In an interview, Chinese-American Rong Jin’ai expressed her belief in fate: “Many life decisions may seem unavoidable but are often influenced by the times. Even if things don’t go as planned at the moment, the outcomes often turn out unexpectedly well, as if they were predestined.” Reflecting on her 70-year tumultuous journey, Rong Jin’ai shared her sentiments.
In the mid-20th century, amidst the tumultuous events in China, Rong Jin’ai, who once harbored dreams of attending university, faced numerous obstacles including her father being labeled a “rightist,” the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and forced labor in rural areas. How did she forge a resilient spirit and embark on a perilous journey of sneaking into Macau, eventually making her way to Hong Kong and the United States for education?
Upon arriving in the United States, she discovered her grandfather’s heartwarming deeds in a small town in Mississippi, where the residents commemorated him, and even the governor personally signed a commendation for him. Rong Jin’ai’s two sons also excelled in the U.S., becoming top professionals. The story of four generations of the Rong family embodies the epitome of Chinese-American immigrants starting from scratch away from their homeland.
“My father, like my grandfather, was a kind-hearted person willing to help others in any way,” Rong Jin’ai reminisced about her father, Rong Huasheng. It was a period of belief and misplaced trust. Her father, a talented graduate of Lingnan University, had the opportunity to study in the U.S., but driven by the ideal of “building a new China,” he chose to remain in the mainland, engaging in overseas Chinese community work and joining the volunteer party of the Democratic Parties at the time. With outstanding writing skills, he once won Chinese and English writing awards after the victory in WWII, and was invited by colleagues to write “suggestions for the Communist Party” on posters.
Unexpectedly, as the political winds shifted, the “anti-rightist” movement swept in. The sincere advice he once gave became incriminating evidence. Refusing to betray others, fabricate false accusations, or accuse high-ranking party members, he was then labeled a “rightist” and plunged into the abyss. From being a “benevolent” overseas Chinese community official to a “criminal,” Rong Huasheng was instantly marginalized, lost his job, and during the Cultural Revolution, was publicly criticized, paraded through the streets, and imprisoned at midnight. Overnight, the family went from affluence to destitution, relying solely on grandfather Rong Yongxie’s hard-earned money in the U.S. to sustain them.
Rong Jin’ai, one of six siblings, recalled a difficult period in the late 1950s when, with the help of friends, her mother managed to settle in Hong Kong with three younger children. However, she and her two younger sisters remained in China, amidst the “sent-down youth” movement. Despite excelling in nearly every subject at high school, the desire to study was thwarted as she was forced to leave the bustling city of Guangzhou to work in the countryside, enduring a life of deprivation. Even the youngest sister was compelled to labor in the fields while still in primary school. Facing a bleak reality, she made a decisive choice: “Since we are practically dying here, why not flee to Hong Kong together?”
In May 1971, she embarked on a perilous journey of escape with her two sisters. Unable to take the heavily guarded route through Shenzhen, they resorted to a detour through Macau. Faced with Communist Party blockades, rifles, rough seas, and an uncertain future, she reminisced: “It’s not as simple as deciding to leave today; everything must be prepared, and someone willing to help you, which in itself is a challenge.” After five days of traversing the mountains, narrowly avoiding cliffs and evading capture, they eventually made it to Macau, and later to Hong Kong, reuniting with their mother and siblings.
“We weren’t chasing dreams, just trying to survive,” she said. The sisters’ escape mirrored a turbulent chapter in their lives, marking a resilient and indelible trail amidst blood, sweat, despair, and hope.
In June of this year, at a memorial event for “escaped Hong Kong youths who perished,” the song “May Festival,” composed and performed by the late fellow student Yuan Jialun, resonated over the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in New Jersey. Overwhelmed with emotion, Rong Jin’ai was poignant, recalling her past escape to Hong Kong. Every year, she and her family participate in memorial activities, honoring former comrades who lost their lives in pursuit of freedom.
Upon arriving in Hong Kong, Rong Jin’ai and her family resided in Prince Edward’s Flower Market area. Regaining her freedom, she dedicated herself to education, aspiring to study abroad at a university. Her grandfather hoped she would go to the U.S. for further studies. While she had an early interest in engineering, her mother’s advice and the employment environment led her to choose pharmacy as her university major instead. After a year of studying at a university in Hong Kong, she took the TOEFL and SAT exams, posteriorly initiating the application process for American universities.
