Author Description

I grew up in a peasant family of ten boys. My father was an ordinary peasant with an extraordinary drem. He wanted all his sons to graduate from universities. That, a century ago, was an impossible dream! But, he did it. So he is a legend in Taiwan as "The father of ten sons who all became scholars". I am the Number 8 son with the nickname "Big foot". When I was born, my grandmother noticed my special feature and yelled, "Big foot baby!" So the name stuck with me.My mother used to tell us stories about Ten Brothers, each had special talents which came into use when occassions arose. I always thought she made up the story to make us feel special. Recently, my two sons, Terry and Eric are becoming very famous as authors of children's books. It occurred to me, the story my mother told me would make a good addition to children’s literature. To my surprise I found out the story of Ten Brothers is not my mother's invention, but an old folk tale, many centuries old. There are many versions. In memory of my mother, here is the Story of Ten Brothers, pretty much as told by my mother..