Learning from My Mother's Voice: Family Legend and the Chinese American Experience

by Jean Lau Chin

Overview

A compelling saga of a mother and daughter's Journey to the West capturing the themes of separation, loss, guilt, and bicultural identity in the journey of immigration. Blending mythology and symbols of East and West, past and present into a bonding and healing tapestry, the author captures the voice of her mother, Fung Gor Lee, in a moving account that will resonate with all Americans who have immigrant roots--and create the family legend that all families should have.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781978373716
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	11/02/2017
Series:	New York City Chinatown Oral History Project , #3
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.46(d)

About the Author

Jean Lau Chin, EdD, ABPP is a professor of psychology at Adelphi University in New York. She was the first Asian to be a licensed psychologist in Massachusetts and has held extensive leadership roles including Dean at Adelphi University and Alliant International University, and Executive Director of South Cove Community Health Center and the Thom Clinic in Boston.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	vii
	Introduction	1
Part I	Family Saga and Cultural Legend	5
1	Mythology and Storytelling: Of Women, Family, and Culture	7
	Creation Myths: In the Beginning	7
	Myths of Women	10
	Male-Female Bonds	14
	Family and Generational Bonds	17
	The Journey: Transformation	19
	Journey to the West: Immigration	24
2	Contemporary Storytelling and Immigration Legend	27
	The Creation of Legend: Warrior Images	27
	The Woman Warrior: Chinese American Paradox	30
	Mother-Daughter Bonds: Family Saga	31
	Western Myths of Asian Women	36
	Bicultural Identity: Be Chinese! You Are an American!	38
	Creating Immigration Legends	38
	Golden Mountain Myth: The Search	40
3	Cultural Symbols: Universal Bonds	42
	Food Symbols: Bonds Between People	42
	Animal Symbols: Character Traits	44
	Rituals: Promoting Harmony and Good Fortune	47
	The Chinese Banquet: Becoming Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise	53
	Women as Healers	56
	Words as Symbols: A Study of Contrasts	58
Part II	Biculturalism: Contrasts Between Cultures	63
4	Of Survival and Striving: An Intergenerational Saga	65
	In the Beginning: The Floods	66
	An Intergenerational Saga: In My Mother's Voice	66
	Memories of China: The Journey	68
	Preparing for America	74
5	Day by Day: Of Women and Culture	89
	America the Melting Pot: The Immigration Legend	90
	Defining Moments: Of Families and Culture	97
	Chinatown: Family and Community Bonds	104
6	Traveling to the Future: Connecting with the Past	113
	History and Now: Ancestry Revisited	113
	Neverending Themes: Immigrant Bonds	120
	The Search and the Journey	122
Part III	Transformation and Enlightenment	127
7	Of Bonds and Bondage	129
	Identity and Bonding	129
	Chinese American Identity	130
	Poverty Amidst Plenty	133
	Freedom: Learning from My Mother's Voice	139
8	Of Intergenerational Bonds: Lessons	142
	Counseling Chinese American Immigrant Families: Implications	143
	Reinforce the Two Faces of Woman	144
	Expand Our Notions of Family	147
	Achieving a Positive Identity	148
	Storytelling: A Method of Healing	150
9	The Future	155
	Notes	157
	References	161
	Index	163
	About the Author	167