Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

In the early years of the China, the country faced the great changes ever seen. Warlords occupied the whole country and revolutions took place everywhere. What kind of the disorderly era it was? And how did the people survive from the shadow of the war? For a thirteen-year-old boy, it’s an extremely servere test.

As the book opens, the widow arrives in Chungking with her 13-year-old son Young Fu and a letter from a village friend to a master coppersmith, asking that Young Fu be given an apprenticeship in Tang's establishment. Along the way, he has encountered with soldiers, foreigners, thieves, political activists, an old scholar, the poor and rich of the city and government officials. He has been swindled, attacked by bandits, reviled and praised as his coppersmith skills grow.

Besides Young Fu, there are two crucial characters in the story—scholar Wang and Master Tang. It was scholar Wang who led him to the world of knowledge and Master Tang who taught him lessons of life. At that time in China, only scholars and governors were able to read, and the majority of the people are illiterate, especially in rural areas. Curiosity urges Young Fu to seize every opportunity to explore the world of the letter by observing how fortune-teller writes the stroke order of each characters. Finding Young Fu is learning how to read secretly, his neighbor, Scholar Wang, started to teach him regularly. He therefore borrows the wisdom of books and applies it in his daily life. In addition, Master Tang is the most important people in Young Fu’s life. Being an empty-handed person in Chungking , it is so lucky for him to be a coppersmith apprentice in Master Tang’s store, the best coppersmith’s store. For Young Fu, Master Tang offers him suggestions, punishments, and genuine care as his teacher, his friend, and his father.

Both of them remind me of my coach. From eight to fifteen, I have practiced the study about the pronunciations and morphological forms of Chinese, and the learning process is almost equal to my growing process. To me, my coach is like the combination of Scholar Wang and Master Tang. He taught me, scolded me, and even slapped me across the face when I kept making same mistakes, but he never gave up on me. Without him, I wouldn’t have the chance to win the champion in the national contest and found my interest, Chinese literature. As time goes by, I gradually learned to truly appreciate what he has taught me and realized that he is actually my mentor though I was afraid of him before. This is why I felt so familiar when I read the story of Young Fu. These characters are so lively that I felt they are like the people who I know.

As Young Fu took on his adventure, it is not only him but the readers also become mature. There is no denying that Young Fu is extremely lucky—every time he was in big trouble, he found a safe way out and solved the problems. Sometimes it seems like Young Fu is the most foolish person in the world, but then, he shows that he can shoulders the responsibility and really learns lessons.

Many times, we feel depressed in reality and forget to be kind, honest and brave. By means of narrating an adolescent’s growing process, the author gave me a glimpse of the appearance of the early China, and most importantly, how a child becomes an adult.

It’s not easy to pass the test of life, especially at the period when wars haunting and death occurs at any time, but we still have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Deal with whatever comes to our life bravely, like how Young Fu did. If life throws you a lemon, just make lemonade out of it!