● 陈晴山 Chen Qing-shan
 陈敏良（译）Trans. by Peter Chen

【Foreword】

　　Altogether, my father wrote me 20 letters between 
February 1958 and January 1960. I left home for studies in 
Australia in February 1958. Unknown to me then, that was the
last time I would ever see him. My father passed away in 
Ipoh on 6 June 1960 after a short illness.
　　Being what they are, the letters are not intended to be 
literary works. Many of the subjects dealt with in the 
letters are about mundane domestic matters. As a father and 
as a teacher, my father never fail to patiently impart his 
teachings whether on language or lessons on life. His 
teachings come through in the letters.
　　I have selected 7 of these letters for publication. They
were selected because they all portray the "teacher" in my 
father. The "first Letter" begins with a lesson in 
etymology, on the structure of the Chinese character and 
some aspects of its historical development. It also contains
fatherly advice on the importance of ren qing, cautionary 
advice on living in a multi-ethnic society, importance of 
preserving one's mother tongue, how one should use the 
opportunity of a Malay room-mate to improve one's Malay 
language.
　　A lesson or lessons could be drawn from each of the 
letters selected. The tone of the letters is always patient,
often encouraging. It is often said that one could not teach
one's own child. This, for some strange reason, may be true 
in a classroom environment. But I don't think it is true in 
life; for if our parents are not our teachers, who then?

【前言】

　　1958年2月至1960年1月，父亲总共给我写了大约20封信。我在
1958年2月离家，到澳洲去念书。当时并没有想到，那是我最后一次
见到父亲。家父1960年6月在怡保逝世。
　　这些信件并不是文学作品。信中多是家常琐事。身兼父亲和老师
，家父向来诲人不倦，无论是在语文或为人处世方面。他的教诲来自
这些信件。
　　我选了其中7封将在此陆续发表。选择准则是它们都反映了父亲
“为师”的一面。今天的第一封信以文字学开始，教导汉字的结构与
历史。它也包含了父亲对孩子的关注，包括人情方面的指导、对生活
在多元种族社会的忠告、保留母语的重要性，以及如何抓紧机会向马
来室友学习马来语。
　　每一封选刊的信件都能让人学到些东西。信件的语调是循循善诱
且极具鼓励性。人们常常说自己的孩子最难教。在课室里，基于某些
奇特的原因，这或许是对的。然而我不认为在日常生活中也是如此，
因为如果自己的父母不能扮演老师的角色，还有谁能做到呢？



良儿知悉：
My son Liang, be informed:


　　今天收到你2月16日寄来的信，知道一切。自你到了澳洲，我们
前后收到电报一件、明信片一件、信三件，怕没有遗失吧。现在我们
把你寄来的信，另夹在一个文夹内，以便回信时查阅，你也可以照办
。

　　Received your letter of 16 February today; we know all 
that has happened. Since you arrived in Australia, we have
received a telegram, a postcard and three letters; presume 
there is nothing missing. From now on, we will keep your 
letters in a folder for reference when replying to you; you 
can do something similar.

　　你的中文信写得还好，都算通顺，间有一两个写错，以后留意便
好了。比方搬迁的“搬”，是应该有手（¤）旁的，中国字的动词多
数加手旁，此在中国六书中，叫做“形声”，一边以“手”形表示动
作，一边以“般”字表示读音。又如“走廊”作“廊”不作“栏”，
“广”形表示屋盖，上面有雨盖的，“郎”字表读音LANG，“栏”乃
“木”旁，表示系以木制的。“阑”表示读音LAN，凡此一类，皆属
于形声。此乃后期之中国字，若在初期，“栏”亦没有木旁，“栏杆
”只写作“阑干”，都没有“木”旁，说不定“走廊”亦可写作“走
郎”，但我不曾见过，想当然耳。英汉字典已于4天前寄平邮去，但
是寄到Kingston Terrace去，你可托那家旅馆主人代收，还有的书，
俟早晚陆续寄去。据说每22磅费7元5角，俟查实后乃寄。

