Since his adopted father was sent away, the family suffered, people around them, including friends and classmates, made him feel inferior, and his relationships with them turned frosty. Things got worse several years later when the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976) brought even more hardships to the family. “Our family was labeled ‘capitalists,’ so the topic of who my birth parents were became taboo,” he said. “I then gave up my plan to search for my roots.”
Because Zhang’s Chinese parents were affected by the political turmoil caused by the Cultural Revolution, Zhang Ning lost his chance for further education after he graduated from junior middle school at the age of 16. He was assigned to work in a Beijing light bulb factory, where the labor was tedious, and the environment was severe. Zhang worked in the sweltering furnace room for a grueling 35 years.
In 1979 the government declared that the “rightist” accusations brought against Zhang Zhihe were false, and his “re-education” was over. By this time the reform era arrived, the political struggles in the country had ended, and Zhang Zhihe was given the opportunity for a new life.
After so many ups and downs during his life, and given the loving way in which he had been accepted and treated by his adopted family, by then Zhang Ning’s desire to find his real parents had dissipated. It was not until 1984, when his dying adopted mother encouraged him to look for his biological mother, that his desire was reignited.
Impending Answer
With the reform and opening-up of China in early 1980s, more and more Westerners came to China, which gave Zhang Ning the courage to face his real identity. This open environment also provided him with more opportunities to solve the mystery of his birth.
Dong Bingqi, the doctor who had taken him to the Zhang family, said Zhang Ning’s birth father was a lieutenant colonel that died between December 1944 and March 1945.
In 1997, Zhang Ning joined the Beijing Aviator’s Association (BAA), which exposed him to Flying Tigers reunions and air force veterans.
Zhang Ning, now 64, showed a picture of a young American soldier wearing a garrison cap to this reporter and said, “This man is quite possibly my biological father.” The back of the picture reads, “Lt. Col. William Norman Reed (Jan. 8, 1917 - Dec. 19, 1944).”
General Xu Huajiang, a former Flying Tiger from the Chinese-American Composite Wing (CACW) affiliated with General Chennault’s 14th Air Force used to fight alongside Reed, so he knew quite a lot about him. He is the one who gave Zhang Ning hope that Lt. Reed could be his unknown father.
Immediately after General Xu told Zhang Ning about the Lt. Reed, Zhang asked a journalist to help him write a letter in English to Edward Reed, Lt. Reed’s nephew.
Edward responded to the letters, but was doubtful of the assumption. After a few letters back and forth, Zhang Ning sent DNA results to Edward with the expectation of the same. But the Reed family did not respond, and has not written since.
The initial excitement was replaced by disappointment. Zhang has tried to ask others for help with finding his biological mother, but nothing has come of it yet.
Zhang continues to hold on to Lt. Reed’s portrait. Sometimes he gazes at the photograph for hours, pondering the possibility that the American man in the picture might be his father. Although there has not been any progress towards solving his mystery in the past few years, Zhang expects the truth will someday be revealed. “I’ve always felt that I lacked a sense of belonging, ever since I was a little boy,” he explained. “So I really want to find my roots, my real identity, during my lifetime.”
Zhang married a Chinese woman, and together they raised a son and a daughter. In 2000, Zhang retired from his position at the factory. He now lives a peaceful life with his wife and a 9-year-old grandson in an eastern suburb of Beijing.
Zhang told this reporter that his fate has been always linked with the ups and downs of this country. World War II initiated the story of his phenomenal destiny; the years of political turmoil and the confusion of youth brought questions about his identity and the burden of being ostracized; and reform and opening allowed his story to come out from underneath the covers. With the normalization of Sino-US relations, he has been given the chance to seek answers to a question that has upset him his entire life.