The Dancing Housewife: Hey, it’s your pal, the Dancing Housewife. Joining me today is world-renown eye surgeon, laser scientist, inventor, author, musician, and of course, ballroom dancer, Dr. Ming Wang. His autobiography, From Darkness to Sight, A Journey from Hardship to Healing, was made into a feature-length film that was released in theaters last fall and is currently available for streaming on Angel Studios. A graduate of Harvard Medical School and MIT,Dr. Wang is one of the few laser eye surgeons to hold a PhD in laser physics. Among his many accolades, Dr. Wang is most proud to have been named the Kiwanis Nashvillean of the Year for his lifelong dedication to helping blind orphan children from around the world. Dr. Wang and his wife Anle live in Nashville, Tennessee with their three cats, Spaghetti, Tennessee and Lily. I am a dog person and actually Lulu is right here, but I forgive you for being a cat person. I also forgive you for going to Harvard. I went to Yale. But anyway, Ming, thank you so much for joining me today.
Dr. Ming Wang: Thank you, Antoinette. Thank you.
The Dancing Housewife: Well, we’re going to launch right in and talk about some discrepancies that I found between the book and the movie. I know that filmmakers often take creative license to try to express a story. So I want to talk to you a little bit about those. I did read the book first and then I refreshed my memory and kind of skimmed it a second time. And I watched the movie. And by the way, for all of you listening, I highly recommend that you go to angel.com and you can watch the movie for $12 and it’s worth every penny probably worth more. It’s a wonderful movie. Okay, so here we go. As I said, there are some discrepancies that I noted between The book and the film and if my memory is correct There’s really no mention of the young girl named Lily or her father Mr. Gao, at least not by name in the book, and yet she is really a prominent especially in your many flashbacks depicted in the film. Can you talk about this? Am I not remembering the book right? Was Lily mentioned in the
Dr. Ming Wang: Great question. Lily was mentioned in a very subtle way in a few places in the book when I mentioned that the Red Guards took a young lady, a neighboring young lady away and never returned her. That was Lily, but I did not mention her name.
The Dancing Housewife: Okay, so that was Lily.
Dr. Ming Wang: That’s correct. And also mentioned in the book during Cultural Revolution when a childhood father was really brutally killed by Red Guards and that’s Lili’s father. However, Lili is actually the merging of two young ladies in my life. The screenwriter put it together, one is the younger one and whose father got chemical injury. And there’s a teenager one who was taken away by the Red Guards. So what the screenwriter did is they actually put these two together and into one character for this space in the film short. So, and there’s another reason that Lily was not as prominently mentioned because Lily was never found and even to this day, the trauma of cultural revolution is still taboo to talk to China. You cannot talk about in China. In fact, this film, American filmmakers, actors and filmmakers, many of them hesitated, did not want to be any part of this film. The first film made here in the West in the last 60 years since the ending of Culture Revolution, which dared to be critical of Culture Revolution, so they didn’t want to be blacklisted. So the decision was made that I actually do not overly mention Li Li because it could affect her families today in China. So that’s…
The Dancing Housewife: Wow. I see.
Dr. Ming Wang: …different characterization, but Lili’s character is real in the sense that there are two ladies that were converging to one. Lili was never found, that’s true, but I have to really not mention when I was writing the book. And when the writer -director took over the film project, what they decided to do is merge it into another young lady’s life so that it will not be as…
The Dancing Housewife: Identifiable maybe?
Dr. Ming Wang: Exactly.
The Dancing Housewife: Yeah, okay, so to keep them sort of, yeah, from being identified. wow, my gosh. You know, as Americans, we take so for granted just the inalienable rights that we have that are endowed by God that people don’t have in other places in the world. So I wondered if Lily was also symbolic of something because she does, she’s.
Dr. Ming Wang: Exactly. Yeah. Yes.
