My father, Shen Zhongshu, retired from office twenty years ago. His hair is now completely white, but his back remains straight and his voice as loud as a bell. Every day, he either tends the flowers and plants in the courtyard or tells the neighborhood children amusing stories from his years in office. No one would guess that this cheerful old man was once the celebrated magistrate of Qingxi County, who commanded great influence during the Xuande era of the Ming dynasty. The neighbors often say that Mr. Shen has an air of righteous integrity about him. Perhaps, as the elders say, an upright official is blessed with a long and happy life.
My sister Shen Qingyao and I agreed that we should give Father a special birthday present on his eightieth birthday. After much thought, we decided that the only fitting gift would be to publish the account of his life, which he had written by hand twenty years ago. The book contains the changing fortunes of the Ming dynasty, his difficult journey from a country commoner to an official, and our Shen family's motto: "Keep our family honorable and stand up for the people." We hope this book will bring Father joy, and help future generations understand what it means to be a good official and a good person.
The manuscript, tentatively titled Sixty Years of Bright Candles in the Annals of History, is only tens of thousands of words long, but every word carries immense weight. Father's writing is unadorned, plain and direct, yet every word seems steeped in tears and every sentence brims with emotion. My sister and I can't help tearing up each time we read it. The day we decided to publish it, many long-buried childhood memories came flooding back.
