Ye Zhiguo, from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, has been teaching at Zhaoqing College in Guangdong Province for two years since 2019.
In recent years, the rapid development of Chinese mainland and the thirst for teaching talents in higher education have made many young talents in Taiwan choose to go west to the mainland to seek jobs and teach. These young "Taiwanese teachers" have acted as a bridge to bring cross-strait ties and exchanges in the field of education closer and closer.
Going to the mainland to teach was not Ye Zhiguo's first "trip to the mainland." As early as 20 or 30 years ago, Ye Zhiguo followed his father Ye Huagui back to his hometown in Jiangxi to visit his relatives, but then he lost contact with his relatives for some reason.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > the suffering and sorrow of the great era</h1>
Ye Zhiguo's father, Ye Huagui, was born in 1931 and was born in Guangfeng, Jiangxi (now part of Shangrao City). In the late 1940s, Ye Huagui joined the army and left home, following the Kuomintang troops to the southeastern island of Taiwan.
Soon after, the Taiwan authorities promulgated a "martial law order," stipulating that from 00:00 on May 20, 1949, military martial law would be imposed on areas including the main island of Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, and other affiliated islands, and all official and nongovernmental exchanges between the two sides of the strait were cut off, thus opening a "frozen period" of up to 38 years on both sides of the strait.
Seeing that he could not go home, Ye Huagui could only make plans for the rest of his life in a foreign land. He started a family in Taiwan and has three children with his wife, Ye Qiu Juying, Ye Huizhen, Ye Zhicong, and Ye Zhiguo.
For the longing of his hometown, Ye Huagui did not easily mention it to his wife and children, but the desire to return to his hometown was like a seed slowly sprouting in his heart.
Ye Huagui, a veteran from Jiangxi, is 90 years old this year
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > life, serve a cup of tea; die, offer a blazing incense</h1>
"If we are alive, let us go back and offer a cup of tea; if we die, let us go back and offer a cup of incense." This is a slogan that floated through the streets of Taiwan in the late 1980s.
In 1987, Taiwan lifted the "martial law order, and groups and organizations, mainly veterans who went to Taiwan, launched a "homecoming campaign." In the end, under the appeal and struggle of all sectors of society, at the end of the year, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait promulgated relevant policies almost at the same time, officially opening up veterans to Taiwan to return to the mainland to visit their relatives.
Because of this, Ye Huagui took a family of children and transferred through Hong Kong to return to his hometown in Jiangxi, where he had been separated for a long time.
"At that time, my hometown was still very poor, but my relatives and friends took good care of us, and everyone went together to visit the graves of our grandparents." Talking about the scene of returning to his hometown with his father for the first time to visit his relatives in his childhood, Ye Zhiguo still remembers it vividly.
Ye Huagui took his family back to his hometown in Jiangxi to worship his ancestors and visit his relatives
Although the living conditions in the hometown were difficult at that time, the Taiwan Ye family did not mind, and also carefully prepared small gifts such as necklaces and bracelets, which were worn one by one for their loved ones as a souvenir. After the visit was over, relatives on both sides of the strait left contact addresses and continued to maintain contact with the help of letters.
When relatives on both sides of the strait are reunited, what remains unchanged is the deep affection between flesh and blood
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > the Taiwan earthquake, and the hometown is of urgent concern</h1>
At 1:47 a.m. on September 21, 1999, a large earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale occurred in Jiji Town, Nantou County, central Taiwan, causing a large number of casualties and disasters, causing global concern.
On September 25, an old family member who was worried about the safety of his relatives in Taiwan sent a letter to Ye Huagui:
Surprised to learn of the early morning earthquake in Taiwan on the 21st, the loss was very large. From the news, we can see that the epicenter is located in central Taiwan, which has little impact on Kaohsiung, but the place is small, and it is a strong earthquake of more than seven levels, and it is so close to Taichung, as a nephew, I can't rest assured.
