The Lantern Festival follows shortly after the Chinese New Year. For Chinese people, reunion has always been the most heartfelt wish. For Tian Qichang, this wish once weighed especially heavily on him.

Tian Qichang's father left for Taiwan in 1947. Tian was born in Beijing in 1948, and the two were separated by the Taiwan Strait for 30 years without ever meeting. In 1979, the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan" was issued, marking a turning point for cross-Strait family visits. That same year, at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport, Tian was finally reunited with his father. "We hugged tightly as soon as we met, and both of us were in tears," he recalled. This long-awaited reunion became a turning point in his life.

During their brief time together, Tian learned that many Taiwan compatriots were also searching for relatives on the Chinese mainland. "I've experienced separation myself, so I wanted to help make reunions possible," he said. In the 1980s, Tian founded the Hong Kong Pok-Oi Service Department with registered capital of 600 yuan. He helped compatriots on both sides of the Strait search for relatives, forward letters and process remittances. He also opened his own rented 40-square-meter apartment as a place for separated families to meet. Letters exchanged across the Strait were mailed from this small office, earning him the title of "cross-Strait messenger."

Over more than four decades, Tian has helped reunite more than 700 families and preserved tens of thousands of letters seeking separated relatives. In 1987, with his assistance, Zhou Chunjun, who had been away from her hometown for nearly 40 years, returned to visit her family holding the first Taiwan Compatriot Travel Certificate. The scene became a landmark moment in the history of cross-Strait exchanges. That small apartment witnessed countless embraces and tears.

Today, Tian has donated a large collection of family letters to the China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Kinship, hoping more people will learn about this chapter of cross-Strait history and assist in tracing their roots. He looks forward to the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and does not wish to see the tragedy of family separation repeated. "I hope our country will grow strong and that the two sides of the Strait will be reunified, so that such suffering will not be passed on to the next generation," he said.

“两岸信使”田圻畅：四十载守望，只为团圆｜两会看两岸

春节刚过，又迎元宵佳节，团圆始终是中国人最朴素的心愿。对田圻畅来说，这份心愿曾格外沉重。

1948年，田圻畅出生于北京。其父1947年赴台，父子分隔海峡30年未曾谋面。1979年，《告台湾同胞书》发表，为两岸亲人往来带来转机。那一年，在香港启德机场，田圻畅终于与父亲相认。“一见面我们就紧紧相拥，两个人都哭成泪人。”这段迟来的团圆，成为他人生的转折。

短暂相聚中，他了解到许多台湾同胞同样在寻找大陆亲人。“我有失散的经历，所以想要创造团圆的历史。”上世纪80年代，田圻畅在香港创办“博爱事务所”，用600元注册资金，为两岸同胞寻亲、转信、汇款，并将自己租下的40平方米小屋开放给离散家庭见面。跨越海峡的家书从这里寄出，他也因此被称为“两岸信使”。

40多年来，他促成700多个家庭团聚，珍藏上万封寻亲书信。1987年，在他的协助下，阔别故土近四十年的周纯娟手持第一号《台湾同胞旅行证明》返乡探亲，成为两岸交流史上的标志性一幕。那间小屋，也见证了无数拥抱与泪水。

如今，田圻畅将大量家书捐赠给中国闽台缘博物馆，希望更多人了解两岸历史，帮助民众寻根溯源。他期盼两岸关系和平发展，不愿骨肉分离的悲剧重演。“希望祖国强大，两岸统一，让这样的苦难不再延续到下一代身上。”

文｜王瑜瑛 李国辉
图｜黄城栋
翻译 | 郑书悦
审校 | 郑奕玲