　　Your letters in Chinese can be said to be well written 
and fluent. There are one or two words incorrectly written. 
Just be more careful in future and you should be all right. 
For example, the word 搬 ban (meaning "to move or change 
position") as in 搬 迁 ban qian (meaning "to move house") 
should have the radical ¤ shou (meaning "hand") by its 
side. In Chinese words, most verbs have the radical shou. In
the structural analysis of the Chinese written word 六 书 
Liu Shu ("The Six Categories of the Written Word"), the two 
components of a Chinese word is called 形 声 xing-sheng 
(form and sound or "radical" and "phonetic"). One part of 
the word 搬 which is pronounced as ban uses the radical ¤ 
shou (hand) to denote action; the other part uses the word 
般 , also pronounced ban (meaning "sort" or "class"), simply
as the phonetic to indicate the pronunciation. Another 
example is the expression 走 廊 zou lang (meaning 
"verandah"); it does not use the word 栏 lan (meaning 
"barricade" or "railing") which has a similar pronunciation 
as the word 廊 lang. The radical 广 denotes a roof overhead.
The component 郎 lang (meaning "son" or "young man") simply 
indicates that the word 廊 is also to be pronounced as lang.
The word 栏 lan (meaning "barricade") has a 木 mu (meaning 
"wood") for its radical which indicates that it is made of 
wood; its other component 阑 , which has the pronunciation 
lan, indicates that the word 栏 should also be pronounced as
lan. All words of this type belong to the 形 声 xing-sheng 
(form and sound) category. This however is a later 
development of the Chinese script. In its early form, the 
word 栏 lan did not possess a 木mu (wood) radical. The 
phrase 栏 杆 lan gan was originally written as 阑 干, 
without the 木 mu (wood) radical. It is possible that the 
expression 走 廊 zou lang could also at one time have been 
written as 走 郎 zou lang. I have never come across the 
expression being written in this form, but this is how I 
think it would have developed. The English-Chinese 
dictionary was sent by mail 4 days ago, but was sent to your
address at Kingston Terrace. You may ask the landlord of 
your former boarding house to receive it on your behalf. The
other books will in turn be sent to you eventually; I 
understand the postage will cost $7.50 for every 22 pounds 
of weight. Will check for certain before posting.

　　澳洲寄来的一信与一包书都转寄与你了。要怎样处理，你自己打
算好了。我们全不懂你前信说读书的学校是矿工学校，我还不明白那
学校是什么性质？为什么矿工学校有会计科呢？还是附设在那里？究
竟你所读的会计科，是一种什么性质的？专科学院还是研究班？官立
还是私立？有没有学费？几年毕业？毕业时有文凭否？一班同学有多
少？槟城那位邱的与你们同班？功课难不难？应付得来否？这些都是
我们所要知道的，复信可一一报告大概。

　　 A letter and a parcel of books that arrived from 
Australia have been re-directed to you; it's best for you to
deal with them yourself. We do not at all understand your 
previous letter which described your educational institution
as 矿 工 学 校 kuang gong xue xiao (School of Mines). We do 
not understand the nature of the institution: why does a 
School of Mines teach Accountancy and how does it fit into 
the institution? What is the nature of the Accountancy 
course which you are pursuing? Is it specialisation or 
research in nature? Is it a public or private institution? 
Are fees payable? How many years will it take to complete 
the course? Will a diploma be awarded? How many are there in
a class? Is Khoo from Penang in the same class as you? Is 
the course difficult? Can you manage? These are all the 
things we would like to know. Please clarify these in your 
next letter.

　　你现在工读的地方，有没有中国人？除学生以外，有没有侨居的
中国人？多不多？听说李柏文的儿子也在那个地方，李柏文先生是我
的朋友，是四舅的同事，他的儿子也是四舅的学生，我们曾托四舅介
绍与你相识，未知你们会面否？

　　Are there any Chinese in where you're now studying and 
working? Apart from students, are there any Chinese 
immigrants living there? Are there many? I hear that Mr Li 
Bo-wen's son is also there. Mr Li is a friend of mine and is
also a colleague of 4th uncle (四舅 si jiu). His son is also
a student of 4th uncle. We have asked 4th uncle to make the 
introduction so that you will know each other. Have you two 
had the opportunity to meet yet?

　　与马来籍的同学住在一块，如果久不说中国话，也许中国话将来
会忘记了，最好星期或假期，得访几位说中国话的朋友往来，才不至
于忘记了自己的母语，与马来同学同住，也有一种好处，要是彼此合
得来，利用机会，学些马来话都很好，马来话是马来亚的国语，将来
回马服务，都是要用的，有机会就得自己学习，关于此类的书和字典
、马来亚出版颇多，倘需要的话，我可以买一些寄去。

　　The Malay student is boarding in the same place as you. 
If you do not speak Chinese for a long time, perhaps you may
eventually forget how to. It is best that over the weekend 
or during vacation, you seek out a few Chinese speaking 
friends to communicate with, then only will you not forget 
your mother tongue. There is also something positive for you
to be boarding with a Malay student. If you can get along 
with each other, it will also be good if you can use the 
opportunity to learn Malay. It is the National Language of 
Malaya and you will need to use it when you return to work 
in the country. You should study and practise the language 
on your own. The are many dictionaries and books of this 
kind being published in Malaya. If you need them, I can send
some to you.

