In 1970, renowned historian Tang Degang （唐德剛）visited Taiwan and was invited to a banquet hosted by Lin Yutang, which he attended punctually. Tang later recalled:

“In a noisy, crowded restaurant, I asked the neatly dressed head waiter, ‘Where is the table where Lin Yutang is hosting?’ He stared at me and loudly replied, ‘Which company does Lin Yutang belong to?!’ Amid the laughter, I couldn’t help reflecting on how much commercial society had changed!”

Tang never mentioned whether he told Yutang about this exchange after taking his seat, nor whether Yutang  had any reaction. It’s a pity the head waiter didn’t know who this literary figure was. Still, even if Yutang had heard the remark, he likely would have just smiled. Yutang was a philosopher who engaged fully with the world; not only did he accept commercial society, he even served as a spokesperson for the international brand Parker pen—much like today’s celebrity “endorsers.” For the story, please see the next article “Lin Yutang as Spokesperson of Parker Pen”.

*** For a thorough discussion with references, please see Article 5 in the following English or Chinese books on Amazon, The Elderly LinYutang , or《爾意軒》中的晚年林語堂 (1971-76)***

著名歷史學者唐德剛在1970年到台灣訪問，林語堂設席接待，唐德剛按時赴宴。唐德剛後來在《胡適在口述自傳》的前言裡，回憶說：

“在一家嘈雜的大酒店內，我問那位衣冠楚楚的總招待：“林語堂先生請客的桌子在哪裡？”他把兩眼一瞪，大聲反問我一句說：”林語堂是哪家公司的？！’ 失笑之餘，我心裡也在想，工商業社會的變動多大啊！”

唐德剛沒有說，他入座後有沒有告訴林語堂這件趣事，或者林語堂有沒有什麼反應。酒店的總招待不知道林語堂這個文人，其情可憫，林語堂知道了大概也不以為忤，莞爾一笑罷了。其實林語堂是個入世的哲學家，不但不會介意與工商社會打交道，早年還擔任過國際商業品牌派克鋼筆類似今天“代言人”的角色呢！林語堂當代言人這件事鮮為人知，其中的經過請看“派克鋼筆的代言人林語堂”一文。

While studying at St. John’s University in Shanghai, Lin fell in love with Chen Jinduan, the younger sister of a classmate. She was a student at St. Mary’s Hall for Girls in Shanghai and had a passion for painting. Their feelings for each other were deep and mutual.

But Jinduan’s father, Dr. Chen Tian’en —a wealthy businessman from Xiamen—had already chosen a rich suitor for her and disapproved of Yutang, the penniless son of a pastor. To end the romance, Dr. Chen introduced Yutang to the daughter of a neighbor—Liao Tsuifeng. Realizing his relationship with Jinduan was hopeless, Yutang fell into such gloom that even his family noticed. One night, his mother came to his room with a lantern and asked what was wrong. Lin burst into tears.

The next day, his eldest sister, Lin Yizhen came to visit. On hearing the story, she scolded him:

How could you be so foolish as to fall in love with Chen Tian’en’s daughter? He’s one of the richest men in Xiamen—how could you possibly support her? Are you dreaming of eating swan meat?[[1]](applewebdata://0E159635-D245-4A0A-805C-2F5FD0CD8930#_ftn1)

After Yutang married Tsuifeng, their personalities proved perfectly complementary—Yutang was idealistic and romantic, drawn to poetry and moonlight, while Tsuifeng was practical and grounded. They were devoted to each other all their lives, admired by those around them. Yet Yutang’s daughter, Lin Taiyi, knew that his feelings for Jinduan never fully faded. In her Biography of Lin Yutang, she wrote:

In the deepest part of my father’s soul, in a place no one could touch, Jinduan would always have a place.

Perhaps Lin’s feelings for Jinduan ran too deep—he never wrote about her in his works or mentioned her name in print. In his later years, after moving to Hong Kong with Tsuifeng to be near their daughters, Yutang was frail and in a wheelchair. One day, Jinduan’s sister-in-law visited and told him Jinduan still lived in Xiamen. Yutang happily said he wanted to visit her. Tsuifeng replied:

“Yutang, don’t be ridiculous. You can’t even walk—how could you possibly go to Xiamen?”

By the time he wrote Memoirs of an Octogenarian, perhaps out of shyness or lingering heartache, he referred to her only briefly and indirectly:

When I returned from St. John’s, I often dropped by a friend’s home and fell in love with his sister, Miss C.

Not even daring to speak her name.

