Book report: Hou Jia Chang Autobiography

Discussion in 'China Professional Players' started by kwun, May 31, 2010.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    A few weeks ago, the owner of California Badminton Academy, Rose Lei, gave me a book: The autobiography/memoir of the badminton legend Hou Jia Chang. It turns out the book has been in print in China for a couple of years but there has not been much coverage on it. Rose had her husband bring back a few dozen copies from China and gave them out to badminton fans. I was very honored to have received a copy.

    I am not the reading type, my bookshelves are populated mostly by technical manuals and occasional books on photography and other miscellaneous topics. I am certainly not a history type of person and have never read a biography in my life.

    But this one, it is very different. Hou Jia Chang is a pioneer in badminton in China. He along with Tang Xinfu were the pillars of the Chinese badminton team in the 60-70s. Hou and Tang were household names, at least in badminton household. Being a relatively young badminton fan, I didn't know much about Hou aside from his name and a few major achievements. In those time, videos are very rare and old media coverage are not readily available.

    But as a badminton fanatic, I knew this was a must-read.

    Reading this book was an eye-opening experience. Hou described his life around badminton from early childhood days in Indonesia, till how he went back to China to serve in the Guangdong province team to how he advanced to the national team and his glorious achievement in both national and international tournament.

    Post retirement from his playing career, he stayed on as a coach in the Chinese team, now part of the IBF, and how he trained his students like Yang Yang, Zhao Jinhua, Han Jian and Xiong Guobao to world championships, Thomas Cups and other titles.

    What striked me while reading his book was how Hou managed to get so much done, how he managed to achieve such high level of achievement in badminton with so little resources. His first racket was a broken piece of throwaway that was sawed and glued back together, he could not afford shoes so he plays outdoor barefooted until blisters pops, then he soak his feet in cold water to numb the pain and continue.

    Even when in the province team, they only had very thin ration they train in hunger and the women team was so kind to share 1/4 of their meal so the guys can train harder. It was in this tough times where the players really had to rely in each other's support and care. The most amazing bonds must have been made at this time.

    Despite such hardship, Hou was driven by his desire and dream to be the greatest; despite such hardship, his passion and love for badminton took him from a boy playing in a backyard in Indonesia to one of the greatest badminton player in history.

    What really moved me with his book is not what he has achieved, but instead how other people around him supported his quest and how much his family sacrificed for him. I was especially moved while reading the chapter about his wife, how in the 20 years of marriage she worked so hard for the family and how much they cared about each other. I had tears in my eyes reading how she was suffering with ovarian cancer and how he tried his best to make her happy at the very late stage of her struggle.

    Up till today, Hou is still passionate about badminton as he once was. The last section of the book is dedicated for the young and aspiring badminton players out there. It was his piece of advice to those who want to succeed in badminton.

    It is not a very big book. Despite so, the total of 170 page of Hou Jia Chang's autobiography was such a treasure chest of Hou's history as well as Chinese badminton history narrated by the man himself, I just could not put it down. I started around 8pm in the evening and only had to put it down to get some rest at 4.30am and finished it the next morning.

    Absolutely recommended.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. george@chongwei

    george@chongwei Regular Member

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    You can read chinese, eh kwun?:D
     
  3. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    Tang Xinfu & Hou Jiachang (both Indonesian born), along with Fang Kaixiang (also INA born), were essentially the main pillars in China's badminton early rise. Actually, they were arguably the 2 biggest names in the rise of badminton in Asia. If not mistaken, both left Indonesia and their family in 1960 to pursue their study as well as to play competitive badminton in China. TXF returned to Indonesia in the 80s after bringing up several top CHN WS players after he retired in the late 70s.
    All of them brought the same "speed and power" style, which was introduced early on and expanded by many Indonesian baddy clubs, when they went to China.

    It's a bit unfortunate we didn't see more of them in international competition until mid 70s when China started to become more "globalized".

    Nowadays, Hou Jiachang & his wife reside in Ole Miss, enjoying their retirement whilst helping out the USM (University of Southern Mississippi) baddy program.
    http://www.usm.edu/badminton/Club.htm
     
    #3 ctjcad, Jun 1, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2010
  4. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Did you get his signature on the autobiography?
     
  5. AlanY

    AlanY Regular Member

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    to study and play badminton! well, to escape the massacres and genocide are closer to the turth.
     
  6. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    maybe half of it. given that his parents and some siblings stayed in Indonesia, it seems to indicate that the true reason is to pursue badminton, or at least go to a place where he is given more opportunity.
     