The Dancing Housewife: She always seems to be in your flashbacks, which are so traumatic. wonder how it was for you to watch that film and to see those images on the screen and almost have to relive them. was just curious because Lily’s presence. I wondered if it was symbolic of something that you felt. I wonder, is there some… guilt over leaving that behind when you had so many friends and loved ones there and you had this amazing opportunity to come here. And I just wondered if Lily was symbolic of something
Dr. Ming Wang: Yeah, yeah. In real life, I obviously did not have that, you know, the image, but I was troubled deeply emotionally for decades about Los Lili, the teenage girl, the trauma. So those are all true, even though the image you see that that’s an artistic rendition to show the mental fixation as such. It really does have a larger meaning…
The Dancing Housewife: Right.
Dr. Ming Wang: …because during the Cultural Revolution, 20 million young people were sent to labor camps for life, hard labor and for life, and over 10 ,000 either died or disappeared during the 10 years of Cultural Revolution. So really, it’s really for many viewers who have seen this film, it represents the people they have lost in their lives during the Cultural Revolution. So it does have this larger sense of our suffering in the past.
The Dancing Housewife: My God. Wow. Right.
Dr. Ming Wang: In a very general sense, that more than Chinese Americans, more than immigrants, all of us have certain painful past, setbacks and loss of loved ones. And the film trying to explore, when we do have a past, how do we be at peace with the past and move on. The film said that today is made possible, present is made possible by the past, but the future is created by the present.
The Dancing Housewife: Right, make possible, correct. Yeah, and I think that was your wife who mentioned that in the film, that the present is because of our past. Multiple times in the film, you experience these flashbacks accompanied by the voice of Lily asking, “What happens when we die? Is it just darkness?” And I wanted you to talk about this because
Dr. Ming Wang: Yes.
The Dancing Housewife: I remember from reading the book that you mentioned that growing up you didn’t really ever think about faith or ever think about, god or a creator. And I have to wonder if this is a nod at that mustard seed that might have been planted. You know, that’s the question that we all ask. What’s it all about? What happens when we die? That just happened over and over. I I think I counted at least three times that you have a flashback and you hear Lily’s voice that says, “What happens when we die? Is it just darkness?” And so I wanted to ask you about that and was that intentional in the film? Is it something that represents the mustard seed of your faith and where that was planted and maybe where you started to contemplate, a superior being?
Dr. Ming Wang: Yes, absolutely. You’re absolutely right. In real life, the teenager, Lili, that when we were together, hang out, it was at the very beginning of my faith journey. I would just have a little curiosity, being reading some of the books. Very often, we were not allowed to read Western books, but the few books that I got my hand on, my father helped hidden some of those books for me during Cultural Revolution that I did have curiosity about the existence of the creator and about meaning of life. So, Lili and I did talk about. And in the film, what they did is that they put this question that they did ask me in the past into a more of a recurrent question. It’s really trying to link to an idea in the later part of the film. At the end, in Maria’s Surgery, I realized that we are ultimately limited. We have to be willing to ask for help from beyond ourselves.
The Dancing Housewife: Right, right.
Dr. Ming Wang: So that’s a thread of really wanting people to leave the theater, think about it. Is it just darkness after life? Is it more to life than what we see?
The Dancing Housewife: Right, right. Well, there’s one last discrepancy that I feel compelled to bring out on behalf of your brother. The movie, the movie depicts your brother as kind of aimless and jobless. I even think you’re the woman who plays your mother at one point you’re visiting and she says, I have one son and she looks at you who works too hard and I have another son who doesn’t work at all. And it was, you know, it’s a very sort of a little comic relief, but nothing could be further from the truth. Your brother is also a physician. He’s a molecular biologist and a highly successful businessman who specializes in U .S.-China biomedical trading. So I just wanted to give a shout out to your brother, who is also exceptional.
Dr. Ming Wang: Yeah, right. He actually, my brother, is very supportive of the film and but everywhere he goes, he always makes a little disclaimer. He said, hey, listen, the only thing is not true is that I’m not bald.
