Author: Yinglin

During my visit to the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), I saw many pieces of historical photographs, documents, and objects that told the stories of Chinese Americans. When you walk through the museum, it details the history of Chinese Americans from the mid-1800s during the California Gold Rush to the present day.

During the California Gold Rush, tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants came to the United States in hopes of finding gold. It was then that California got the name “gau gam saan,” which means “Old Gold Mountain,” since California was where gold was discovered. The name is also commonly used as a reference to San Francisco, California. After the gold rush, many Chinese immigrants worked to construct the transcontinental railroad. In the photo of the last spike ceremony shown in the museum, despite Chinese workers significantly contributing to the construction of the railroad, they were not featured in the famous photo. In another story highlighted by the museum, the Chinese miners developed a water management system that diverted streams and helped to flush out gold from second-hand mining deposits, which aided gold mining during the time. A lot of the efforts by these Chinese workers were overlooked, and Chinese workers were seen as threats to the job security of American whites. Seeing Chinese immigrants as a threat, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882 to ban the entry of Chinese immigrants and stop existing immigrants from obtaining American citizenship.

The passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act caused anti-Chinese riots to escalate. Chinese Americans faced a lot of violence, and it became even more difficult for them to find jobs. The “Eight-Pound Livelihood” was a section in the museum that talked about how the Chinese Exclusion Act caused many Chinese Americans to open laundromats for a living. Since washing clothes was considered a low-capital job, hand washing clothes was the job that Chinese Americans could obtain without provoking protests. In order to make a living, Chinese Americans worked long hours and used eight-pound irons to press their customers’ clothes. The museum had an eight-pound iron on display for viewers to interact with. The iron was so heavy that it was difficult to lift with one hand. I could only imagine how difficult it was for them to press clothes with that iron for hours while it was hot.

On the wall, a quote states, “We are a mystery to them and they seek to imagine us as perpetual foreigners./Yet, are we not all the same under Heaven?” This quote from the section “Imagined and Intimate” challenges the view of Chinese immigrants being foreigners who are vastly different from Americans. This exhibit highlights that despite the differences in appearance, Chinese Americans are Americans who work hard and deserve to be seen equally. The idea of Chinese Americans being a “mystery” is due to the lack of understanding of their culture and stories. When you understand the stories of people, you will likely find them much more similar to yourself than you would think.

The museum walks the viewers through the struggles of Chinese Americans throughout American history. From having a lack of representation to experiencing hate crimes, it shows us that Chinese Americans are a historically underrepresented group that faces inequality and hardships even to this day. However, these hardships did not stop them from working towards the “American Dream” and working hard to create their livelihoods. Despite all the difficulties, Chinese Americans found ways to preserve their culture and traditions through examples like Cantonese Opera and the celebration of the Lunar New Year. In the museum, you can see a beautiful traditional Cantonese Opera costume worn during opera shows performed to both Chinese and non-Chinese audiences. MOCA also has an interactive section where viewers can learn about the twelve Chinese zodiac signs and the celebration of Lunar New Year. The mix of historically based documents and engaging interactive displays allows the viewers to see and physically experience the stories of Chinese Americans.

Chinese Americans still face issues of racism and injustice today. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese Americans faced many anti-Asian hate crimes that targeted elders. The museum shines a light on the injustice faced by Chinese Americans and questions whether Chinese Americans are any less human or American than others. For the contributions and efforts Chinese Americans made towards improving our economy and society, they should be able to receive fair and equal treatment. As a historically overlooked minority group, the stories of Chinese Americans involve immense hardship and injustice, and they deserve to be seen equally. MOCA helps the viewers to develop a fuller and more in-depth American narrative by highlighting the untold stories of Chinese immigrants and showcasing politically conscious issues.

In the play Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee, Grace is the obedient housewife that often gets overlooked. From the start of the play, Grace desperately tries to conceive a child with Ed. She believes having a newborn can provide her with a sense of purpose.

