Qing Wendy

A tune that has been going through my head for the last month is the song near the end of Act II of Hamilton :  “One Last Time.”  It’s a beautiful piece, written in the style of R&B/Gospel.   It imagines a conversation between Washington and Hamilton, when the President decides not to run for re-election, and asks Hamilton to write his final address to the American public, setting up the tradition of term limits for American Presidents. (FDR, of course, being the exception).  I introduced this song in my final lecture to the Jiaotong students to talk about America’s history of peaceful transitions between administrations.  From 1982 to 2018, the Chinese constitution had a similar stipulation.  This was changed in 2018 by President Xi.  Chinese presidents currently have no term limits. Of course, I also did it against the backdrop of recent news about our current administration’s who, like Xi, may push the boundaries of this tradition. The song was not just a political statement

苟正连 Gou Zheng Lian Gou Zheng Lian, first trip to Beijing, 2016 Gou Zheng Lian is the 79-year-old grandmother of my good friend, Lotus.  I often see Gou Zheng Lian looking after her 1 and 6-year-old great granddaughters, Xuxu and Tutu, in my village of Jiaotong University.  She is always very friendly.  I enjoy trying my basic Mandarin on her, telling her things like, “I like your shirt today.”  She always breaks into a big smile and laughs, adding joy to my day.  Lotus told me that Zheng Lian never went to school, never learned to read or write or do simple arithmetic.  Although she understands Mandarin, she really doesn’t speak it.  Her language is the local Sichuan dialect.  One day Lotus told me how much she loves and admires her grandmother, and so I decided to ask Lotus to tell me about her. Zheng Lian was born in 1941 in a small village in Sichuan province called Gou Jia Lian.  Her earliest memories are something of a blur now, and it is difficult to e