You may think that to write a book about ancient China in English is ridiculous. However, when I came across the Moment in Peking by Lin Yutang, I changed my thought.

When reading it, I was being in different mood: anxious, angry, and afflicted. Lin’s daughter said, “This book contains good stories and philosophy; history and replacement of customs; highly theories and fiddle-faddle.”The novel covers the turbulent events in China from 1900 to 1938, including the Boxer Rebellion, the Republican Revolution of 1911, the Warlord Era, the rise of nationalism and communism, and the origins of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. That is the period which we cannot forget forever.

1. It is merely a story of how men and women in the contemporary era grow up and learn to live with one another, how they love and hate and quarrel and forgive and suffer and enjoy, how certain habits of living and ways of thinking are formed, and how, above all, they adjust themselves to the circumstances in this earthly life where men strive but the gods rule. What’s more, you can gasp more traditional treasures, such as binding feet, the courtesy of the marriage and funeral, face reading, the contents of “five elements” and yin-yang.

In this book, there is no vivid description of the characters, no detailed picture of the landscape, no sophisticated psychological descriptions. But it shows profound philosophy. Do you remember that when the Yao was escaping, Mulan asked her father, “Why did you say those antiques were useless last night?”  Her father answered, “If you regard them as waste, them are waste.” He also said, “Every object has its owner. In the past 3000years, they had hundreds of thousands of owners. In the world, no one can possess one object forever.” He told us that good luck was not from the outside but from the inside. If someone is enjoying the true luck, or the various luck of the world, he should have the virtue to have it. In our lives, we should learn how to be satisfied, not too stubborn, so that we can be happy.

 2. Moment in Peking is called the English and modern edition of. After finishing it, you will find that Mulan is similar to Xiangyun, Mochow to Baochai, Afei to Baoyu, Redjade to Daiyu, and so on. Dream of Red Chamber is one of the greatest works in China and Lin dreamed of translating it into English but it was so difficult, therefore he created Moment in Peking, which helps the foreigners learn more about China, especially, the past of China. Because of his efforts, Lin Yutang was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature for this book in 1975.

3. In the book, the character Yao Mulan impressed me most. She was as clever as Lin Daiyu,  virtuous as Xue Baochai, forthright as Shi Xiangyun, competent as Wang Xifeng, moderate as Qin Keqin, and as tolerant as Yingchun.. Lin said, “ If to be a girl, she should be like Mulan.” This is the greatest words to Mulan. Undeniably, Mulan is perfect female character that everyone likes her. Mulan inherits her father’s Taoism. She is looking for freedom and pursuit of dreams but not insist. And she is good at enjoying the plain life. Sunya is lucky to marry her. In fact, she is suitable to be a wife: she could think of some good ideas that no one else could come up to; she could go to many interesting places and communicate with you and never feel tired; she likes cooking and spend much time cooking delicious food; she could satisfy your daily life and also do elegant things. But what move us readers? Her beauty? Her cleverness? Her courage? Actually, these are negligible. You will have an new eye on her when you are reading that how she deals with her husband’s lover. She was so kind that they became good friends later.

Tolerance is an ordinary virtue but it is very to take it into practice. It is a kind of art that leads us how to be a man. To be tolerant, is to accept others in mind, to understand others’ attitude of life, to respect others’ value of living. When we know others’ advantages, we should accept others’ disadvantages, so that we can live together peacefully. If Mulan never forgive Cao Linhua, maybe Sunya would give up Mulan and marry Cao. That is why I appreciate her so much.

 Another important people is Mulan’s father, Mr.Yao He affect the character of Mulan deeply. Mr.Yao is a Taoist religion. He is very open and could accept all kinds of thoughts. He could give up the comfortable life. Moreover, his philosophy of life isn’t attaining enlightenment. For example, before whole family flees from calamity, he had buried the little jade and amber animals. He was told Mulan that “luck (fochi) was something inside the character of a man. For one qualified for luck, jars of water will turn into silver; and for one who is not qualified, jars of silver will turn into water.” Another example is his deathbed words. He had said: “you ask Mannia. If Mannia says China must fight, China will win. And if Mannia must not fight China will lose.”Mr.Yao is not a fortuneteller. In my opinion, Mannia is represent the most people who under the feudal education. If conservative and meek Mannia have declared war on Japan, the war was coming and it was to be a war to the last man.

4. Time magazine said “It may well become the classic background novel of modern China.” The story displayed the old Chinese culture, politics and lives through the fate of two families. Various character personalities of various walks of life were brought to the city a thousand sensations. There is the painter Qi Baishi, philosopher Lin Qinlan, ideological radical young students, fearing not death advanced youth, extravagant dissolute politicians returned overseas scholars, as well as some wealthy businessmen, a Taoist monk, the Japanese officers and prostitutes. There is a sense that you will be within this story after reading. Dr. Lin narrated those stories for reflecting chaotic history directly. He wrote a book told exactly what he feels about old China. He made the greatest contribution is promoting Chinese culture internationally in the recent 100 years. That is the period that every Chinese cannot forget. Every Chinese could not abandon her country. You should be sympathetic for Mulan when reading about her daughter’s dying for the revolution.

 5. Another feature of this great work is the language. Pronunciation is totally different from Mandarin today and brings about some confusion and setback in reading process. For example, hsiaochieh stands for "young missie". Kuniang stands for an unmarried daughter of any class of family. Laoyeh and shaoyeh stands for "old master" and "young master" or the father and sons, from the point of view of the servants. Chiehchien and Meimei stand for "elder sister" and "younger sister". Yatou is a bondmaid, bought outright for life, or contracted for a definite term of years. Without the Chinese background, all of these addresses will blow you at a loss.

Secondly, some Chinese sayings and proverbs are translated into English, but they are still affiliated to Chinese culture and deeply planted in it. Mannia cried out her stubborn determination, "Living, I shall be a Tseng family person; dead, I shall be a Tseng family ghost." In this case, "ghost" presents a dark colour and heavy curtain in the context. Perhaps it foretells the miserable future life of Mannia. Four phases of woman's training: "woman's character, woman's speech, woman's appearance, and woman's accomplishments". Without detailed explanation and description, anyone with the traditional Chinese knowledge and culture will get clear about that. But from a outsider's point of view, this translation will push you into a wondering land. The couplet is "The affairs of the world, well understood, are all scholarship; Human relationship, maturely known, is already literature.". There are hints of these expressions in the book.

However, I don’t think Mr. Lin’s English is very good. At least, I can’t get it in this book. When reading, you can find many Chinlish words and sentences. For example, crying like a “doll of tears”, the Old man in the Moon, “To have studied well is to be ready for office.” But I still regard Mr. Lin as a great man because he displayed our Chinese traditions and history to the foreigners. While the author does not display hatred toward the Japanese, he does let events and situations affecting the novel characters to let the reader clearly see the reason the Chinese are still bitter about Japan's military past. The novel ends with a cliffhanger, letting the readers hope that the major characters who fled from the coastal regions to the inland of China would survive the horrible war. He lets them know more about real China and reminds us of protecting our motherland and our future.