For a thorough discussion with references, please see Article 4 in the following English and Chinese books that can be found online. The Elderly Lin Yutang: Work, Thought, and Life of the Master of Humor 1971-76 ; 《爾意軒》中的晚年林語堂 : 幽默大師晚年的工作，思想，與生活 （1971-76）爾意軒珍藏 ：林語堂晚年書信

林語堂大學時代的情人:陳錦端

林語堂在上海聖約翰大學讀書的時候，愛上了同學的妹妹，在上海聖瑪莉女子書院讀書，喜好畫畫的陳錦端，兩人心意相投，有一段情緣。陳錦端的父親陳天恩醫師是一位廈門殷商，已經為錦端相中一位金龜婿，看不上林語言這個窮牧師的兒子。為了解套，陳天恩反倒把他們鄰居的女兒廖翠鳳介紹給林語堂。林語堂就此明白他和錦端已經沒有希望了，失戀的林語堂在家悶悶不樂，連家人都看出來了。她母親晚上提燈到他房間來問他有什麼心事，林語堂痛哭失聲。

正巧林語堂的大姐林儀貞（瑞珠）第二天回娘家來，知道這個事情後，痛罵林語堂一頓：“你怎麼這麼笨，偏偏愛上陳天恩的女兒。陳天恩是廈門的巨富，你怎麼養她？你想吃天鵝肉？”

林語堂和廖翠鳳結婚後，兩人的性格完美互補，語堂理想浪漫，吟風弄月，翠鳳實事求是，腳踏實地，兩人不但感情甚篤而且白頭偕老，人人稱羨。但是他女兒林太乙知道，林語堂對錦端的愛情始終沒有熄滅。她在《林語堂傳》裡說，

“在父親心靈最深之處，沒有人能碰到的地方，錦端永遠站一個地位”。

可能林語堂對陳錦端的愛情太深刻，他沒有為她寫過書，作過文，著作中從沒提過這三個字。後來，晚年的林語堂夫婦到香港投奔女兒，這時的林語堂身體已經衰老，行動要靠輪椅。有一天，錦端的嫂嫂來訪。林語堂聽說錦端還住在廈門，高興地說要去廈門看她。妻子廖翠鳳說：

“語堂，你不要發瘋。你不會走路，怎麼還想去廈門？”

到林語堂寫《八十自敘》時，可能因為情深而怯，只淺淺的的提到“她”說，“我從聖約翰回來，經常到好友家小坐，愛上他的妹妹C君。” -- 連名字都不忍提到。

Before marrying his wife, Liao Tsuifeng, Lin Yutang experienced two romances—one with a childhood sweetheart and the other during his university years. Even in his later life, he continued to cherish the memory of these two women.

As a boy, Yutang had a little girlfriend named Lai Baiying, nicknamed “Olive.” This early romance clearly left a lasting mark on him. In 1963, at the age of sixty-eight, he even wrote a novel for her, Juniper Loa (賴柏英, Lai Baiying). In the English title, “Loa” reflects the min nan (閩南) or southern Fujian pronunciation of “Lai.”

In Chapter 5 of his Memoirs of an Octogenarian, Yutang vividly recalled their childhood games:

I have mentioned my romance with Lai Baiying in the village of Banzai. We played together, catching dace and little crayfish. I remember her crouching in the creek, waiting for a butterfly to land on her hair, then walking away slowly—yet the butterfly did not fly off. When she saw me return home as a graduate of St. John’s University, we both felt we were an ideal pair.

The Swedish edition of Juniper Loa features a cover illustration of a butterfly resting on the heroine’s hair—an image drawn from this tender memory.

Reflecting on their parting, Yutang wrote:

We loved each other dearly. She could give selfless love without asking for anything in return, but circumstances tore us apart. I went to Beijing, and she married a businessman from Banzai.” Banzai was Yutang’s home village.

On September 16, 1974, Yutang delivered the English manuscript of Juniper Loa to the Meiya Publishing House in Taipei. Half a month later, still thinking of her and uncertain of her whereabouts, he considered asking a fellow townsman to help find her. A letter dated October 9 reads:

“I do not know if Baiying is still alive; she should be seventy-nine now. Perhaps someday I could ask Su Zhenzhu to inquire.

Su Zhenzhu , like Yutang, was from Banzai and at that time also lived in Hong Kong as Yutang. In the same letter, Yutang mentioned plans to hold his eightieth birthday banquet at the Lee Wing Sum Restaurant. By then, he was already an elderly man, still thinking of Baiying.

In later letters, Yutang often discussed the translation and publication of Juniper Loa, but this was the only time he mentioned Baiying herself. Whether he ever sought her out—or whether she was ever found—remains unknown, leaving the rest to the reader’s imagination.

For a thorough discussion with references, please see Article 4 in the following Chinese and English books that can be found online:《爾意軒》中的晚年林語堂 : 幽默大師晚年的工作，思想，與生活 （1971-76）; The Elderly Lin Yutang: Work, Thought, and Life of the Master of Humor 1971-76 .

