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Yang Xianyi: In Tribute | China Heritage Quarterly

Yang Ying and Yang Zhi

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for coming to commemorate our father Yang Xianyi. Both my sister, Yang Ying, and I are very sorry that we cannot attend this meeting. We are extremely grateful to Sally Vernon, Peng Wenlan and Michael Sheringham, for making this commemoration happen. And we are very grateful to our aunt Hilda and our cousins Ruth and Jean for representing the family.

There were many aspects to our father. He was a great scholar with a wide breadth of knowledge that bridged East and West, a true liberal idealist and a patriot, a kind host and generous friend to many, and a kind father, who tried his best to raise honest children in a time of ideological turmoil. We remember him as all these and miss him and our mother Gladys dearly. Neither Yang Ying nor I are the match of our parents, but we both hope to continue to help bring East and West closer in our own little ways, just as our parents did.

Yang Ying and I are not the wordsmiths that our father was. We are troubled by our inability to express the many intricate details of our father's life that it deserves. Rather than do a disservice to his memory with melancholy, we do hope that this short message conveys our lasting expression of love for him and our appreciation to all for their care to our family over all these years.