At the moment of crisis, ye Huagui's family felt warm and immediately wrote back to their relatives to report safety. Hearing that their relatives are unharmed, the old people also put their hearts at ease and look forward to seeing them again as soon as possible:
...... Coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is also a reunion festival, you are so far away from us, looking forward to your return home next year's Mid-Autumn Festival reunion...
Since then, in the years when the Internet was not yet developed, relatives on both sides of the strait have come and gone, relying on letters to cross the strait and maintain cross-strait affection.
Letters sent to Taiwan by relatives from the mainland
In addition to daily greetings, the old family members also introduced the new changes in their hometown and the new development of family members to their relatives in Taiwan.
"I heard that several of my cousins went to Work in Shanghai, and I still have their business cards and addresses in Shanghai."
In several correspondences after the turn of the millennium, Ye Huagui's nephew Ye Shengjian introduced himself as "doing a small business in Shanghai" and "his children have come to Shanghai to work after graduating from college", and he also invited the Taiwanese uncle's family to come to Shanghai as a guest.
The scene of vigorous development of their own relatives and the entire mainland makes the Ye family in Taiwan look at it and cannot help but be happy for everyone.
However, about 15 years ago, the contact information including telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc. all became invalid, and Ye Zhiguo sent letters to the old site of his hometown and the address of his relatives in Shanghai, and there was no reply.
"At that time, most of our family went out to work and moved several times, so our relatives in Taiwan could not contact us." Ye Jianjian introduced.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="33" > headline search volunteers, multi-party efforts to help the reunion</h1>
Hearing that the 90-year-old Ye Huagui was obsessed with finding relatives on the mainland, the headline cross-strait family search public welfare project released an article for veterans on March 29 entitled "Taiwanese College Teachers Looking for Relatives in Jiangxi and Shanghai: Father Ye Huagui is a veteran in Taiwan, and received a letter of condolence from his relatives during the 921 earthquake", and accurately pushed the news to today's headline users in Jiangxi and Shanghai to seek clues from the public.
At the same time, after the release of the news of the search for relatives, it immediately attracted the attention of the Hubei Volunteer Search Group and Zhou Xiaofei, a volunteer in Guangfeng District of Shangrao City, who helped to visit and inquire in the local street office, neighborhood committee and other units.
The next day, with the help of many parties, Ye Xiuhua, Ye Zhengjian's son who works in Shenzhen, contacted the headline searcher and sent the old photos treasured at home for the staff to verify, and relatives on both sides of the strait finally recognized each other.
Old photos of Taiwanese relatives treasured by the Ye family in Jiangxi
"Hello Uncle Zhiguo! I'm Xiuhua! When we were young, we took a group photo, I don't know if Uncle Zhiguo has any impressions? ”
"Hello Xiuhua! I was so touched to hear your voices! ”
In order to facilitate contact, Toutiao seekers have set up WeChat groups for relatives on both sides of the strait, and the group members are more and more and more lively, and everyone is happy for the reunion after a long absence.
At this time, the old people all missed ye Huagui, an elder who was far away in Taiwan, but due to the inconvenience of cross-strait exchanges during the epidemic period, Ye Zhiguo decided to first represent his father and his nephew Ye Xiuhua, who was also in Guangdong, to gather together, and then return to his hometown in Jiangxi to worship his ancestors and visit relatives on a long holiday.
The Ye family on both sides of the strait who have been reunited for a long time
This is the 321st case that Toutiao has successfully found since the establishment of the cross-strait family search project, and it is also the 1,009th case that Toutiao has joined hands to help find after cooperating with volunteers. Today's Headline Cross-Strait Family Search Service was released by Toutiao Finder and Taiwan's ETtoday News Cloud as a media partner. If you also have relatives lost in Taiwan, or if you are in Taiwan and want to help Taiwanese veterans find their relatives in the mainland, you can email us ([email protected]) or contact us through the Toutiao Finder Facebook Fan Page (name: Toutiao Finder).
(The mini program has been added here, please go to today's headline client to view)