"Man is not on earth solely for his own happiness. He is there to realize great things for humanity."
– Vincent Van Gogh
Teresa Hsu was born in 1898 in Kak Chioh, Swatow, a southern village in Guangdong.
"I was the 2nd child and a girl, so I had no status. It was always my fault when anything went wrong." Teresa
"In fact, we took everything from nature; bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, thumb-sized red and yellow nuts, fruits and even some grasses that could be eaten!"
Teresa declared, "I remembered eating grass when I was very hungry. I was about 7 years old then in 1905!" The experience drove young Teresa to vow that for as long as she lived, she would see that no one need to go through that desperate experience.
The Communal Lifestyle
In Teresa's words, there was "no yours or mine. There were no shut door and people went in and out of one another's houses taking what they want" (without asking) This described the open and sharing communal spirit that existed in Kak Chioh.
Daily Routine in Kak Chioh
Once, a man was driving his bullock cart down the street in front of their house. As the bullock cart was moving very slowly, the man used his whip to beat the bull repeatedly. Anthony (Teresa's younger brother), who was only 18 months then exclaimed, "Oh, life is hard… even for an animal. Life is hard!" Anthony went on to become a Catholic priest and devoted his life to helping others. He ran 3 homes and an orphanage.
The Compassionate Nature in Teresa's Ancestry
Teresa's maternal great grandfather was a Chinese Physician. Very often he did not charge his poor patient anything for treatment.
"Love your Neighbor as Yourself." Great grandfather
"One evening while we were eating sweet potatoes which was our only food for dinner, a woman carrying a child appeared at the entrance of our house. Mother did not even stop to think and consider. She took the sweet potatoes and gave them to the woman. Mother had endlessly told us that we must help these hungry people. We won't die if we skip a meal or two. But these hungry people may collapse and die if they do not get food in time."
"Starting at myself in the mirror, I saw a painted face. Also on the bed were clothes. And in the real world, there was one other person standing naked in the mirror. Three different persons; which one is me?" Finally when she was calm again she realized that "the naked person was me". From the moment onwards, Teresa did not spend a single cent on herself. She told herself that "if I remain as wasteful as before, then each cent I spend, I am depriving my fellow being".
"Not the maker of plans and promises, but the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting".
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