　　与外人相处，因宗教、风俗、习惯，种种不同，我们须十分了解
，尊重他人的一切，彼此同为马来亚人，闲谈之间，亦须避免涉及种
族问题，凡此你当自己知道，无论澳洲人也好，马来人也好，印度人
也好，如果有人谈起民族、国家、涉及中国的，如系研究讨论性质，
我们自当以所知者发表意见，如有恶意的讥讽或攻击，你当说：“我
们暂且不谈这个吧。”如此便能与世界人类，保持和平相处，相信你
在校和外人相处惯了，必能懂得此理，我颇放心得下。

　　When you live among people from a different ethnic 
community, because their religion, customs, traditions and 
practices are different from ours, we must respect and 
thoroughly understand them. When you are engaged in casual 
discussion with Malayans, avoid intruding into communal 
issues. You would already know this yourself. Whether with 
Australians, Malays or Indians, if the subject of ethnic or 
national issues should arise, especially in relation to the 
Chinese community, we should of course express our opinion 
based on what we know. If you detect any sign of malice, 
ridicule or attack, you should say "Let's not go into this 
for the moment." In this way, mankind can then peacefully 
co-exist. I believe that you are accustomed to a 
multi-ethnic environment in your alma mater. I therefore 
feel much at ease.

　　你前信云要朱古力色长裤两条，大概是预备冬季用的吧，未知呢
的好，还是棉织的好？两条要同一色的，还是一条一色？中国茶叶你
需要否？可以自由进口否？还有其他东西你喜欢吃而又可以自由进口
的，后信告我，我们可以替你寄去。

　　You previous letter said that you would like two pairs 
of brown trousers, presumably for use during the impending 
winter. Should the material be woollen or cotton? Should the
two pairs be of the same colour or should they be of 
different colours? Do you need Chinese tea? Can they be 
freely imported? Let us know in your next letter; we can 
send these to you.

　　记得你临行的前夕，光地舅夫妇殷殷来饯别，又送赆二十元，其
意甚佳，他曾开有他的儿子先智的地址，未知你有寄信与先智否？如
相距不远，有机会见面，当送他些少礼物，如无机会，亦当寄一信与
他，说他家中平安，如此方合人情，切勿忘记。

　　You recall that on the eve of your departure, uncle 
Guang-di and his wife very thoughtfully came to say goodbye 
to you, and presented a gift of $20. We deeply appreciate 
their thoughtfulness. He wrote down the address of his son 
Xian-zhi; have you written to him yet? If the distance 
between you is not too far and you have an opportunity to 
meet, you should bring him a gift. If you don't have such an
opportunity, you should write him a letter to tell him that 
all is well at home. This is the proper way how 
relationships are reciprocated and maintained. You should 
not forget.

　　此几天旧历新年，训练所放假十天，学生都回去过年，春莲也由
她母亲带回去过年，说是明天要来，美璇再两天方能满月，她的女儿
取名“洁莹”，美瑜夫妇，每日都有回来，今年因马来亚不景，新年
都甚冷淡，除戏院外，什么也不见热闹。

　　It's the Lunar New Year season these few days. The 
tailoring school is on vacation for 10 days and all the 
students have gone home to celebrate the New Year. 
Chun-lian's mother will take her daughter home for the New 
Year; she had said she will come tomorrow to fetch 
Chun-lian. Mei-xuan will celebrate her daughter's "Full 
Month" in a couple of days. Her daughter is given the name 
洁莹 Jie-ying (spotlessly clean and translucent). Mei-yu and
her husband do come home occasionally. The Malayan economy 
is not doing well this year and New Year is rather quiet. 
Apart from the cinemas, it's rather quiet everywhere else.

　　前信说的输血奖章，敏华日前寄一信问当局，是否可以代表往取
，他已有回信，说至时可由敏华代表往领，要是领到了，可以替你寄
去。

　　Min-hwa wrote a letter to ask the authorities if someone
else could accept the blood donation medal award on your 
behalf. He has a reply which says that he can receive it for
you. It will be sent to you when it is received.

　　1958年二月二十日父母字

　　Written by father and mother

　　20 February 1958