The Manchurian Tales de Nick Hahn

The Manchurian Tales

Nick Hahn

"The Manchurian Tales" is a sprawling, multi-generational family saga that starts in mid 19th century and ends with the closing of the 20th century. It is a story of an "uhl mao zeh" (Russian Korean) family that begins when a 17 year old Korean boy swims across the Tuman River to the Russian side to seek adventure and start a new life. He meets and marries a beautiful daughter of a Manchu chief and the couple is baptized and become Russian as Luka Vasilievich and Maria Ivanovna. Thus begins the incredible journey of the family that was started by Luka and Maria. Luka becomes an important figure in the Asian community in the area known as "Primorsky Krai, " the region around Vladivostok. He launches a successful business empire which his two sons, Elisei and Vasili take over and move to Manchuria, making it even bigger.

The family saga continues with the second generation through Russian Revolution and civil war, and the decline of the family business empire. The third generation's incredible adventures and tragedies are seen through the Second World War, the Korean War, and the aftermath. It ends with the fourth generation which disappears as "uhl mao zeh, " becoming absorbed into the culture and society where they are living.

"The Manchurian Tales" is not written in a traditional novel form, rather it is a collection of independent stories, chronologically arranged to describe the family saga. Throughout, there are stories sprinkled within that are not about family members, tales that are about those who were only distantly or peripherally related to the family. However, all of them are important, for they describe Manchuria of that time period, and tell the story of the "uhl mao zeh."

This book is a fascinating account of the region, time period, and people that is very little known, even by those living in East Asia. It is no doubt one of the first if not the first time that the name "uhl mao zeh" appears in print.

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