Grace is a character that lacks self-confidence. She struggles to validate herself and her efforts. She sees herself as someone who lacks interests and talents. Grace often feels self-doubt; “No, really. What do I do well? Who needs me?” (Yee 27). Grace fears that once Desdemona and Upton leave the house, she will have nothing to do. Although her children are flourishing in their academic and gaming careers, she seems to be stagnating.

As the play progresses and J becomes a more prevalent character in the story, we can see that Grace is slowly finding her passion and becoming more confident. The turning point for Grace was when Ed suggested she try tap dancing. Even though the tap shoes were too big for her, she quickly found interest as she tried them on and took her first steps. It is then that J appears tap dancing and responding to her moves. Her loneliness weakens as J communicates with her through body language. 

Towards the end of the play, she calls J by his name, “Jinqiang needs a ride to the border, dear” (Yee 72). She does not call J “Ching Chong” like her husband anymore but sees him as a respectable human who should be able to pursue his dreams. Through their bond over tap dancing, the two overlooked characters join together to create their own futures. Grace finally became pregnant after her entanglement with J. Grace’s pregnancy represents a newly found purpose and passion for herself. She is no longer the obedient housewife who does whatever her husband says, but a woman that knows what she wants. She found her passion for dance, and she can comfortably leave her family behind to pursue her own happiness.

Grace’s story shines a light on the issue of women having to prioritize between self and family. Around the world, it is generally accepted that women are supposed to devote their time to their families while men work to bring the money home. In the play, Grace is growingly unsatisfied with her circumstances and feels bored at home. Instead of finding a hobby, Grace first thought of having another baby. She is so used to prioritizing others that she struggles to care for herself. Finding a balance between self and family is extremely difficult and is an issue for many women today.

Amin Nawabi’s story personalizes the plight of refugees to the viewers. It offers the viewer a look into the perspective of refugees and the barriers they had to overcome to find a place of security. Similarly to the people watching on the cruise, we often overlook the struggles of refugees, assuming they will receive the help they need. It seems more like a picture-worthy story, rather than real human experiences that involve immense amounts of hardship, pain, and danger. By starting the film from the perspective of Nawabi’s childhood, we can see how his calm, happy life with his family turned into a series of fleeing due to political instability, war, and corruption. Nawabi had to leave his family home and all their memories behind to a country where he constantly feared arrests and deportation. Nawabi and his family struggled to leave Russia due to the lack of money and the unsafe human trafficking. Nawabi’s sisters nearly died on their way to Sweden, and his big brother had to sacrifice his own relationship to save up money for the family to leave Russia. The stories of refugees are far more complex and emotional than the ones we see on news and television. The fear of being deported, sexually harassed, and killed are always in the back of their mind, making them skeptical of trusting others and telling their stories.

When I started watching the film Flee, I thought it was a story about how a boy survived and witnessed the murder of his whole family due to war and political instability in Afghanistan. However, as I watched more of the film, I realized that my belief was a narrative created by the trafficker to ensure Nawabi’s admission into the asylum and not get deported. It was a narrative that Nawabi had to tell everyone so that he could stay in Denmark and start his new life. He has to pretend to be someone else and tell a fake story. He must live in a lie to live in the stability that his family worked hard to create. It saddened me that Nawabi’s ex-boyfriend used Nawabi’s confession to threaten him during fights instead of empathizing with his story and trying to comfort him. I am so glad that Nawabi found Kasper, someone willing to wait for him to open up and take small steps.

At the end of the film, we learn that Nawabi’s mother and brother were able to leave Russia, and the family is now scattered across Europe. There is so much love within Nawabi’s family, and that love was able to change his life. It was so good to see that instead of judging Nawabi, Nawabi’s brother brought him to a gay bar and accepted him when Nawabi came out as homosexual. Their love is so selfless and heartwarming. It is truly amazing that they all survived and created stability for themselves. This film offers a perspective that makes their story so much more real to us, helping us to develop a better understanding of the plight of refugees.

Cameras are devices for one to capture a moment in time, a milestone, or an adventure. Through the creation of cameras, photography became a medium for art and journalism. The easy accessibility of photography gave photographs the ability to reveal aspects of our world that we would not have seen otherwise.

