Xiaolu Guo's contribution to the anthology 1914: Goodbye To All That, read by the author as part of the BBC Radio 3 programme The Essay, 11 Jul 2014. Available to listen to online at BBC Sounds.
Taking Robert Graves' phrase Goodbye to All That as their starting point, five writers from countries involved in the First World War reflect on a turning point moment in their own histories and interpret the phrase with the ambiguity that Graves intended.
These five essays that have been curated by writer Lavinia Greenlaw to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One, as part of 14-18 Now, a major cultural programme across the United Kingdom.
Tonight, Chinese-born author, Xiaolu Guo, contemplates the role of Chinese 'coolies' on the battlefields of the First World War.
Written and read by Xiaolu Guo
Produced by Emma Harding.
