At the turn of the twentieth century, China was still in the hands of the imperial Qing Dynasty government. In 1911, the revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen finally succeeded in overthrowing the corruptive Qing Dynasty, and the Republic of China was born. In subsequent decades, the Nationalist government was exhausted in fighting consecutively wars against the Chinese War Lords, the war against the Japanese aggression, and the Civil War with the Chinese Communists. Chaotic situations in the nation had lasted for most of the twentieth century.
My parents and my siblings of five lived our lives in that century. Although our family, except for my sister and her family, had fortunately escaped the unprecedented massive destruction, the associated social turbulence, and the political persecution by the Chinese government toward its citizens in the decades of the twentieth century, we were forced to leave mainland China. Our parents and many people in their generation lived the rest of their lives overseas like drifting leaves in unfamiliar societies with nostalgia. My parents passed away in Taipei, Taiwan and in Manhattan, Kansas in the 1970's. What they wished and longed for was simply the togetherness of family members, and was never achieved in their lives.
Because of the age differences between our siblings, the experiences of our lives were quite different. We each managed to find a way to make a living, strive for the best and we all survived under various circumstances during the turbulent times. This book "Crossing the Pacific" describes the true family stories of an ordinary Chinese immigrant. Just because of its ordinary nature, these stories would certainly not be able to make their way to the history books. However, these true family stories which fully reflect the complicated historical events of our times are surely worth writing down and leaving them to our children and future generations in America!
二十世紀的中國，從腐敗的滿清政府開始，辛亥革命，中華民國建國，隨即軍閥割據，抗日戰爭，國共內戰。外侵內患而造成國家社會的大動亂，幾乎佔了整個世紀。
我的父母和姐弟五人，就是生長在那個國家多難，社會不安的時代。後來除了姐姐和她的家人之外，很幸運的，我們逃脫了中國大陸，在上個世紀中期史無前例的政治迫害，及社會不安的浩劫。但是我們的父母也被迫地，離開了中國大陸，連根拔起， 流亡海外。當時我們所渴望的，是在安定的環境中成長。而我們父母畢生追求，而沒法達成的奢望，竟是簡單的家人團聚！我的父母就是懷著『有家歸不得』，和『家人無法團聚』的雙重思念和感受，飲恨終生。於一九七○年代先後在台北和在美國謝世的。
我們姐弟，因為年齡的差別，我們一生的經歷就迥然不同。在時代潮流的巨浪中，各人走出一條生路，努力地奮鬥了一生。這本書是記述一個很平凡的中國家庭的真實故事。就是因為平凡，我們家的故事，是在報章雜誌中，和歷史書上找不到的。可是我們這些升斗市民的親身經歷的故事，是可以充分反映出當時的時代背景。足以值得記下來，留給在海外生長的後代子孫。
