:: Tossed Salad and Scramble Eggs ::

:: Saturday, September 16, 2006 ::

Excerpt from Chinese American Identity Blog

???? ??? (The most difficult thing to forget is that blood relations run deep)

Mr Luo’s anthem, which he wrote for the anniversary of the table tennis team in December 2003 is a poignant reflection of what most of the first generation Chinese immigrants hope for.

While they celebrate a new life in America with opportunities for wealth and prosperity, there is also a deep-rooted allegiance to their country of origin and a longing that one day they may return back home and make their country proud of their achievements. Like most Chinese immigrants, the new life comes with the need to work hard and perseverance, hence, the constant reminder to the youths to study hard, for studying hard will bring about a brighter future ahead. There is also a reminder for the younger generation to remember what their parents have done for them – they have worked hard and brought them up in a new land to provide for them a better life.

The title: ???? ??? expresses something that I’ve been trying to find out through the last three weeks. ??, ????? ??????? ?????????? I think most of the interviews that we have had so far, regardless of which generation of Chinese Americans, all of them have said the same thing – they are first and foremost Chinese, but they are American. I think it became clearer in the interviews conducted in Mandarin what it means to be ‘Chinese’ and yet not American.

I was reading a chapter of Iris Chang’s book: The Chinese In America, which argues that the Chinese Americans are still regarded as being closely affiliated to the People’s Republic of China, ‘no matter how great their contribution to U.S society, virtually all of them have had their identities questioned at one point or another’ (Chang, p13). I spoke to Janice earlier about this, and the topic was raised on two occasions; the first, was a conversation with an ex-Singaporean diplomat living in the Bay Area, and another in our interview with a first generation Chinese living in Silicon Valley.

The problem with the word ‘Chinese’ in the English language creates much ambiguity because ‘Chinese’ is used to describe someone of Chinese ethnicity, but at the same time, that very word is also used to describe someone of Chinese nationality. When we mention loosely that a person is ‘Chinese’, it almost becomes inevitable to assume that such as person has some form of affiliation with the country where the Chinese tradition ad culture has originated from. Hence, the common misperception that the phrase ‘I’m Chinese’ tends to have connotations that the person has affiliations with China. In the Chinese language, however, there is a distinct definition between a person who is of Chinese ethnicity (??) and a person who is of Chinese nationality from the People’s Republic of China (????). In ??, the character ‘?’ expresses a people of rich culture and tradition, where as , ???? has no relation or root word whatsoever to ??, and ?? (China) refers instead to what China was originally called, the Middle Kingdom.



???? ???

???? ??? ???? ???
???? ??? ????? ???
?? ? ???? ?? ? ?? ???
? ????? ???????
???? ???????????

??????????????? ?????????

??????????????????? ???
?????????????? ????????
??????????????????? ??????
?? ?????? ?????????? ???????????



“?????????? ??????!”
??

I’ve translated the song in English for the benefit of the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund archive, the following is a loose translation of the song, which is subjected to correction once I get hold of my Mandarin Dictionary.

What is the hardest thing for one to forget? The hardest thing to forget is one’s own blood relations which run deep.
What is the most important thing for a person? The most important thing for a person is to take care of one’s health
What purpose is there to study? Studying is for ambition and for future
No matter how much waiting and upholding your dreams, no matter how much perseverance and love,
What is one’s happiest moment? To sing a song about our new life.

Overseas people always dream, always about returning to one’s own sanctuary ?or home, which in this case refers to mainland China?.
A strong health must, only if one’s health is strong can one have wealth
Persevering hard in one’s studies is for one’s own good, only then can one’s bright future be possible
To bring you up step by step is your father and mother’s responsibility which cannot be forgotten.

Steph

:: Stuffy 9/16/2006 10:49:00 AM [+] ::
...

I realised that I couldn't write about anything in my 8 weeks in Singapore, not because I was thoroughly exhausted, but rather because I was uninspired. Sure, I did enjoy meeting up with old friends, making new friends, spending time with family and with John; but the bulk of my 8 weeks was taken up by my attachment. I enjoyed it while it lasted, immersed myself into it, learnt alot about it, decided to read up on the region I was assigned to, but it was never, to my best knowledge inspiring nor personally satisfying.

I've spent almost 3 weeks in the Bay Area researching into the Identity of the Chinese American Diaspora. Although I've pasted some notes in incoherent spurts on the Chinese American Diaspora blog, I don't think my experience here has been truly reflected on our blog. For this I must apologize. Today I sought to collate my findings into a coherent manner, and draw up my analysis for my final report. It has been extremely exhausting, but nevertheless, I know that the end product will be one which will be personally rewarding. However, I hope that this project will not only benefit myself and Janice, but also extend to benefiting the people whom we have spent the last month understanding and those who take an interest in this subject matter.

I think if anything, Janince and I have learnt a great deal not only about the Chinese American community, but also from the people we've meant. If not for them, we would not have continued to be spurred towards finding out more about the Identity of the Chinese Americans and what it means in our present era. Most of them have been generous in sharing their experiences and opinions about living in America, their continued need to preserve their cultural heritage and a constant tussle with what it means to be Chinese.

My points to cover today when I journal would be:
The uniqueness of SF Chinatown and its functiona and purpose in the new millenium
The new Gold Mountain - Silicon Valley
The Identity of the Chinese American (subpoints)
a) the 1st generation perspective
b) the 2nd generation perspective
c)the American born Chinese perspective
d) Lost information on the 'paper sons' and what it means for the following generation
e) What does it mean to be Chinese? What does it mean to be American? How do we reconcile the distinction of race and nationality? What does 'Chinese' mean in the English language, and what does ?? and ???? mean in Madarin.
f) Being a Singaporean Chinese? Where is the identity crisis?

:: Stuffy 9/15/2006 03:25:00 PM [+] ::
...

DEAR ALL,

FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, I'LL BE BLOGGING AT 'THE CHINESE AMERICAN IDENTITY' THIS BLOG WILL KEEP TRACK OF THE DEVELOPMENTS OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT I'M CURRENLTY DOING IN THE BAY AREA! ENJOY

FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS TO BE EMAILED TO: s.chia@warwick.ac.uk

:: Stuffy 9/01/2006 03:07:00 PM [+] ::
...