Fifth Chinese Daughter [Paperback]

Jade S. Wong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1989

Originally published in 1945 and now reissued with a new introduction by the author, Jade Snow Wong's story is one of struggle and achievements. These memoirs of the author's first 24 years are thoughtful, informative, and highly entertaining. They not only portray a young woman and her unique family in San Francisco's Chinatown, but they are rich in the details that light up a world within the world of America. The third-person singular style is rooted in Chinese literary form, reflecting cultural disregard for the individual, yet Jad Snow Wong's story also is typically American. We first meet Jade Snow Wong the child, narrowly confined by the family and factory life, bound to respect and obey her elders while shouldering responsibility for younger brothers and sisters - a solemn child well versed in the proper order of things, who knew that punishment was sure for any infraction of etiquette. Then the schoolgirl caught in confusion between the rigid teaching of her ancestors and the strange ways of her foreign classmates. After that the college student feeling her was toward personal identity in the face of parental indifference or outright opposition. And finally the artist whose early triumphs were doubled by the knowledge that she had at long last won recognition from her family.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jade Snow Wong grew up in a traditional Chinese family in San Francisco's pre-World War II Chinatown. It was a world in which wives were introduced by their husbands as "my inferior woman," rules were taught with corporal punishment, and home life was literally connected to the family business: "As much a part of home as her bedroom were the sewing machines she passed before she came to her bedroom door. She talked above the din of a factory full of motors and machines in operation, and practically breathed in rhythm to the running stitches." A highly intelligent child who consistently skips grades throughout public school (while attending Chinese school at night and taking over much of the family housework), Jade Snow Wong becomes determined to go to college and gain more independence than she has been taught to expect. Her decision sets off a balancing process between cultures that Jade Snow Wong, in correct Chinese third person, explores with humor, reverence, and philosophical insight. On one level a universal story of a child learning to assert her own identity, Fifth Chinese Daughter is also a marvelous resource on Chinese cooking, festivals, and child-rearing techniques, as well as a picture of Chinatown before and during World War II. Straightforward, honest, full of love, Jade Snow Wong's book is a wonderful and educational reading experience. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister

About the Author

LITFIC

Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (April 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295968265
• ISBN-13: 978-0295968261
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Pottery & Ceramics
  • #35 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Chinese
  • #100 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > West

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique perspective of life in San Francisco, March 16, 1999

By 

Catharine T. Clark Sayles "clarksayles" (CA ,USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fifth Chinese Daughter (Paperback)

I first read Fifth Chinese Daughter as a high school assignment in 1967. I was taking a San Francisco history course. I read the book as required and then put it back in the library and moved on to other things. 20 years later I found a very used copy in a second hand book store and decided to give it another read. I am glad I did. Fifth Chinese Daughter is a story of growing up in one world and growing out into another. Jade Snow Wong was born into the family of a Chinese businessman who was also a protestant church minister. Her story is one of the tradition of a Chinese family where sons are valued and daughters seemingly less so. Jade Snow Wong overcomes the traditions of her family and her heritage and proves herself in the classroom. She also learns the independence required to progress in American society, taking odd-jobs throughout her high school career; finding herslef in constant contact with a very alien world she has up to then only seen at a distance, a world of American families. She faces critical choices in her college aspirations, when she has to decide between the University of California or San Francisco City College. Her choice of City College, was in the long run, one of her wisest choices because it moved her into a much more representative segment of American and San Francisco society. Her decision to attend Mills College was also a wise choice for it allowed her to develope her skills as a potter and lead her to a new vocation, far from the traditional ones of the period. Her war work in the ship yards is also extremely well told and is, again, an extremely important segment of American history that needs to be told. Jade Snow Wong emerges from World War II able to work as a potter and show her talents to a very interested public, and grow in the opinion and respect of her family. This is a story of persistence,love of learning, growth and at the same time it is a book of love and respect for her family. I highly recommend it to any student of American history.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read for anyone interested in Asian Americans, December 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fifth Chinese Daughter (Paperback)

This book is one of the few which captures a lot of the emotions, both the joys and continuous angst which Americans of Asian descent of all ages still have to contend with, especially females. Her identity crisis and emotional turmoil give validation to the intense internal struggles which Americans born children of Asian immigrants wrestle with. Despite the fact that her story evolved decades ago, her issues still arise today, two generations later. I have re-read this book several times.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring Noval, August 21, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Fifth Chinese Daughter (Paperback)

The Fifth Chinese Daughter is an excellently written novel about a Chinese American girl growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown. When this book arrived in the mail the last thing I wanted to do was read it when I could play my X-box and watch T.V. After a week I finally got around to reading a chapter and was surprised to find myself reading it all day. Unfortunately I didn't pick it up again until I was in Sedona with my Dad. There I read all but fourteen pages. It wasn't for another week until I finished.
This story was expertly written and fun to read. Despite my early protests I enjoyed hearing about a young oriental girl change from a well-disciplined Chinese daughter growing up in Chinatown to an artist who finally achieved the recognition from her family she had longed for since childhood. It gave a sense of evolution, struggle, and triumph, as the book progresses. It explains a child's need for acceptance, respect, and material riches as Jade Snow Wong progresses through school, odd jobs, collage, and adulthood.
This book is obviously a book I would recommend to others because it always has the main character striving to survive in a stereotypical world. It shows Jade Snow's personality being that the harder it got the harder she would try. This is shown many times in the book, like when she went to the employment agents and found jobs in house working. Also when she got into Mills Collage, that she wanted more then just to clean houses and end up as a house wife like she had been raised and become something more.
Unlike other novels I've read this summer this one sticks out by its great writing style and many twists. An example of witch is when she gets a job at a shipyard and works for what seems might be the whole war when she gets only one job option, to be a secretary. She turns it down when she gets an idea to shape pottery and then to sell it. Her accomplishments as an artist finally drive her family to recognize her. The book has many unexpected twists and turn and was a joy to read.