  7. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i will, tonight when i see him. :)
     
  8. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    after talking to his wife, who penned the book (literally, she wrote it in pen and paper and only later transferred it to digital form), the book is already out of print. initially it was only available in China, the publisher printed a limited amount of copies. the one i got was directly sourced from the publisher's last stash.

    there is no plan to print anymore. this is a real pity, as the book is a treasure and a great read for any badminton fan.

    i am trying to see if she is interested in making more printings, it will depend on the publisher as well as any demand from badminton lovers. i also proposed to help them make a translated version. let's see how that goes. if that works out, it will be awesome to be able to let everyone read about this badminton legend.
     
  9. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    last night i got another book, the sister book to Hou's autobiography (or more appropriately, the spouse book) which is the autobiography of his wife, Huang Mei. Huang is Hou's 2nd wife after his first wife passed away. Hou and Huang now both retired and live in Mississippi.

    i talked to her telling her how great Hou's book is and she was very happy to hear and decided to share her own autobiography with me. it was such an honor to receive her book as it is an even more limited printing of 500 copies that are not sold publicly. Huang was the national gymnastic champion way back in the 60s.

    it maybe another late night reading time for me.
     
  10. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    ..i was thinking, how does moving to CHN provide him (and TXH) more opportunity to play (international) baddy, in comparison to say INA, when CHN at that time was still "closed" to the rest of the world (until around mid 70s); that's about 15 yrs worth of international exposure??..

    Btw, here are more recent pics and activity of Hou JC:
    http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?85664
     
    #10 ctjcad, Jun 1, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2010
  11. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    since it is hard to find badminton videos of these 2 greats, i hope some other people who have seen them in action step forward for a chat or interview.
     
  12. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    if not mistaken, i've seen/read a thread/a post or two recollecting (by another member) on both Hou JC's and TXH's playing career, somewhere in the forum..or maybe they were posts within a thread??..cooler, you can do the honor on searching for them??..:p
     
  13. Qidong

    Qidong Regular Member

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    I have the same questions too. And they were so great, how can INA government not try to keep them from going back to China?
     
  14. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i don't have the book with me and i don't recall the exact detail. but i remember there were some resistance to letting Chinese advance up the rank in the teams in INA.

    and secondly, when Hou left INA, he was not great. he was only a kid who showed potential in badminton. in fact, he said that after he got to the Guangdong province team, he wasn't able to keep up with the ladies and had to work extra hard.
     
  15. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    ..my guess is, the INA govt. "bought" their intention of "going to continue their study"...
    However, it was the 2nd major mistake by the INA govt (after TXH returned to INA in the 80s), by not giving him an INA status, which allowed CHN to continue its domination (until now); and left INA badminton struggling til now..As they say, "One person's loss is another person's gain"..

    Anyway, let's stick with Hou JC's life..
     
  16. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    ..i was thinking, since Hou JC is already settled in the U.S. and is still active, i wonder is USAB is interested in somehow coaxing him to join the USAB development committee or be one of their consultants..imagine him being part of the committee overseeing the future of US badminton, i'm sure they can use his wide breadth of expertise and knowledge...but otoh, i think retirement life is better for him..
     
  17. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    he is 67 and he has retired. i think he wants to enjoy life instead of dealing with politics in USAB.
     
  18. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    it was hardly a mistake when it comes to Hou. there are probably hundreds of kids who shows potential in badminton. how would they know this one would become one of the greatest? as i said, Hou was good, but not great then. besides, Hou was quite patriotic and want to go back to China. not sure if they could have kept him there even if they wanted to.

    Tang on the other hand, is a different matter.
     
  19. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    #19 ctjcad, Jun 1, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2010
  20. Bbn

    Bbn Regular Member

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    Most unlikely that Chinese at that time would return to China under Mao,the economic conditions were horrendous.Life was definitely much better in Indonesia.There were cases though of people returning to China after making their money as it was their original intention.Some like the HK Table Tennis star Rong Guo Duan who won China's first world championships were persecuted by the Red Guards until he committed suicide.It was like from the frying pan into the fire.It is surprising how the badminton players were untouched, maybe it was because they were "foreigners".
    China during that time send ships to Indoonesia to ferry them back to China.Many settled in Fujian province and pioneered the "Locum" industry the Yongchun oranges we see in Spring.
    Indonesia at that time had been run by Sukarno who was a Communist.The local chinese supported him,there was a
    revolution,Sukarno was deposed, during the coup detat many people were killed and many of the victims were the local Chinese.

    Chinese at that time were not citizens, many were repatriated, many ran for their lives after hearing of the massacres.
    A lesson learned by Chinese indonesians is not to take sides politically, they always ended up as scapegoats. All these
    stories were told to me by many Indonesians I have met.Hou himself would probably be able to say why he left Indonesia.I thought the whole episode was discussed in the uploaded video"History of China Badminton"as well which even mentioned people who returned even before Hou to start badminrton in China,there lies a clue, Hou and Tang were not the pioneers.
     
    #20 Bbn, Jun 1, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2010

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