1
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So I was trained to become a gymnast

2
00:00:03,319 --> 00:00:06,975
for two years in Hunan, China in the 1970s.

3
00:00:06,975 --> 00:00:09,520
When I was in the first grade, the government

4
00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,127
wanted to transfer me to a school for athletes,

5
00:00:12,127 --> 00:00:14,175
all expenses paid.

6
00:00:14,175 --> 00:00:16,823
But my tiger mother said, "No."

7
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My parents wanted me to become

8
00:00:18,959 --> 00:00:21,063
an engineer like them.

9
00:00:21,063 --> 00:00:23,150
After surviving the Cultural Revolution,

10
00:00:23,150 --> 00:00:26,959
they firmly believed there's only one sure way to happiness:

11
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a safe and well-paid job.

12
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It is not important if I like the job or not.

13
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But my dream was to become a Chinese opera singer.

14
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That is me playing my imaginary piano.

15
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An opera singer must start training young

16
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to learn acrobatics,

17
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so I tried everything I could to go to opera school.

18
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I even wrote to the school principal

19
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and the host of a radio show.

20
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But no adults liked the idea.

21
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No adults believed I was serious.

22
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Only my friends supported me, but they were kids,

23
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just as powerless as I was.

24
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So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained.

25
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My dream would never come true.

26
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I was afraid that for the rest of my life

27
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some second-class happiness

28
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would be the best I could hope for.

29
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But that's so unfair.

30
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So I was determined to find another calling.

31
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Nobody around to teach me? Fine.

32
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I turned to books.

33
00:01:33,697 --> 00:01:37,339
I satisfied my hunger for parental advice

34
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from this book by a family of writers and musicians.["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]

35
00:01:42,216 --> 00:01:45,289
I found my role model of an independent woman

36
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when Confucian tradition requires obedience.["Jane Eyre"]

37
00:01:49,133 --> 00:01:52,830
And I learned to be efficient from this book.["Cheaper by the Dozen"]

38
00:01:52,830 --> 00:01:56,795
And I was inspired to study abroad after reading these.

39
00:01:56,795 --> 00:01:58,866
["Complete Works of Sanmao" (aka Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" by Nan Huaijin]

40
00:01:58,866 --> 00:02:02,057
I came to the U.S. in 1995,

41
00:02:02,057 --> 00:02:04,938
so which books did I read here first?

42
00:02:04,938 --> 00:02:08,463
Books banned in China, of course.

43
00:02:08,463 --> 00:02:12,133
"The Good Earth" is about Chinese peasant life.

44
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That's just not convenient for propaganda. Got it.

45
00:02:16,235 --> 00:02:19,960
The Bible is interesting, but strange.

46
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(Laughter)

47
00:02:22,445 --> 00:02:25,916
That's a topic for a different day.

48
00:02:25,916 --> 00:02:29,211
But the fifth commandment gave me an epiphany:

49
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"You shall honor your father and mother."

50
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"Honor," I said. "That's so different,

51
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and better, than obey."

52
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So it becomes my tool to climb out

53
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of this Confucian guilt trap

54
00:02:41,499 --> 00:02:45,771
and to restart my relationship with my parents.

55
00:02:45,771 --> 00:02:48,793
Encountering a new culture also started my habit

56
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of comparative reading.

57
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It offers many insights.

58
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For example, I found this map out of place at first

59
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because this is what Chinese students grew up with.

60
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It had never occurred to me,

61
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China doesn't have to be at the center of the world.

62
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A map actually carries somebody's view.

63
00:03:10,974 --> 00:03:13,382
Comparative reading actually is nothing new.

64
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It's a standard practice in the academic world.

65
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There are even research fields

66
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such as comparative religion and comparative literature.

67
00:03:22,099 --> 00:03:24,334
Compare and contrast gives scholars

68
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a more complete understanding of a topic.

69
00:03:27,340 --> 00:03:29,093
So I thought, well, if comparative reading

70
00:03:29,093 --> 00:03:32,929
works for research, why not do it in daily life too?

71
00:03:32,929 --> 00:03:36,304
So I started reading books in pairs.

72
00:03:36,304 --> 00:03:37,518
So they can be about people --

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["Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacson]["John Adams" by David McCullough] --

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00:03:38,401 --> 00:03:40,909
who are involved in the same event,

75
00:03:40,909 --> 00:03:43,588
or friends with shared experiences.

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00:03:43,588 --> 00:03:44,988
["Personal History" by Katharine Graham]["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," by Alice Schroeder]

77
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I also compare the same stories in different genres -- (Laughter)

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00:03:49,386 --> 00:03:51,498
[Holy Bible: King James Version]["Lamb" by Chrisopher Moore] --

79
00:03:51,498 --> 00:03:54,635
or similar stories from different cultures,

80
00:03:54,635 --> 00:03:57,516
as Joseph Campbell did in his wonderful book.["The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell]

81
00:03:57,516 --> 00:04:00,909
For example, both the Christ and the Buddha

82
00:04:00,909 --> 00:04:03,342
went through three temptations.

83
00:04:03,342 --> 00:04:05,144
For the Christ, the temptations

84
00:04:05,144 --> 00:04:09,119
are economic, political and spiritual.

85
00:04:09,119 --> 00:04:13,445
For the Buddha, they are all psychological:

86
00:04:13,445 --> 00:04:20,763
lust, fear and social duty -- interesting.

87
00:04:20,763 --> 00:04:23,802
So if you know a foreign language, it's also fun

88
00:04:23,802 --> 00:04:25,699
to read your favorite books in two languages.

89
00:04:25,699 --> 00:04:26,951
["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton]["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts]

90
00:04:26,951 --> 00:04:30,511
Instead of lost in translation, I found there is much to gain.

91
00:04:30,527 --> 00:04:34,735
For example, it's through translation that I realized

92
00:04:34,735 --> 00:04:40,708
"happiness" in Chinese literally means "fast joy." Huh!

93
00:04:40,708 --> 00:04:45,997
"Bride" in Chinese literally means "new mother." Uh-oh.

94
00:04:45,997 --> 00:04:49,258
(Laughter)

95
00:04:49,258 --> 00:04:54,645
Books have given me a magic portal to connect with people

96
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of the past and the present.

97
00:04:57,290 --> 00:05:01,525
I know I shall never feel lonely or powerless again.

98
00:05:01,525 --> 00:05:04,202
Having a dream shattered really is nothing

99
00:05:04,202 --> 00:05:07,138
compared to what many others have suffered.

100
00:05:07,138 --> 00:05:09,866
I have come to believe that coming true

101
00:05:09,866 --> 00:05:13,146
is not the only purpose of a dream.

102
00:05:13,146 --> 00:05:17,047
Its most important purpose is to get us in touch

103
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with where dreams come from,

104
00:05:19,162 --> 00:05:22,066
where passion comes from, where happiness comes from.

105
00:05:22,066 --> 00:05:26,288
Even a shattered dream can do that for you.

106
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So because of books, I'm here today,

107
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happy, living again with a purpose and a clarity,

108
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most of the time.

109
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So may books be always with you.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Thank you. (Applause)

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Thank you. (Applause)