Local author explores Chinese history in Yut Di: One Earth

As a white, Victoria-born, west-coast-bred-and-fed male, I’ve remained pretty ignorant of Chinese culture—and, especially, Chinese history—most of my life. Yut Di: One Earth by local author E.H.K. Ho changed that.

Ho begins with the history of why people wanted to get out of China; reading the introduction felt like a high-school history lesson that would be quite conducive to a nice catnap. That all changed once Ho dove into the historical fiction.

The book delves into how and why Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s were mistreated. The history is fascinating when combined with the fictional aspect of the book, and it’s conveyed in a creative, unique voice that—although much of the dialogue reads awkwardly in English as a result of being translated—will make you rethink your own values and customs.

There was a bit of a learning curve to reading this book because it starts at the back and ends at the front, which is in keeping with traditional Chinese literature.

Ho honours his roots while staying true to Victoria in Yut Di. He tells a story driven by human emotion, which is intertwined with the history. Any predispositions I had about this book being another dry historical endeavour had vanished by about the tenth page. I couldn’t put it down.

Anyone interested in the history of North America or in Chinese culture and history would enjoy this book, and even lovers of a good fictional read would as well; the events of the story are based on past events, such as the opium crisis in China and the Gold Rush in California, but the characters are fictional. It appeals to a wide audience while dealing with a narrow topic, and the ability to manipulate someone’s interests by bringing creativity and the human heart into historical events is one of the marks of a great storyteller.

This book tells a story that will help the reader appreciate Canada’s open immigration policies as well as feel hopeful about the country’s future.