Set against a backdrop of one of the most explosive and intriguing eras in China's 3,000 year old history, Eastern Starlight, a British Girl's Memoir of Warlord China is the first of a three-volume memoir by Jean Elder, born in Hwangkutun village near Mukden, Fengtien Province, Manchuria in 1912, year of the fall of the last Manchu Dynasty. The powerful warlord, Marshal Chang Tso-lin, rules all of Manchuria with the exception of the South Manchurian Railway, the Japanese Concession granted them following their victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.
As Manager of the Manchurian segment of the Peking-Mukden Railroad on behalf of the Imperial Railroads of Northern China, her father, Hugh Elder, must on his own achieve the cooperation of Chang Tso-lin and officials of Japan's industrial conglomerate, Mantetsu. Hugh achieves that formidable task and much more-----the friendship, respect, and trust of Chang Tso-lin and his family, the Chinese villagers of Hwangkutun, prominent foreigners of the trans-national community, in particular the Japanese. Among the many rarely awarded medals he was honored to wear as a foreign civilian were Imperial China's Order of the Double Dragon and Imperial Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure and Order of the Rising Sun, fourteen in all.
Jean brings us into her experiences growing up in Mukden and Tientsin in a land resistant to Western culture and the modern world. Her China years come to life in the context of warlord: violence; life-threatening dangers of her immediate environment; friendships that matter most to her; British tutors who are uncompromising in their demands of her; Chinese employees of her parents who become mentors to her; social events in the adult world of her parents; care that she administers to those in need in her village; and the overarching concern of China's tension with the Great Powers over Treaty City Concessions amid rising nationalism
Through her eyes, she shares with us the importance of her family growing up in China, the remarkable bond she was honored to have with Chang Tso-lin, himself, who considered her like his own daughter and with his sons, who named her "shiăo jyeh" (little sister); and most interesting of all, her unique relationship with her Chinese Amah by her side from birth to give her council and advice from the Chinese point of view.
This is the story of a sensitive and caring young girl who steps into the limelight at an early age, achieves far more than is asked of her, builds loyal and lasting friendships with ease, overcomes daunting setbacks, and finds her own confidence to become an adult before being ready.
