Interracial relationships from the past

Chinese diplomat Lu Zhengxiang and his Belgian wife, Berthe Bovy. Photo provided to China Daily

Pan's latest book begins with stories of Lu Zhengxiang, a Chinese diplomat and his Belgian wife Berthe Bovy. The couple's romance is captured through the last phase of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the early days of the republic. The book ends with accounts of love between Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son, and the son's Russian wife Faina Epatcheva Vahaleva.

The book also speaks of eight other interracial relationships, such as those involving Chinese scholar Hu Shih and his 50-year romance with Edith Clifford Williams, an American woman who madly loved Hu and died unmarried at age 85, and the life stories of Anna Chan Chennault and World War II hero Claire Lee Chennault.

Tales of Aisin-gioro Pu Jie, one of the last Qing Dynasty royals, and his wife Saga Hiro, who was from the Japanese aristocracy, are all found in the book. There are few other instances of interracial relationships in Pan's book although the Chinese opened up to foreigners rather cautiously then.

The Chinese who married foreigners were often males of high social status.

Pan selected the 10 couples and wrote on them in a chronological order because he wanted to keep readers informed of the evolving social background, Pan says.