My mother has done a lot of preparation for dying. She has organized most of her affairs, written her obituary, left instructions on who should be notified, given away lots of stuff, written out directions for disposing of most personal items, and so on. But there are still a lot of things left for Bonnie and I to sort through.
On Monday, while just trying to identify some of the areas that still need work, I came across several treasures buried among dusty piles of papers and boxes (many empty, some not). There’s a copy of the 1916 edition of Ka Palapala, the yearbook of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. This was the first edition of the yearbook, complete with an editorial introducing the new annual project. This was well before my mother’s time at the university. I’m guessing it’s another treasure inherited from Professor Carey D. Miller, the internationally-known nutritionist who was my mother’s mentor at the university in the 1930s and remained a close friend until Miller’s death.
Nearby was a box of files holding some of Miller’s personal and academic correspondence. The files are dirty and aged, but I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in there.
Also in the box was a small guest book, with signatures of visiting academics dating from 1931 through about 1963, a couple of years after Miller retired. I don’t know if these were visitors to Miller’s Home Economics program, to her own laboratory, to her home, or if the book even belonged to Miller, although that’s certainly the implication of finding it stored with her personal papers. Perhaps there are clues somewhere in the correspondence.
This inscription is on the blank opening page.
The English, a little stilted perhaps, conveys a wonderful message, still right on point.
Seek truth in real facts;
Believe not without evidences.
Is that a translation of the characters? Anybody out there able to read them?
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Although my chinese is rusty, the translation looks correct. Read the characters top to bottom with columns going from right to left. Written by Ms. Tsai, I wonder if she was a faculty or student at UH.
Maybe a visiting academic? As for the language, its inverted sentence structure strikes me not as stilted but as Yoda-like. Wonderful, it is.
This is maybe the most succinct statement of the basics of science that I have ever seen. I am going to add it to my personal collection of words to live by.
The essence of Buddhist practice. See what is and keep watching as it changes.
According to Web sources, “seek truth from facts” goes back to the dynastic history Book of Han. Mao Zedong said in 1938 that he was of the “seek truth from facts” school. The phrase later became the slogan of Deng Xiaoping and the post-Mao reformers, and the party’s theoretical journal was replaced by a new one called “Seeking Truth.”
The saying about not believing without evidence is even older, recorded in the Book of Rites, which is attributed to Confucius.
Mrs. Cai might have also have been called Mrs. Tsai or Mrs. Choy.
Mr. Ian Lind,
I’m the archivist at the University of Hawaii and would decidedly appreciate receiving the materials. We have a collection of Carey Miller papers, including some materials created by your mother and others in appreciation of Dr. Miller which the group of former students sent to us.
Moreover, we recently lost a bound volume containing the first five years of Ka Palapala, and would love to receive a copy of the 1916 book. Although the 1916 Ka Palapala was the first of this title, a previous yearbook, Hawaiian Collegian in 1910 was the first yearbook of the College of Hawaii. Only one issue was published as far as I know.
James Cartwright
If the name in the guest book is ???, one candidate might be Hsiu Chu Tsai (spelling reconstructed). Born in China around 1896, she graduated from Vassar in chemistry, got a master’s degree from Columbia, and became the wife of Chinese playwright, philosopher, professor (Nankai and Chicago), diplomat, and human rights champion Peng Chun Chang. But I’ve seen nothing to connect her with Hawaii, so it’s kind of a wild guess.
Very belatedly—the person of that name who was at Vassar and Columbia and married P. C. Chang spelled her name Ts’a Sieu Tsu or Sieu Tsu Ts’a Chang. She died in 1986. I don’t know whether she visited Hawaii or whether she was the person who wrote the the inscription.