Cultural Biography

My family tree goes back to my mother’s grandfather who was my great grandfather.
He had one brother, one sister. His name was Bin Quan Chao. He was born in Wu Xian,
Jiang Su province, and he and his family moved from there to Shanghai in 1890. At that
time people called Shanghai “the Paris of the East.” There were many brothels and shows
and fun activities for those with money. Lots of people come to the city from outside
China and from the nearby countryside to find business opportunities. Fortunately, Bin
and his brother both attended a top university in Shanghai, and spoke French very well,
which in much of Asia at that time was a prerequisite for civil service employment. My
great grandfather became a French translator in Shanghai’s French colony. He was a top
representative for China as well.

His brother worked in the French colony also, and was a chief at the police station.
With their local political power and position in society, they became friends with
most of the important people in Shanghai society, including Guo Ming Dang (Taiwanese)
and Gong Chan Dang (Communist). My great grandfather helped Sun Zhong Shan who
later became the “father of Taiwan”--he helped to hide him when he was in trouble. Also,
my great grandfather supplied information to Zhou En Lai, who later became the Chinese
premier, which helped the then underground communist party to escape arrest. My great
grandfather also gave money to his own hometown (Wu Xian) to build an elementary
school. He was a good friend of Shanghai’s “God Father” of the Green Gang. My great
grandfather had two simultaneous wives, which at that time was allowed. With his first
wife they had four kids; with the second wife, they had eight kids. He built a three story
house in the French Colony, and by all standards was considered very well-to-do.
The house was quite gracious, at the time. It had fifteen rooms. Connected with the main
house was a two story house where the servants and driver lived. The house no longer
exists due to government rezoning and condemnation. The area has been redeveloped.
Most of the old houses of that era were torn down to make room for what are now
skyscrapers. At that time, men were seen to be superior to women. Great grandfather
sent his sons to university, but not his daughters. My grandfather who was the oldest son
from his father’s first wife--according the Chinese culture--was considered the most
important member of the family, and essentially the first heir. He would carry on the
family business. When Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, and Shanghai in 1932. (see:
http://www.cnd.org/mirror/nanjing/NMchron.html), great grandpa retired from his
employ at the French colony to become a business man. Because of his connections and
title in society, people invited him to be the CEO of Da Zhong Hua Tire Factory. He died
in his early sixties due to health reasons. Many of his generation were heavy smokers.

My grandfather attended university and studied law. He too spoke French very well.
He worked as a manager in a small family business. Like most others, his marriage was
arranged. He married when he was 18. My grandma—his wife--was age 16. Grandma
came from a rich merchant family which traded in jewelry and antiques. Together they
had six kids, my mother was the eldest. In 1956 grandma took the youngest son and
moved to Hong Kong. She never again returned to China. Fortunately she escaped all the
violent revolutionary events in China. Nine years later grandfather rejoined grandma in
Hong Kong. He brought his oldest son and youngest daughter with him. The other three
daughters stayed in Shanghai--they were my mom and my aunts.

My Father’s Side

My father’s grandfather was a government official at the end of Qing dynasty. They had
one son who was my father’s father, born in 1898. His mother died early, why is
unknown. My great grandfather taught his son many poems and taught him western
education. He became an early communist and was involved in some early revolutionary
events.

My father was born in 1937 in Jia Xin, near Shanghai. He had two older sisters and
one younger brother. When he was a baby the family moved to Shanghai. Shanghai
dialect is his mother tongue. When he was a baby, their family fled Jia Xin because the
Japanese bombed the city of Jia Xin. According to my dad’s keenest memory, grandpa
was a very wise man. He could have left with Gong Chan Dan, but he didn’t because he
refused to abandon his wife and kids. When the Guo Ming Dan government invited him
to become a secretary, he refused. He said he would rather be poor, but clean. He wound
up teaching and writing and drawing words…calligraphy. He developed a strong
following of loyal fans. Grandpa died early--my dad was only 10 years old and his
younger brother only 6 years old. Life was very hard for them. Grandma was a typical
Chinese woman, a good mother and good wife. She was handy and sewed clothing for
people, but it was not enough to support her young family. The oldest daughter left
school to work in a factory to help support their family. China at that time seemed much
like England during the time of Dickens.

In July, 1997 I came to United States. My husband was born in California but his parents are of of Irish/German descent. We have two sons, ages 6 and 9. Two years ago we moved from Los Gatos to Sunnyvale; my husband’s parents live nearby. My husband is the oldest of five siblings, raised Catholic—they all live nearby. I have one older sister who now lives in Sydney, Australia
with her husband and son, age 10. Both are Public Accountants. My parents, too, have
emigrated to Sydney and live near them.

