Whenever I sit down to record how grateful I am towards the family, friends and everyone else who has walked with me hand in hand through each word of a book, I end up writing another book! Brevity is as difficult as it is beautiful, which is why I always try and express to those close to me a spirit of endless thanks.
Allow me to start by expressing my gratitude to Chinese culture, which values age over beauty.
I want to thank my mother. Time and again you have answered the doubts and questions that have come out of my research, drawing from your rich experience and silent observations of life. This is especially true of the stories in this book, for which you acted as a kind of historical aggregator, showing me the China you lived through and the changing of the times.
Thank you to my husband, Toby Eady. You were the love of my life, the mentor of my writing career, and the partner of my soul. No literary agent did as much as you did for Chinese writers, nurturing the seeds of so many Chinese stories, including this one, to grow and flourish in the world.
Thank you to my son Pan and your fiancée Coco, who is Japanese but speaks Chinese much better than a lot of Chinese people. Not only did you give me time, space and support, but your youthful vitality and grasp of modern technology helped me to understand three vital elements of a new generation of young people in this book – their outlook on life, their values and their world view – and to understand the recent youth trends in China that have baffled me for years.
Thank you to the three sisters in this book, and every woman in their family I interviewed. Through their big sister Yaohong (Red), we became not just friends, but family. We may not share the same blood, but you have become part of my life, helping me to learn about modern Chinese history, breathe in the very essence of my culture and understand the roots of Chinese feelings. Without the trust you invested in me, your open-minded approach to history and your acceptance of the future, my research and writing on Chinese women would be profoundly lacking.
Thank you to William Spence, the English translator of this book. We met as volunteers for the Mothers’ Bridge of Love, became close friends in the study of literary translation, and became fellow travellers in the translation of this book. Your love of Chinese culture, proficiency in Chinese and dedication to translation have brought this book out into the world.
Thank you to my dear friend Wu Fan, the author of February Flowers and Beautiful as Yesterday. Your passion for building literary exchanges between China and the West, not to mention your talent for writing in both Chinese and English, has given me great encouragement in my writing.
Thank you to Veronique Baxter and the team at David Higham Associates for being with me throughout the journey of writing this book. I feel fortunate and proud to have such a talented group of agents. Thank you to my English editor Tomasz Hoskins, whose broad vision of multiculturalism and insightful opinions made me feel fortunate to be his student. Thank you also to your team at I.B.Tauris and to Sarah Terry, my copy-editor, for their wisdom and hard work in getting this book out to its readership.
Thank you to every foreign-language translator and publisher of my books. Without your hard work, the stories of Chinese women I have written would never have been read by readers in over fifty countries in more than forty different languages.
Last but not least, thank you to all those who have ever helped me gather historical material and acted as go-betweens with my sources, and to the MBL volunteers who have guided me in our work to help disabled and displaced children around the world. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your selfless dedication, for sharing the burden, and for walking the road with me between China and the West.