It is a national holiday where people think about their ancestors and have certain activities
that honour them.
We are going to think about one of my ancestors today.
Don and I, along with fellow teachers Brad and Susan Hertz, are going to Nanjing.
We are going by air, after investigating the other options. The bullet train was almost
the choice, but it was not direct to Nanjing.
Nanjing will be interesting because of my Great Grandfather William Wood. He
was in China in 1859 as a member of the British navy. His vessel was included in the
first group of British ships to officially travel up the Yangtze River. The purpose
was to assert British influence. William Wood was only 19 or 20 years old and was
the butcher on HMS Retribution. He also served as a sailor, an ordinary "Jack," and
at Nanjing his ship was fired upon by the Taiping rebels that had their headquarters
in the city. His journal tells of the sailors rushing about, barefooted as they always were,
on bloody decks. He lost a shipmate and friend during the incident.
I want to see for myself what Great Grandfather Wood saw. What is the river like there? How
wide is it? How fast is the flow? Would the Taipings have been on a hill or is the city flat?
Can I visualize how the city could have looked 150 years ago?
For any of you who may enjoy history, the Taiping Rebellion is fascinating to learn about.
A place to start could be God's Chinese Son by Jonathan Spence.
Nanjing has many other sites, and we will see them during our 2-day visit.
It would be wonderful to have Bob and Anne Baines show us around "their" city.
The photo is of 2 cormorant birds on a traditional raft on the Li River.
They are diving birds that are used for fishing. A band is placed around their necks so they can't swallow
the fish. Their size was a surprise. Not very large.
1 comment:
I'd love to show you around. Wish I was there.
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