My Biracial Father’s Family Secrets, Decoded at Last

Barriers of language and immigration helped hide the truth about family left and lost in China for 80 years.

The author’s grandfather, Liu Ch’engyu, 2nd from right, in China, circa 1942. Author’s archives

My father was his family’s gatekeeper. Born in Shanghai in 1912, the eldest of his biracial siblings, he was raised to straddle East and West. He kept the peace between his Chinese father and…