Chinese people, and China's becoming an important member of the International Anti-Fascist League and making contributions has changed the Impression of Americans on China.
The labor of Chinese workers has promoted the development of American capitalism and made the western region increasingly prosperous, but it has also destroyed countless Chinese families.
Ye Jinguang said that the time when his great-grandfather left the motherland is still a vague point. Because he was illiterate, there were no lights or clocks at that time.
After a lot of upheaval, he finally settled down.
In 1985, Ye Jinguang was born in maple ridge, a small vancouver-area town. His father was half Irish and half Chinese, and his mother was an authentic Chinese.
He has been practicing hockey since childhood and became a professional hockey player in 2004 when he was drafted by the North American Hockey League (NHL) Colorado Avalanches in the eighth round. He played five seasons in the NHL and scored 56 points in 174 games, making him the best Chinese male player in the history of professional hockey.
Subsequently, he attended Boston University, where he specialized in crime scene investigations. But he confessed, "In fact, hockey has always been my dream, and the criminal investigation was reported by my roommate by accident." ”
As the main player of the Boston University ice hockey team, Ye Jinguang on the field was elected as the "Best Rookie in the East Side" in the first season. In his senior year, he won the American University League championship with the team.
A friend once quipped, "You're going to play hockey in China later." Ye Jinguang, who was only 18 years old at the time, did not expect this joke to become a reality, until five years ago, he received an olive branch from the Beijing Kunlun Hongxing Ice Hockey Club and invited him to prepare for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Because he has lived in an English-speaking environment since he was a child, he has not been able to speak fluently Chinese, but he has not forgotten his roots and resolutely became a member of the Chinese ice hockey team.
In 2017, he came to Shanghai and then went to Beijing to live for a while.
This place, which had been passed down by word of mouth in the family, finally appeared in front of his eyes. And modern China, which was very different from the ancient and mysterious hometown he remembered, gave him a great shock.
Slowly, he had the concept of "New China" and was willing to stay and move forward for Chinese ice hockey.
In the 2017-2018 season, Kunlun Hongxing Club, which is preparing talents for the Beijing Winter Olympics, called this outstanding player into the squad, and in the past five years, he played for the Mainland Hockey League (KHL) League for five seasons, scoring more than 100 points, becoming the first professional league "100 point king" in the history of Chinese ice hockey.
Going to the Winter Olympics is his lifelong ideal.
"Fighting hard at the Winter Olympics is the best way for me to express my love to the motherland, and we will also use the hard work on the field to make every family member of the motherland proud of us."
In the group stage surrounded by strong enemies, he carried the flag to open the way, calling himself "the man like the wind".
Although the game was lost, for him, what was more important than winning or losing was to recruit more young blood for China's ice hockey cause and popularize the sport.
His positive energy attracted many fans; he posted a handwritten letter from a young player and cheered him on.
Yuan Junjie, another member of the naturalization team, also said that he was very proud of being a Chinese, and that having the opportunity to represent China was his greatest wish in his life, and he was willing to spend his life growing with China.
Unlike Gu Ailing's elite family, many people are not the second generation of Chinese, but the third and fourth generations;
Their ancestors suffered a lot, experienced many discriminatory eyes, and struggled in the chaotic times before they stabilized and gave their descendants a better and better life.
After experiencing the baptism of multiculturalism, he finally chose to serve the motherland.
They are not only Olympic champions, but also role models for life.