Chinese Americans

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Recommended: Similarities of Chinese and American culture

Chinese Americans

The focus of our group project is on Chinese Americans. We studied various aspects of their lives and the preservation of their culture in America. The Chinese American population is continually growing. In fact, in 1990, they were the largest group of Asians in the United States (Min 58). But living in America and adjusting to a new way of life is not easy. Many Chinese Americans have faced and continue to face much conflict between their Chinese and American identities. But many times, as they adapt to this new life, they are also able to preserve their Chinese culture and identity through various ways. We studied these things through the viewing of a movie called Joy Luck Club, conducting interviews with Chinese Americans, and doing outside research.
First, we studied the various conflicts that Chinese Americans face. One way that we did this was by watching a movie regarding this subject called Joy Luck Club, which contains several stories, each one showing different conflicts. The first conflict that we saw was that many times, Chinese Americans do not want to be recognized as Chinese. They feel that it would be easier if they were recognized as American. They do not want to have anything to do with their Chinese side. We saw an example of this in the movie when one of the daughters, Lena, tried to open her eyes as far as possible so that she would appear American. The parents of Chinese American children also face conflict in that they want their children to succeed and have as much opportunity as possible, and so many times they alienate them from their Chinese identity.
Another conflict that we discovered was a language barrier between Chinese American children and their parents. Many Chinese American children do not know how to speak Chinese, and those that knew it as children lose much of their knowledge of the language as they try to fit in to school in America. This makes communication between parents and children very difficult. We saw an example of this in the beginning of the movie when all the elders were speaking Chinese while playing mah jong and one of the daughters could not understand what they were saying.
Although Chinese Americans face many conflicts, many also work very hard to preserve their C...

... middle of paper ...

...to balance one’s body’s chi, and astragulus is known to build up one’s immune system. The main religions that I observed were Buddhism and Christianity.
In conclusion, through the movie, interviews, and research, we found that Chinese Americans in America experience conflict as they try to balance both their Chinese and American identities. But we also found that there are many ways in which Chinese Americans preserve their Chinese identity. We explored many of these ways, including holiday celebrations, weddings, and Chinatowns. These are just a few of the many ways in which Chinese Americans preserve their ethnic identities in America.

Works Cited
Gibson, O. (1978). The Chinese In America. New York: Arno Press.
Hsu, M. (2003). The Chinese in America: The History From Gold Mountain to the New Millennium. Journal of American Ethnic History, 23, 118-120.
McCunn, R. (2000). Reclaiming Chinese America: One Woman’s Journey. Amerasia Journal, 26, 163-181.
Min, P. (1995). Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

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