![]() My father, Bernard Liu, published his memoir about growing up with China's most famous political prisoner, Zhang Xueliang. My grandfather, Liu Yiguang, was in charge of his house arrest. My father's family lived with Zhang in their home for 25 years (between 1936 and 1962) in China and Taiwan. I edited the book, which was incredibly fulfilling (available on Amazon).
My mother's father is also a well-known figure in Chinese history: General Fan Hanjie fought for the Nationalists during the Chinese civil war and for China during World War II. His story includes getting a U.S. Medal of Freedom, finding Mao Zedong's suitcase of classic books in the aftermath of a battle, and being friends with Puyi, the last emperor of China, while in a "re-education" camp after his capture, Read my blog post about his story. My mother (and my sister and I) are also direct descendants of Governor Lin Zexu (1785-1850) who started the First Opium War by dumping British opium into the ocean. |