Don Tow's Website

In December 2025 issue of my website, I gave information on the synopsis of my new book “The Yin and Yang of the Dragon and the Eagle: Tale of Two Cultures and Two Countries.” This book will be published by Maestro Book Publishing in early 2026, although it has not been easy and time consuming working with Maestro Book Publishing. In this article, I want to provide more information on the people I dedicated this book to:

1. My parents: King Tow and Kum Chu (Ching) Tow
2. Tong Zeng of Beijing, who passed away on 10/23/2025, and Tamaki Matsuoka of Japan
3. My older sister Billie Tow Dong, who passed away on 11/25/2025.

Also, at the end of this article, the Table of Contents (TOC) of my book will be included.

King Tow and Kum Chu (Ching) Tow:

King Tow and Kum Chu (Ching) Tow are members of the greater Tow family who have members who have lived part of their lives in China and part of their lives in the U. S. They formed the nucleus of the Tow/Ching family who are the dragons and eagles, which are the subjects of this book. My grandfather, Deep Sam Tow, came to the U.S. as a merchant in the restaurant business. He then applied for his son as a merchant’s son (which was allowed under the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act) to come to the U. S. to study high school and college.

My mother Kum Chu Ching’s great grandfather came to the U. S. as a worker in 1844. Her grandfather lived in San Francisco for several years. After returning to China for a visit, he got married, then he returned to the U.S. with his wife (again this was before the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act). They operated a Chinese herbal and grocery store on 724 Sacramento Street in San Francisco, with his wife working as the cashier. They had 3 daughters, and a son born in 1881 in San Francisco. That son was my mother’s father.

Therefore, on my mother’s side, not counting my mother, three generations have lived part of their lives in the U.S. , and part of their lives in China. They are dragons and eagles. Counting my mother and my brothers and sisters, five generations of the Tow/Ching family are dragons and eagles.

Tong Zeng and Tamaki Matsuoka:

Japan has done so many atrocities in the world, especially in Asia, such as the Nanking Massacre, and atrocities toward comfort women. Japan has never openly apologized to the world, as Germany did. Furthermore, the Japanese government has tried to deny their atrocities, and try to rewrite history by denying that these happenings never happened so that their younger generations will not know about this part of history. Furthermore, the U.S. has also tried to rewrite history, and is not setting a good example for Japan to follow.

However, Japan has committed so many massive atrocities all over Asia during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War (1931-1945), the world will never forget what happened. Tong Zeng was the person who initiated in China a nation-wide movement to help to remind the people of these atrocities, and served as its spokesperson. Unfortunately, he passed away on 10/23/2025.

While growing up in Japan, Tamaki Matsuoka heard so many versions of what Japan did in China, and what happened in China. So she wanted to find out herself of the truth of that part of history. While working as a school teacher and raising a family, she immersed herself in that part of history and spend basically her whole life finding out about what happened in China during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War (1931-1945), including talking and discussing with hundreds of Japanese soldiers who participated in that war and lived through that part of history. After gaining the confidence of these Japanese solders, they were willing to share with her what happened in China, on secrets that until then they were not willing to share with their families. She also discussed with the Chinese victims, who were willing to share with her on what happened to them, thus confirming the truth of what actually happened in China. She travelled to China numerous times, and wrote several books about what she learned about what happened in China. Tamaki Matsuoka is known as the conscience of Japan.

For more information about Tong Zeng and Tamaki Matsuoka, see Ref. 1 (“One Speaks for the Voiceless and One Is the Conscience of Japan”: https://www.dontow.com/2020/06/one-speaks-for-the-voiceless-and-one-is-the-conscience-of-japan/. Both Tong Zeng and Tamaki Matsuoka have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Billie Tow Dong:

For the part of the book describing individual actions like those of my older sister Billie (who passed away on 11/25/2025), we dedicate this book to her.  During WWII, we were living in our second-floor apartment with no running water in our ancestral village of Taishan in southern China.  Billie, as an almost eight year old, brought water on a daily basis from the nearby river (and sometimes from a slightly farther well) to help the Tow family to survive by bringing a bamboo pole with a bucket of water at either end of the bamboo pole to carry the water from the nearby river to our second-floor apartment.

My mother who just gave birth to me was not able to carry out that task. My oldest brother Tommie had a spinal problem that affected his normal growth, and was not able to carry that task. My 2nd older brother Jimmy who was six, two years younger than Billie, was not strong enough to carry that task. My other older brother Danny was not quite four years old, and obviously could not do the task. My father had to work to earn money to support the family. So Billie was the only one to carry that task.

So for at least several months or more, our family’s survival depended on the heroic efforts of this 8-year old child to carry the critically needed water from the nearby river to our 2nd floor apartment.

Table of Contents of Book (there are 38 chapters):

The Yin and Yang of the Dragon and the Eagle: Tale of Two Cultures and Two Countries

1. The Dragon and the Eagle – Tale of Two Cultures and Two Countries
2. The Saga of My Father’s First Journey to the U.S.
3. My Mother and Her Family’s Origin
4. Life As a Student in Providence and Cambridge, Massachusetts in the 1920s
5. Starting Career and Family in Guangzhou in the 1930s
6. Tragedy and Running and Escaping from War
7. Escape from War:  From Guangzhou to Hong Kong
8. No Man’s Land in Hong Kong
9. Massacres and Atrocities in Hong Kong During WWII
10. Escape from No Man’s Land:  From Hong Kong to Taishan, China
11. Victory from War:  Return from Taishan to Guangzhou
12. Escape from War:  From Guangzhou to Hong Kong Again
13. Reminiscences of Early Childhood in Hong Kong
14. My Father’s Career in Hong Kong:  Building Churches and Refugee Housing
15. Pulling Up Roots One More time-Hong Kong to U.S.A., and Initial Observations of the U.S.
16. Early Experiences in U.S:  Start of Tale of Two Cultures and Two Countries
17. Ten Years at Berkeley in the Turbulent 1960 Decade
18. Living Through the UC Berkeley Free Speech Movement of 1964
19. Experiencing the Worldwide Diaoyu Islands Student Movement of the 1970s and Beyond
20. The Shaping of the Life of a Fellow Student at the University of California at Berkeley
21. From the Eyes of Grandma
22. Life in Paris:  1977-1978
23. Lesson from my First College Teaching
24. Experiences of Working in Industry
25. A Son Remembering His Father
26. Coaching Youth Soccer in the U.S.
27. Life As an Expatriate Working in Beijing:  1997-1999
28. He’d Grown Up Just Like Me
29. A Son Remembering His Mother
30. Taiji
31. Myth or Reality
32. Activism on Campus and Community
33. More on Extracurricular Activities As a Dragon and an Eagle
34. The American Dream and Can It Be Continued?
35. South China Sea Dispute:  Abuse of World Power
36. Anson Burlingame:  A Most Unique Diplomat
37. U.S.-China Relationship
38. Closing Comments on the “Yin and Yang of the Dragon and the Eagle”