One and half centuries ago, a family produced a national hero that campaigned against opium smuggling and foreign invasion.

At the end of the 20th century, another member of the family handled the Joint Declaration between Chinese and British governments on the handover of Hong Kong.

Lin Zexu was a glorious name known by all Chinese. On June 3, 1839, he ordered the destruction of smuggled opium confiscated from foreign dealers.

On June 12, 1985, Ling Qing, Lin's great-grandson, personally handed over the copy of the Sino-British Joint Declaration to an UN law department, when Ling served as China’s permanent representative to the UN

In 1842, Lin, who was sacked because the government bowed to aggressors, expressed distress over the removal of Hong Kong from the motherland.

“At the moment, my forefather could rest assured, and if I were not at diplomatic occasion, I could not help expressing euphoria,” said Ling, recalling the presentation of the Sino-British document, in an interview with Xinhua Wednesday, which marked the first anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland.

“It is not an arrangement by the God, but the outcome of a hundred years of struggle by the Chinese people and requirement by the times,” he said.

“I am jubilant for the trend of times,” said Ling Qing, adding that a frail nation only leads to the agony of families; however, a strong and prosperous one brings happiness to every single countryman.

Ling Qing, once named as Lin Moqing, moved to Yan’an in the 1940s to join the Communist Party of China (CPC).

“ had a deeper understanding of my family during the period,” he said.

Karl Marx (1818-1883), the founder of Communist Theory, called the destruction of opium initiated by Lin Zexu: the culmination of the resistance of the government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) against foreign opium aggression.

Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, described Lin’s cause as the beginning of the Chinese People’s struggle against imperialism.

“Lin Zexu was an extraordinary person at that time,” Ling said, adding that he hopes that Lin’s descendants will carry on the tradition of serving the homeland and its people.

Ling, who retired two years ago, said that he believes that China will achieve even greater success in the new century.

(People’s Daily 12/21/2000)