When I was school-aged I lived with my parents in one room of the old house that my
mom’s grandfather built. After the revolution, that building no longer belonged to one
family. People from outside all came to live in the house. On the Second and third floors
lived all the relatives; on the first floor lived people from outside the family. I remember
my parents worked on weekends--their day off being Thursday. Weekdays after school
and weekends our relatives cared for us, especially my grandpa’s sister. She would also
cook. Each day I was so happy to see my mother come home from work. I liked to dig
through her bag to see what snack she had brought for us. I also looked forward to seeing
my father come home. He would review my homework or correct me if I had difficulties.

My mother was born in Shanghai, 1936. Shanghai dialect is her first language. There
are around fifty different ethnic groups in China. Both of my parents are Han, the ethnic
majority. They didn’t belong to any political group, and obeyed communists. They were
not political. They believe, actually, in Buddha but would never go to temple. It was not
allowed during the revolutionary era. They both belonged to the workers union.
For my past family, the most important objects are the golden birth sign necklace,
almost every one wore one. It supposedly brings luck and health and wealth. Shanghai
dialect was our main language—at the same time we all learned to speak Mandarin which
became the official language in China, in efforts to unify the country after the revolution.

We have our very traditional clothing called Qi Pao--people only wear it on special
occasions. We have Chinese New Year celebrations; Moon Festival celebrations. With
my own family, our first language is English. We celebrate Chinese New Year; we
also celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, July Fourth, and generally any holidays that are
celebrated in United States. And, we welcome new holidays, such as Diwali as an excuse
to light candles and have fun.

One of the greatest writers from the Han ethnic group is Lu Xun. His original name is
Zhou, Shuren. He is considered the founder of modern Chinese literature. He issued harsh
criticisms of social problems in China in the late 19th Century, at a time when it was
dangerous to do so. Many of his works are now translated into English.

One of the famous scientists was Li ShiZhen. He was one of the greatest Chinese
physicians and pharmacologists. His major contribution to medicine was the book Ben
Cao Gang Mu, which he spent 45 years writing and perfecting. It details about 1800
drugs and herbs, with 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions.

Our main cultural values are: respect for the elders. We were told to listen to the
elders, listen to teachers and parents. We honored and followed their direction. This dates
back to Confuscious. We don’t challenge them.

Be Loyal to your family. We always use the chopstick as an example . It is easy to
break one chopstick but it is hard to break many at once. People should learn from ths
example. If they don’t get along they are easily defeated when an outsider invades. So be
loyal to your family then your family in order to stay strong. (In this regard, many
similarities to traditional Judaism.)

Be honest: don’t cheat, don’t lie. Otherwise, community breaks down.
Only when you are honest can people trust you, and be your friend.

Be modest. We always regard modesty as good character. Even when you are very
good at something, and people praise you, don’t take it to heart and believe too much in it.
Modesty lets you become a better person.

Work hard. No one gains without working hard, even if it seems easy afterwards.
Some make it look effortless. We usually say, “You plant a melon, you harvest a melon;
you plant a bean, you harvest a bean.” Similar to “You reap what you sew.” Very naturalistic
agrarian tradition. We encourage our children to study as hard as they can so they may be better than us. It's about investing...in order to profit in the future.

Be a Good Citizen. We obey the law. We don’t do anything to harm people or society. Basically, be a good person.

Seek peace and harmony. Only amid peace and harmony we can create wealth for
society, and society thereby can grow more prosperous. We’ve learned lessons from our
country’s hard earned history. Balance is prerequisite for sustainability.

These values resemble the Protestant Work ethic.

The Han group (China’s majority), whether it be now or in ancient times, has in fact
discriminated against minority groups, for differing reasons. One reason being geography:
the Chang Jiang River divides China into north and south. The land in the south is more
rich and the climate more ideal. South China has tended to be richer in economics. People
in the south look down at people in north. In the middle of China is vast farm land, near
the rivers. More and more people from the rural farmland are moving to city centers,
around the country built with the intent to accommodate this mass shift. Young girls
come from the farm land to work as nannies in the cities--we call them Wai Lai Mei. Men
come from farm land seeking construction work in the city. We call them Min Gong.
They don’t speak the same dialect, and not all of them even speak Mandarin.
Many city people look down at them, and treat them as new immigrants, indeed as
foreigners within their own country.