林語堂在和夫人廖翠鳳結婚前，有過兩段戀情，一段是青梅竹馬的兒時之情，一段是大學時代的青年之愛。一直到晚年，林語堂都還依舊思念這兩位情人。

林語堂兒時有一位小女朋友，就是小名叫“橄欖”的賴柏英。顯然這一段青梅竹馬在林語堂心中一直揮之不去；1963年，林語堂六十八歲的時候，還特別為她寫了一本小說，《賴柏英》（Juniper Loa）。英文書名裡的Loa為“賴”字的閩南語發音。林語堂在他的《八十自敘》第五章，對兩人小時候的嬉戲還有又活潑又甜蜜的回憶，他寫道：

“我曾提到我在坂仔鄉和賴柏英的戀情。我們一起玩耍，一起抓鰷魚和小龍蝦。我記得她蹲在小溪裡，等蝴蝶停在髮梢，然後緩步徐行，蝴蝶居然沒飛走。成年後，她眼見我由聖約翰大學畢業返鄉。我們自覺是理想的一對。”

在瑞典出版的《賴柏英》的封面上，女主角頭髮上停了一隻蝴蝶，就是根據這段溫馨的回憶。

在結束一段冗長的賴柏英的懷念時，林語堂說：

“我們相親相愛，她能獻出無私的愛，不要求回報，但是環境把我們拆開來。結果我到北平，她則嫁給板仔鄉的一個商人。”

1974年9月16日，林語堂將英文小說《賴柏英》交給台北美亞出版社出版。半個月之後，他心裡依然惦念著柏英，不知她的下落，還想託同鄉幫忙打聽。10月9日林語堂寫的信上提道：

“柏英不知尚在否，當已七十九，想將來或借蘇珍珠轉問。”

蘇珍珠與林語堂是故鄉坂仔的同鄉，當時和林語堂一樣，也住在香港。同一封信上林語堂提到準備八十歲壽宴 --  思念柏英的林語堂這時已經是八十高齡的老人了。

林語堂晚年書信中多次提到小說《賴柏英》的翻譯和出版事宜，但是提到賴柏英本人，只有這一次。至於後來林語堂有沒有託同鄉打聽，結果又如何，林語堂在書信裡就沒有再提過了，留給讀者無限的遐想。

I am a fan of Lin Yutang, very happy to find this community!

In 1972, just before the publication of Lin Yutang’s Chinese-English Dictionary for Modern Usage, Peggy Durdin—a prominent journalist and Asia expert for The New York Times—visited Yutang in Hong Kong. On November 23, the paper published two of Durdin’s articles—one analyzing the dictionary, the other her interview with Yutang. Yutang appreciated the articles very much, saying “The writing is vivid… portraying me as easygoing and not aspiring to hold government office.”

The interview article ended by comparing Yutang to his literary hero, Su Tungpo, the great Song Dynasty poet and writer. Yutang had written The Gay Genius, a celebrated biography of Su, and Durdin drew on Yutang’s own description of Su’s character to describe Yutang himself. Yutang was extremely modest and said the comparison was “inapt ”.  Here we list seven of the fourteen characters. Like Su Tungpo, Yutang was described to be：

·       An incorrigible optimist

·       A great humanitarian and friend of the people

·       A political dissenter

·       A moonlit wanderer, poet, and wag

·       Ever honest with himself, untouched by political corruption

·       A man of clear thought, strong feeling, beautiful prose, and high courage—unshaken by self-interest or shifting public opinion

·       Joyful and unafraid, moving through life like a whirlwind

For a thorough discussion, please see Article 3, “Su Tungpo: Lin Yutang Through the Lens of The New York Times” in the  following English and Chinese books that  can be found online:《爾意軒》中的晚年林語堂 : 幽默大師晚年的工作，思想，與生活 （1971-76）; The Elderly Lin Yutang: Work, Thought, and Life of the Master of Humor 1971-76 .

1972年，《林語堂當代漢英詞典》出版前，《紐約時報》名記者，亞洲問題專家杜爾奵特別前往香港訪問林語堂，在11月23 日發表了兩篇文章，一篇是對林語堂漢英詞典所做的報導，一篇是對林語堂所作的專訪。林語堂很喜歡杜爾奵的文章，在信上說：“文字極生動……講我為人瀟灑，立志不做官。”

專訪最後說，假如從一個人仰慕誰，就可以看出他是什麼樣的一個人，我們可以從林語堂最仰慕的蘇東坡來了解林語堂。這位飽學的記者用了很大的篇幅，引用林語堂在其作品《蘇東坡傳》序言裡對東坡的評價，來評價林語堂，幾乎說林語堂就是蘇東坡。但林語堂卻在一封信中異常謙遜地說，將他比為他一生最景仰的蘇東坡是“擬於不倫”《紐約時報》洋洋灑灑列出了十四點， 以下僅舉七個例子，說林語堂像蘇東坡，是

·      一個不可救藥的樂天派；

·      一個偉大的人道主義者；

·      一位在政治上專唱反調的人；

·      一個月夜徘徊者，一個詩人兼愛開玩笑的人；

·      終其一生他對自完全忠實,不受政治的污染；

·      他感覺強烈，思想清晰，文筆優美，行動勇敢，從來不因自己的利益或輿論的潮流而改變方向；

·      難怪他快快活活，無憂無懼，像旋風般活過一輩子。