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China lost the Opium War
As a result, Britain took over Hong Kong and Kowloon. For about a hundred years afterward, China suffered many humiliating defeats at the hands of all the major industrial powers, including Britain, France, and Japan. Many port cities on China's coast (such as Tianjin and Shanghai) fell under foreign control. Native Chinese were ruled by foreigners and lived as second-class citizens in their own cities. -
Japan seized Taiwan from China, and then Manchuria
Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, and get Taiwan and Manchuria (the Liaotung Peninsula). Japan became the strongest country in Asia. -
A revolution happened
The imperial Manchu court in Beijing was abolished.
Sun Yat-sen became president and proclaimed China a republic. However, the country broke into fiefdoms ruled by warlords who fought each other for control of China. -
Chiang Kai-shek took over
A military general and protégé of Sun Yat-sen, took over after Sun's death in 1925. -
Japan declared war on China
Quickly occupied Beijing and Tianjin. -
Tianjin was still divided into foreign concessions
However, outside the concessions, the Japanese were in charge.
In the French concession, they were ruled by French citizens according to French law. Children attended a French missionary school and were taught by French Catholic nuns. -
Adeline born
Adeline Yen Mah born in Tianjin. Her mother died giving birth to her. -
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor
And declared war on the United States and Britain. -
Japanese troops marched into Tianjin's foreign concessions
This is why Adeline's Father left Shanghai. He did not want to collaborate with the Japanese. -
Father left the house
He never came home. A few months later, stepmother, Niang, took her younger brother (Fourth Brother) and also left the house. Nobody knew where they went. It was all rather frightening and very mysterious.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese troops marched into Tianjin's foreign concession. Because Father did not wish to collaborate with the Japanese, he took an assumed name and escaped from Tianjin to Shanghai. -
Nai Nai had died
Nai Nai had fainted and was frothing at the mouth. Nai Nai had died from a massive stroke. -
Arrival in Shanghai
Ye Ye took Big Sister, Big Brother, Second Brother and Adeline at the railroad station. Ye Ye marched the four of them onto a crowded platform marked with a sign: TO SHANGHAI. There, in a first-class compartment, they came face to face with Father. -
America dropped the atom bomb on Japan
This ended the Second World War. America was the new conqueror.
Chinese prayed and thanked their American allies for winning the war. When the American soldiers came to China, they cheered, waved welcoming flags, curtsied and presented bouquets. -
The Second World War was at an end
Japan surrendered.
Chiang Kai-shek was back in charge.
His triumph was short-lived because a civil war soon erupted between the Nationalists under Chiang and the Communists under Mao Zedong. -
The end of the civil war
The Communists won the war and drove the Nationalists out of mainland China to Taiwan. And they took over Tianjin.
At that time, Hong Kong was still a British colony. -
Big Sister's Wedding
Big Sister married Samuel who is son of Dr. Sung who was Nai Nai's doctor. Big Sister was 17 years old and Samuel was 31. She didn't go to college and not even get a high-school diploma. -
Boarding School in Tianjin
During the height of the civil war, her parents took her from Shanghai back to Tianjin to separate her from her aunt, who they said was a bad influence. They abandoned her in a convent school in Tianjin while they themselves went back to Shanghai and then on to Hong Kong. The school was the same as her kindergarten.
This caused her to study English more than Chinese. -
Hong Kong
She was the only student left in her school when the Communists took over Tianjin. All the other students had escaped. Luckily, she was rescued by her aunt, who took her out of school and brought her to Hong Kong. -
Boarding School in Hong Kong
Her parents sent her to another Catholic boarding school. -
The Korean War broke out
Pitting North Korea (aided by Communist China and the Soviet Union) against South Korea (aided by the United Nations).
A truce was reached and the Korean War ended. -
Ye Ye has died
She didn't know that Ye Ye has died until Mother Valentino told her to go to his funeral.
At the funeral, no one else was crying but she was. -
College in England
She skipped 2 grades, so as age 14 she entered medical school in England to become a doctor. After she graduates, she specialized in obstetrics. -
Won first prize in the International Play-writing Competition
14-year-old Hong Kong schoolgirl ADELINE JUN-LING YEN of Sacred Heart Canossian School, Caine Road, Hong Kong, has won first prize in the International Playwriting Competition held in London, England, for the 1951-1952 school year. It is the first time that any local Chinese student from Hong Kong has won such a prestigious event. Besides a medal, the prize comes with a cash reward of FIFTY ENGLISH POUNDS. Our sincere congratulations, ADELINE, for bringing honor to Hong Kong. We are proud of you