The Dancing Housewife: That’s the only thing he was concerned about. That’s pretty funny. That’s pretty funny. All right, so now I want to talk a little bit about the role that music has played in your life. And it’s very impactful. You grew up in China, obviously, during the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong. First of all, I’d like you to share, for those of us here in the United States who have never experienced…
Dr. Ming Wang: Yeah.
The Dancing Housewife: …like I said, the lack of just freedom to speak, freedom to read, freedom to go to school. mean, what you lived through and the oppression, and not even just oppression, just fear for your safety. What was that like?
Dr. Ming Wang: Great question. know, Internet, I take care of people with vision problems every day. That’s my life’s mission. And film talk about our foundation’s work in helping blind orphan children over two decades. People who appreciate sight most are those who used to not be able to see. And people who appreciate freedom the most are those who used to not have freedom. Yeah, so when people say what’s Sight really about, Sight is about bringing the experience of someone who used to not have freedom, who tell America today, know, yeah, certainly we don’t live in a perfect country, we do have our problems, but we live in the best nation, best nation, because people from all over the world want us to come to live here, you know, that’s why America brings something that everyone, human being, desires, a system of fairness, respect…
The Dancing Housewife: Right. Yeah.
Dr. Ming Wang: …freedom, family and faith. it sometimes may just take someone who couldn’t see to bring to all of us who are sighted here in America how precious sight is. Sighted movie is about someone who used to not have freedom and bring this perspective to America. that, you know what? We are living in a great country. We’re so blessed to in America, have freedom and faith. We need to appreciate America by being more willing to work together to overcome our polarization to form a common
The Dancing Housewife: Yeah. my gosh. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. I want to talk a little bit about the freedom to just be educated. I mean, after eighth grade, you were unable to attend school. just, you couldn’t attend school. There’s some scenes in the movie that are terrifying. I have to say terrifying. I can’t imagine the trauma you experienced as a child. But this is when music and dance entered your life. And so I don’t want to say that there’s a silver lining, but music and dance has been a huge part of your life and a very positive part of your life. But I want you to explain to our listeners why learning to be a musician and a dancer was so important, I mean, just beyond the artistic part of it
Dr. Ming Wang: I had to pick up a Chinese music instrument called Chinese violin or Erhu to play when I was 14 because I was not allowed to go to high school anymore despite being a straight student and I was going to be sent away to labor camp together with 20 million others. So one of the ways to escape labor camp is by playing a music instrument, Chinese violin, Erhu and learn to dance so I can get into the government song and dance propaganda troop. They were able to avoid being sent away to labor camp.
The Dancing Housewife: Right.
Dr. Ming Wang: And that instrument when I was playing to survive of course at the time, it was very impactful because I remember the piece of Spemuslan playing is called The Two Springs Reflecting the Moon.
The Dancing Housewife: Yes, yes, I wanted to talk to you about that. I’m so glad you’re bringing it up
Dr. Ming Wang: Yes, yeah. in the film, Lily’s father told me about that story. was an artist who wrote one of the most beautiful pieces of Chinese music repertoire called Two Springs Reflecting the Moon. And depicting how beautiful the evening, the moon shining down on the converging two springs. And it’s a beautiful music not only because of the natural beauty that it depicts, but it was an imagined beauty. Because the composer who wrote it could not see. He was simply imagining how beautiful it could have been if he could see in his imagination the moon shining down, reflecting onto converging springs. So the whole piece will feel this unfulfilled longing, unfulfilled longing and hope. So at age 14, I was playing his piece, resonating with the sad composer’s feeling. He couldn’t see physically, could only imagine the beauty, and I could not see mentally any future as a 14 -year
The Dancing Housewife: Yes.
Dr. Ming Wang: And later on, this instrument played a significant role in my life. Now, Erhu, the Chinese violin, is my way to express the beauty of the East and let people get a taste of what Eastern Asian culture, Chinese culture has to offer through its music. Dancing, interestingly, I learned at the time, I to the Escaped Labor Camp as well. But then later on, at the Harvard Medical School, I helped establish the Harvard University Ballroom Dance Team, utilizing the dancing I learned in Cultural Revolution to further on. And I even developed the Eye Ball to help the site foundation. The classical ballroom reminds people how precious our site is as human beings and how much we need to help those blind, orphaned children. So music and dance, though I learned during Cultural Revolution to survive, now has truly become an instrument of celebration.
