Hatred, fear, the drive for survival, superstition, and domination all play a role. This is a remarkable story of contrasts, of faith, of family ties, loyalty, and of enduring love. We learn too, of the events that led Uncle Zhao to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then his slipping into inactivity in the Church. We learn too of the military career and emotionally crippling losses in the old uncle’s life and his modern life as an important executive in a British businessman’s furniture store and the bond formed between the two men of highly opposing backgrounds that extends to Wen-shan. It teaches her of the courage, the fears, the injustices endured by her people, and the threats to her family’s lives.Ĭontrasting with the letters and pictures from mainland China is the everyday life of a young Chinese girl and her friends in modern Hong Kong. The letters tell Wen-shan of the life of her mother and grandparents, of her mother’s marriage, and the terrible burden placed on her family by Mao Tse-tung. The paintings bring a flood of memories to the old man and introduce the girl to the land of her past. This is the beginning of their learning to communicate with each other. Since they are numbered they will proceed in numerical order. Together they decide he will open one of the paintings at a time, and she will open one of the letters addressed to her.

She remembers nothing of the first five years of her life, and her uncle never speaks of the past. There has been no contact with them and she doesn’t even know if they are still alive. There has been little communication between the girl and her great uncle in the ten years she has lived with him, and Wen-shan knows little of her parents and grandfather. Wen-Shan must exercise great patience before the box is opened and she and her uncle discover it contains two kinds of scrolls, letters from her mother and paintings by her grandfather. Uncle Zhao recognizes the box as one belonging to his brother, a once famous Chinese artist. Smythe, after a great deal of formality, presents the two with a carved wooden chest that has been sneaked out of mainland China.

Whisperings of teh dragom