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Title
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Beyond the narrow gate : the journey of four Chinese women from the Middle Kingdom to Middle America
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Description
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The author tells the intertwining stories of her mother and three classmates who, having already left China for Taiwan in the wake of the invasion of the Red Army, immigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s, a time in which the Chinese were very much a minority in America.
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Identifier
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798442
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525942572
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Creator
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Chang, Leslie
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Source
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Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection
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Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.
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Catalog record
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Language
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eng
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Date
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1999
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Program air date: September 5, 1999
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Publisher
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Dutton
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George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives
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Text
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Transcription of Annotations
Notes on the front endpapers, half-title verso and back flysheet and free endpaper: Confucian tradition, how important was it. Sun Yat-Sen. Whites--I ceased to care what they thought p 65. Hartford. Brothers Derek, oldest Tim. Leslie Chang--youngest of 4 children--started school in 1976. Parents fought p 145. 1980--160 Chinese in Hartford. Leslie--apartment in Manhattan. My mother's generation still lost. Reunion in Hawaii, Delores--no show; Suzanne--different. Butler Library research at Columbia. Arrived in U.S. '53. Now Dolores--Queens. Mon. Aug 2 2 p.m. a writer in search of a story, me--a stranger among strangers. '61 Suzanne--Silicon Valley--The Rebel. '59 Margaret--L.A. teaches biology (Palos Verdes). May, mother--Hong Kong--The Tomboy (She was 18) May Hay. Father--law degree (Shanghai), Grandfather at U.N. Battle of Siping 1947. My grandfather and Chiang Kai-shek. Shot a man--mother's father a 15 yr. boy-soldier. My mother's-father dead at 11. Lived in compound at Tiananmen Square. My uncle committed suicide over grades. "Tragedy" was normal. Jan 31, 1949--Communists entered Beijing. 2 million people escaped--my family to Taiwan. Elite--educated, 10 million people, a Japanese colony for 50 years. Tai Da-everyone wanted to go to this school. My mother finished in top 5, my grandmother dies--gold stolen, uncle arrested, concubine marries, leaves son behind. My mother doesn't trust anyone. Dolores--parents divorce. Beijing the best school, did you visit? 1965--Immigration Act changed country for euro-centrism bet 65-90 700,000 Chi. immigrated. 7 million Asians--today, 1 million 1965. When mother arrived 200,000 Chinese in U.S. My mother arrived under auspices of Catholic Church, planned for her to be a nurse. 1956--Marymount. Cardinal Yu Pin--Father Chan--visit to him, reaction to an invitation p 100-flip. Lamb writes out a table of contents for the book Section, chapter numbers, chapter titles and the page number of the first page in the chapter. P 210 Statement of what it is like for Chinese in America--Bigots etc. At 16 I had an ancient, jaded inattentive soul. My selfishness--I had it too p 179. Suzanne--end a 29 year marriage--wrote a note to Tan in Reading. Nei's white boyfriend--dancer PhD candidate. My boyfriend--Wisconsin white milk--engaged--"seethed with anger" at my mother for telling people. Wei--wedding--It's going to be all white people--I won't be comfortable (p 206). East Coast vs. West Coast white people. Margaret--Polka dot--cared and knew little about white people. p 246. Southern CA. When I announced I was going to J-School p 252. Peter--I am a Western kid. Dan--I am not a Western parent. Dolores--mother loaned her money lost it in the commodities market. My mother--sold real estate then played the market. Statement of changing relationship w. me p 159. Dolores--stood apart--I pitied her, Mark had no BA, her husband didn't have a good job. Profile of Asian American Women p 261. My aunt in Massachusetts--Stories of her uncle. My boyfriend Ben--trip to Hong Kong. I'm like my mother--a fear p 264. Trips to China for me--culture shock. Mom's first trip back 1986--Both trips she was outraged by what she saw. Country made me allergic--food gave me diarrhea p 272 other things bothered me. 3 photos of Chiang Kai-shek--Eva's Father, Mother's Uncle, my grandfather. Peter, Wei--Margaret's, Dolores--Mark 30 yr. old son, Jim--Suzanne, Suzanne divorced Tan--found Richard again, left Reading 1990. Stopped by court house to look at Divorce file. I felt most at home with Margaret. Notes/Underlinings: Family background, details on mother's high school friends, background on life in China, Taiwan, education, emigration to U.S. reunions. Could not become citizens until 1943. Marriages, careers, children, prejudice, relationships.
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Subject
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"Chinese American women--Biography."
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"Women immigrants--United States--Biography."
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Relation
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Original Booknotes interview
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Rights
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798442.pdf