At the time, a pharmacy school in Philadelphia, known as the “first pharmacy school in America,” captivated her. Initially rejected by the school in Philadelphia, she received an acceptance letter from a school in Louisiana instead. Eager to pursue education, she first enrolled in Louisiana before later transferring to Philadelphia to study pharmacy.
She mentioned being one of the earliest students from mainland China at the school. The officials at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, due to the rarity of mainland Chinese students studying abroad, were especially friendly towards her, with the entire office bidding her farewell. She recalled that the school may have shown extra care towards her due to their aversion to the Communist regime. During her time studying in Louisiana, with limited options to choose elective courses due to the deadline, she found herself enrolling in “conditioning” instead of her desired physical education courses. Despite her petite stature, having previously trained her physical endurance on the mainland, she outperformed her classmates. She recalled, “The professor saw that I wasn’t even out of breath, and exempted me from exams, giving me an ‘A’ grade directly.”
In her academic journey, she studied in Hong Kong, Louisiana, and Philadelphia, with some tuition fees exempted during earlier education. In Philadelphia, she was only required to take a western civilization course as an additional requirement. Teaching by Miss Anna, who spoke often about European culture and art, allowed her to easily achieve high scores due to their shared interests.
Initially, encountering language barriers was her initial hurdle upon arriving in the U.S. She requested professors to allow her to record lectures on a tape recorder for repeated listening after class. Fortunately, her roommate was a local who helped her look up words in the dictionary, explained vocabulary, and even moved in with her when she felt fearful of living alone. “She helped me a lot, and even took me home for weekends. Americans are truly kind-hearted,” she recalled.
Rong Jin’ai expressed deep gratitude towards American education and society, particularly emphasizing the discrimination she had felt during the struggle under the “criticize and denounce” environment in mainland China. She felt a sense of belonging and respect for the first time in the U.S., realizing that “she was a human being, entitled to rights.” She held deep gratitude towards Americans for their acceptance, respect, and assistance.
Her time studying in the U.S. allowed her talents to shine, achieving academic success and finding understanding and respect in a foreign land. Growing roots in America, she married, had children, and opened new doors. Her siblings all became professionals: pharmacists, doctors, engineers, scientists, and more. She remarked, “Everything we have is thanks to the opportunities this land has given us.”
In her cherished album, she treasured a precious photo with her grandfather, Rong Yongxie, before leaving Hong Kong. In her memory, her grandfather was a kind and simple elder. After retiring in 1967, he spent his later years in Hong Kong surrounded by family, keeping his American experiences largely undisclosed, which Rong Jin’ai never probed into. Her grandfather passed away in 1981 at the age of 87, and his body was laid to rest in Southern California. Until his departure, the family remained unaware of his experiences in the U.S.
It wasn’t until 1997 when a photo of Rong Yongxie from his youth in a grocery store appeared on an American television program, startling the Rong family. Rong Jin’ai’s cousin, Sam Chiu, worked at a television media company at the time and managed a news program featuring stories of Chinese immigrants in the Mississippi Delta region. He selected three old photos from the family collection, one of them from the 1930s showing Rong Yongxie at the center of a grocery store, with his relatives on each side. This small store once held a touching history of Rena Lara town.
After the program aired, Chiu encouraged Rong Jin’ai to “trace her roots” to Mississippi, following the old paths to find out the current state of the grocery store her grandfather once operated in the town.
In the summer of 1998, armed with Chiu’s old photos and address leads, Rong Jin’ai and her husband took their two sons on a long drive to search for the long-lost location of the grocery store in Mississippi. Unexpectedly, the photo sparked a wave of memories among the elderly residents.
“Joe! I know him, he was a great person. We haven’t heard from him in a long time. If my parents were still alive, you could learn more about his story,” the weathered black-and-white photo shook the memories of the residents in Rena Lara town. Connecting with numerous elders at a local fishing shop, Rong Jin’ai and her family learned that her grandfather, known as “Joe,” was a prominent figure in the small town. A senator from Mississippi, Vernon Delma Furniss, who was a good friend of Joe back then, shared more details about the life experiences of her grandfather, fostering a warm interaction between the family and the locals.
