Seventy years ago, my mother had a dream -- to represent China in the Olympics. She was one of the fastest women in China, and she awaited the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo with pride and anticipation.
七十年前，我的母亲就有一个梦想——代表中国参加奥林匹克运动会。她是当时中国跑得最快的女运动员之一，一直充满自豪地期待着1940年的东京奥运会。
But her dream was shattered when Japan invaded China, resulting eventually in the cancellation of the 1940 Olympics. My mother's misfortune was emblematic of China's humiliating recent history, for about 140 years dating from the Opium War in 1839. This period was filled with foreign invasions and can be characterized by China's insolvency, instability, and poverty.