The Dancing Housewife: Yes. Right, right.
Dr. Ming Wang: what we have in America, freedom and the faith and to pay back as an
The Dancing Housewife: Yes, and a very interesting fact about the air who I want to bring up is we’re going to fast forward many years to 2020. And I think you’re smiling. So I think that you know what I’m going to mention. You played the air who on one of Dolly Parton’s albums. And I think the song was it was it called The Cruel War or the cruel world or something? Yes. OK. So
Dr. Ming Wang: Yes. Yes.
The Dancing Housewife: How did that happen? And tell me what was it like? Because I’ve heard Dolly Parton is just a delightful person. I want to know if she is delightful in person as she appears on TV.
Dr. Ming Wang: Yes indeed, and very smart. What happened is I performed laser vision correction on Dolly many years ago and one day she walked in she said, “Dr. Wang I’m not here for my eyes.” I said, “you’re what?are you here for?” She said, “I heard that you play this mean little Chinese violin, Erhu, and I want to make music with you.” Now, I was standing in front of one of the icons of country music, a legend, so I said, “You?”
The Dancing Housewife: Ha ha
Dr. Ming Wang: “Play music with me?” I consider myself a closet musician as I play music with and she said, “Yes, let’s create something east and west.” So she was her idea, she brought me to a Blue Ocean studio on music world here in Nashville and she sent a song called The Cruel War about in a civil war a young lady wants to go with her sweetheart…
The Dancing Housewife: Right.
Dr. Ming Wang: …her husband to the war front to help him and he kept on saying no no you cannot go lady you are not allowed in the army eventually she said he said yes at the end so it’s a beautiful song so she helped me listen to recording and I listened then she said, “Are you ready?”
I said, “Yes.” I got my Erhu ready and she got the sound engineer all together.
I said, “Give me the score.”
She said,” I have no score I have no idea Erhu she sent the company a country western song
I said, “do you have a score of the song you just sang that I’ve heard on recording?”
She said, “I don’t have score either because I didn’t remember the song.”
So I said, “You want me to compose?”
She said, “Well, we need to create the East and West together.”
So with Dolly and the guy named Tom, three of us, sat at the little table. We kept on listening Dolly’s recording of the song without any accompaniment. And I tested a little bit on the Erhu and wrote it down a few lines. At the end of the night, we composed this Chinese violin music accompaniment, Western country song, we recorded, we finished. So it’s in the album, Those Were the Days, song number eight is called The Cruel War, and it’s my accompaniment for Dolly Parton’s, the song. And the people look at the album, they look at, Dolly Parton, Alison Cross, all these famous names. And then last one, Ming Wang.
The Dancing Housewife: Right, right.
Dr. Ming Wang: People say, who is that? But I told my clinic staff, eye center staff, said, if this thing with Dali goes really well, I may just get on tour with Dali and you’ll take care of the eye center now.
The Dancing Housewife: That’s funny. I actually pulled it up on Spotify It’s a really interesting sound. The violin, the Chinese violin, it has such a somber… It can have such a somber sound to it. It’s so beautiful. It sounds like a voice. It sounds like a human voice. It’s so pretty. All right.
Dr. Ming Wang: Mm -hmm. Yes. Yes.
The Dancing Housewife: That is a wrap for today. Be sure to tune in next week as Dr. Wang and I continue our conversation. you may recall that Dr. Wang’s autobiography, From Darkness to Sight, A Journey from Hardship to Healing, is on the Dancing Housewife’s 2024 official summer reading list. Sight, the movie, is also streaming at angel .com forward slash site. For $12 you get access to site as well as all the other great movies on Angel Studio for 30 days. Check out the show notes for links to important information related to this episode. And this is Dr. Ming Wang and the Dancing Housewives signing off. As always, happy dancing!