In the 1920s, Rong Yongxie sailed from Guangdong, China, to Canada, working hard before hearing about his uncle settling in the South of Mississippi. He then decided to move southward, purchasing a small grocery store named “JOE” in Rena Lara town, beginning his 37-year life as a stranger in a foreign land. With kindness, credibility, and affordable prices, he won the trust of the town’s residents.
Rong Jin’ai found Vernon Furniss, who served as State Senator in 1998 and had generations living in Rena Lara town. Recollecting memories from his adolescence in the 1930s, he said, “Every household in our town has benefited from Joe’s help and kindness. He saved us during the economic depression in the ’30s! Later, he helped sponsor my family’s gas station.”
During the economic depression in the ’30s when cotton farmers in Rena Lara town struggled to afford cotton seeds, fertilizer, and even basic necessities, Joe’s grocery store provided a stable income, and he selflessly extended a helping hand to neighboring farmers in financial distress. Without hesitation, he granted credit to every family, providing agricultural resources in the spring and settling accounts during the harvest season. For families genuinely unable to repay, he never pursued the debts. The townspeople were given credit on paper notes, and he held no grudges, allowing for deferred repayments. For the townsfolk, this trust was worth more than money.
A black family in town, the Whites, mentioned, “Without Joe, our entire family would have starved.” Recalling the past, tears welled up in Mrs. White’s eyes. She shared, “We are a family of 17 siblings. Every spring, my parents would go to Joe to borrow money to buy cotton seeds, but they never repaid the debts, and Joe never pressed them for it.”
There was also a resident who recounted a time when an 8-year-old child went missing in town. Joe’s small store turned into a “command center” for the search, with lights on 24/7, offering drinks and food until the child was found.
“Joe” became a Santa Claus of the town, not just a store owner, giving gifts to warm hearts during Christmas. He prepared Christmas presents for every impoverished family, ensuring they received them.
After living for 37 years in the town, while residents knew little about the origins of this “Santa Claus,” all they knew was that he was called “JOE.” No one truly knew where Joe came from or where he was headed, but everyone knew him as a friend beyond measures of wealth and returns, a grocery store owner overflowing with kindness.
Upon his retirement announcement in 1967, the townspeople spontaneously pooled funds to gift him a Bulova gold watch, engraved on the back with “From Your Friends Rena Lara 1967,” and organized a heartfelt farewell party at the grocery store where he had worked for many years. It wasn’t a goodbye but an emotional expression of gratitude: “Thank you for everything you did for us. We hope you forever remember this town, just as we will always remember you.”
Even years after Joe had left, many families in town remembered the outstanding debts that Joe never collected on and the kindness he extended. This retiree, who led a silent life after retirement, remains a figure of gratitude in the townspeople’s hearts. In 1988, Rena Lara celebrated its centennial, 21 years after Joe’s departure. The local newspaper, Clarksdale Press Register, published two articles in succession, articles of endearment, “Joe’s still a giant in Rena Lara” and “Rena Lara folks hope ‘Joe’ still using watch,” hoping he was still alive, cherishing the memories of a man who made significant contributions to the town’s history.
Perhaps the appreciation of the thankful townspeople touched the heavens. Ten years later, the descendants of the Rong family arrived to “trace their roots,” unveiling Joe’s secrets and his peaceful departure in 1981. Although they sadly discovered that Joe had long passed away, at least they learned that he did not live out his days lonely but bid farewell surrounded by loved ones in Hong Kong, bringing peace to these old friends.
After meeting Rong Jin’ai and her family, Senator Furniss decided to do something for this kind-hearted Chinese predecessor. He passed Resolution No. 599 in the State Senate to honor Rong Yongxie. The Governor of Mississippi, Ronnie Musgrove, signed the commendation, designating July 27, 2002, as “Willie JOE Yung Day” in Mississippi. Rena Lara town later established a biennial celebration on the last Saturday of July, also known as “Rong Yongxie Day,” to remember this kind-hearted Chinese immigrant who made significant contributions to the town’s history. The event continued until the global Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 halted the celebrations.
“A favor in need is a favor indeed.” Today, this legend continues to be passed down through generations, illuminating the small town. The third generation of the Rong family has entered the golden years, with the fourth generation predominantly educated and raised in the United States, becoming professionals, contributing to American society, and perpetuating the goodwill from their ancestors. What Rong’s great-grandfather left behind isn’t just a gold watch or a day of remembrance; it’s a value: that ordinary people, with kindness and trust, can write a story that transcends ethnicity and time. ◇