1. IN CHINA – THE FAMILY CIRCLE
In China, surrounded by family and friends
Yan Dehui, known in France as Yen Te-Fai, was born on July 15, 1908, in Yongjia District, Zhejiang – now Lu Cheng Ward in Wenzhou.
Yan Dehui,6th left, his brother Yan Zuo-Peng, 2ndright
1930s
His father, Yan Shaoyao, was in charge of salt management in the coastal city of Hai-An Suo in Rui-An County, Zhejiang. A fine connoisseur of traditional Chinese literature, loving to devote himself to the practice of calligraphy and poetry, he passed on to his young son his taste for the arts. From him, the latter also learned honesty and the rejection of the feudal system, the only way he considered possible to bring the people a better life.
On the back of the photo, Yan Dehui wrote:
“The person on the right is my father – Mr. Yan??”
He also saw his mother fight against the enslavement of women, first by demonstrating in the streets, then by deciding to unbind her feet and cut her hair short.
Yan Dehui with his mother from left to right, the children of his older sister Yan Zhidao and his grandmother Fang
From left to right in the front row, his mother, niece and grandmother, in the back his brother-in-law Ye Lufu, husband of Yan Zhidao, his older sister on his left, Yan Huidao, his younger sister and Yan Dehui
The model set by his parents led him to consider new ideas as the means of putting an end to the injustices of the world and it was during this period of his young life that he imbued himself with humanist values that would later guide his choices.
A respected father, an attentive mother, his childhood and adolescence were happy in this family of scholars, although later overshadowed by the loss of the eldest of his brothers, Yan Wen Zhou, who was destined for a brilliant military career, who succumbed to typhoid fever.
With his brother and two sisters, he also shared ties of deep affection. His older brother, Yan Zuo Peng, an engineer, lived in Wenzhou and Lanzhou where he established a textile factory. Her older sister, Yan Zhidao, was a teacher at the school in Wenzhou, while her younger sister, Yan Huidao, chose to work as a nurse and midwife.
Yan Zhidao, his older sister
Yan Huidao, his younger sister
Yan Dehui and his older brother Yan Zuo Peng
