HOME

Renjinglu shicao jianzhu by Huang Zunxian The commentary is by Qian Zhonglian

Original poem and note

Translation of the poem:

After several years of hardship, I am writing a poem about my comrade;

When someone's guts are bigger than his body, his spirit is naturally heroic and fearless.

When will the days of chasing after petty gains and losses come to an end? (1)

Even in smiling, he always carried a boot dagger.

(1) Here, Huang is accusing the U.S. government of focusing on petty interests.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In his note, Huang Zunxian records one incident that he and F.A. Bee encountered.

Translation of Huang's note:

F.A. Bee was also the consul of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco. When the U.S.

government just started to implement the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mr. Bee and I would

go out to see each time we saw a Chinese ship arrive. One day, when we passed the

Customs Office, some American workers started to gather. One of them took out a

pistol and pointed it at us, saying, "If you dare lead the Chinese to enter, I am going to

give you this!" Mr. Bee touched the gun in his boot, and then smilingly said to him,

"Do you dare?"