so I was trained to become a gymnast for
two years in Hunan China in the 1970s
when I was in the first grade the
government wanted to transfer me to a
school for athletes all expenses paid
but my Tiger mother said no my parents
wanted me to become engineer like them
after surviving the Cultural Revolution
the firmly believed there's only one
sure way to happiness a safe and well
paid job it is not important if I like
the job or not but my dream was to
become a Chinese opera singer that is me
playing my imaginary piano now opera
singer must start training young to
learn acrobatics such as everything I
could to go to opera school I even wrote
to the school principal and the host of
a radio show but no adults liked the
idea no adults believed I was serious
only my friends supported me but they
were kids
just as pollicis I was so at age 15 I
knew I was too old to be trained my
dream would never come true I was afraid
that for the rest of my life some
second-class happiness would be the best
I could hope for but that's so unfair so
I was determined to find another calling
nobody around to teach me fine I turned
to books I satisfied my hunger for
parental advice from this book by a
family of writers and musicians I found
my role model of an independent woman
when Confucius tradition requires
obedience and I learned to be efficient
from this book and I was inspired to
study abroad after reading these I came
to us in 1995 so which books did I read
here first books banned in China of
course
the good earth is about Chinese peasant
life that's just not convenient for
propaganda got it
the Bible is interesting but strange
that's a topic for a different day but
the fifth commandment gave me PIFAN II
you shall honor your father and the
mother honor that's so different and
better than a bay so it becomes my tool
to climb out of this Confucius guilt
trap and to restart my relationship with
my parents encounter a new culture also
started my habit of comparative reading
it offers many insights for example I
found this map out of place at first
because this is what Chinese students
grew up with he had never occurred to me
China doesn't have to be at the center
of the world a map actually carries
somebody's view comparative reading
actually is nothing new it's a standard
practice in the academic world there are
even research fields such as comparative
religion comparative literature compare
contrast gives scholars a more complete
understanding of a topic so I thought
well if comparative reading works for
research why not do it in daily life too
so I started reading books in pairs so
they can be about people who are
involved in the same event or friends
with shared experiences I also compared
the same stories in different genres or
similar stories from different cultures
as Joseph Campbell did in his wonderful
book for example both the Christ and the
Buddha went through three temptations
for the Christ the temptations are
economic political and spiritual for the
Buddha they're all psychological lust
fear and the social duty interesting
so if you know a foreign language it's
also fun to read your favorite books in
two languages
instead of lost in translation I found
there's much to gain for example it's
through translation that I realized
happiness in Chinese literally means
fast joy and bright in Chinese literally
means new mother Oh books have given me
a magic portal to connect with people of
the past and the present I know I shall
never feel lonely or powerless again
having a dream shadow really is nothing
compared to what many others have
suffered I have come to believe that
coming true is not the only purpose of a
dream its most important purpose is to
get us in touch with where dreams come
from what passion comes from what
happiness comes from even a shattered
dream can do that for you
so because of books I'm here today happy
living again with a purpose and clarity
most of the time so mabel's be always
with you thank you
thank you