Photographs capture slices of our reality and can be used as evidence to show that events occurred. As Susan Sontag stated in On Photography, “Something we hear about, but doubt, seems proven when we’re shown a photograph of it” (Sontag 3). We often learn about events but fail to realize the extent to which people are affected by them. Russia’s attack on Ukraine seems so much more real to us after we see photographs of destroyed homes and shots fired. When events of injustice are happening in places far from us, photographs help us to acknowledge them. Photographs make us better at sympathizing with others and understanding their circumstances. 

Furthermore, photographs help us to learn about each other and reveal people’s stories. Photographs are often taken at every milestone of one’s life: graduation, marriage, and starting a family. “Through photographs, each family constructs a portrait-chronicle of itself—a portable kit of images that bears witness to its connectedness” (Sontag 5). In family pictures, you can see the relationship between family members and all their memories together. Photographs help us to remember people that we met and people that are no longer with us. Photographs of trips and accomplishments reveal where one has been and what one has done. Photographs show us both one’s past and one’s growth.

Moreover, photographs allow us to better understand the past. In On Photography, Sontag gave an example of photography deepening our understanding of history, “Jacob Riis’s images of New York squalor in the 1880s are sharply instructive to those unaware that urban poverty in late-nineteenth-century America was really that Dickensian” (Sontag 17-18). Photographs of unsafe and unsanitary living conditions in New York during the 1880s allowed the viewers to understand the social state of the city and picture what it was like living in New York during that time. Photographs provide valuable insight into past events and allow us to better understand the state of a place during a specific period of time.

Photographs are a way for one to learn about the past and the present. Since photography is easily accessible, people from all walks of life can share their unique perspectives on the world through photography. Thus, photographs reveal aspects of our society that allow us to form a better understanding of the world around us.

Cultural heritage is something that is passed down from generation to generation. It is not necessarily something tangible, but something that brings pride and memories. I define cultural heritage as a set of artifacts, practices, and traditions passed down from our ancestors, that we collectively share as a community.

Cultural heritage can be beliefs that are practiced within a culture, such as Chinese people worshiping the guanyin and caishen, which are both gods of Chinese folk religion. Guanyin has roots in Buddhism and represents Avalokiteśvara. It shows how culture is shared between different communities and adopted to different cultural heritages. As Franchi stated in What is Cultural Heritage?, “cultural boundaries are not necessarily well-defined. Artists, writers, scientists, craftsmen, and musicians learn from each other, even if they belong to different cultures.” (Franchi) Cultural heritage does not have to be exclusive to a community as similar practices might be shared in another culture.

Food is what I often associate with my cultural heritage. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, my family would buy mooncakes and observe the moon to celebrate family reunion. Every Dragon Boat Festival, people in China would race on long boats to commemorate the death of the Chinese poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River. Interestingly, the reason why people eat zongzhi (rice dumpling) during Dragon Boat Festival is because when Qu Yuan drowned himself, people threw sticky rice balls into the river to prevent fish from eating his body. Behind every tradition and practice, there is a story that embraces the importance of unity, love, and hope. Cultural heritage is a way for people to feel connected to each other, to celebrate the joy of life, and to find a sense of belongingness. 

Similar to Día De Los Muertos in Mexican culture, Chinese people also have a day where they celebrate the dead, called Qingming Festival. I vividly remember climbing up great slopes as a child, to visit my ancestors’ tombs in the mountains. On this day, the adults would carry a whole roasted pig and white sugar sponge cake to share with our ancestors. We would also burn precisely three red incense sticks and some joss papers, which connects us with our ancestors and brings them wealth and prosperity in the other world. Qingming Festival is a way for us to connect with our loved ones and give back to our ancestors for all the things they did for us.

There are also many traditional clothing we have, such as the qipao and hanfu, that originated from different time periods. There are architectures like the Forbidden City that highlights the rich history of imperial China. There are pieces of literature that showcases the beauty of the Chinese language and how the language has evolved over the years. In a country with 56 ethnic groups and thousands of years of history, there are simply way too many examples of cultural heritage to all be mentioned. However, the shared history, holidays, and practices make us feel evermore connected to our identity and the uniqueness of our culture.