American Born Chinese by Yang
Summary
 Summary: This book tells the story of Jin Wang
and his journey of appreciating his ethnic identity as
a Chinese student growing up in America. The book
opens with the fable of the infamous Chinese story of
the Monkey King, a character who is mocked by the
rest of the god’s in heaven because of who he is- a
monkey. Enraged, the Monkey King proceeds to
develop many disciplines to will prevent him from
being ridiculed any further.
Continued
 With that precursor of a story, we are then
introduced to Jin Wang and him trying to fit in with
other students in an American High School. His only
real friend is another Asian, named Wei-Chen Sun,
however Wei-Chen is mocked because of his ethnic
characteristics. This provokes Jin to try and run from
his Asian identity altogether. It is only after the
ancient Monkey King actually comes to talk to Jin
and tells of his own personal exploits does Jin
understand that being yourself should be more
important than fitting in.
Yang’s American Born Chinese
 In 2006, Yang published American Born Chinese, a
graphic narrative comprised of three storylines that
eventually unite.
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The Story of the Monkey King
The Story of Jin Wang
The Story of Chin-Kee
 In addition to winning the Printz award for Young
Adult Literature, American Born Chinese has
garnered both praise and controversy.
The Monkey King
 The Monkey King, or Sūn
Wùkōng, is a character in
an extremely important
Chinese novel, The
Journey to the West.
 Written in the 17th
century, it chronicles a
journey to India made by
a Buddhist monk and his
companions.
The Monkey King
 The Journey to the West
is based upon an actual
pilgrimage undertaken in
629 AD by the Buddhist
monk Xuánzàng to India
in order to study
Buddhist religious texts.
After spending a decade
in India, Xuánzàng
returned to China as a
hero and was influential
in the Emperor’s Court.
The Monkey King
 In the fictionalized account of Xuánzàng’s trip, he is
joined by three characters, The Monkey King, the
Monk Pig, and the Sand Friar. Of these companions,
the Monkey King presents the most cunning in battle
and the most weaponry, including the ability to
transform himself 72 ways. This feature corresponds
to Jin’s fascination with the Transformer toys that
were so popular during the latter decades of the 20th
century.
 The transformer symbolizes Jin Wang’s (and other
characters) desires to assimilate into American
culture.
Transformers!
Yang on The Monkey King
 Jeff Yang, a columnist for The San Francisco
Chronicle, (no relation to Gene Leun Yang) notes
that Gene Leun Yang “envisions the Monkey King as
more than just a classic Chinese character -- he sees
him as the patron spirit of Asian America, which is a
thought I've had myself. After all, his epic is a tale of
a journey westward, and the character of Monkey,
plus his quest for identity and wisdom (and, yeah,
maybe a little humility), all feel somehow familiar,
like a half-remembered childhood song.”
The Story of Jin Wang
 Jin’s status as an ABC, or American Born Chinese,
refers to the fact that his parents are immigrants.
 For the first nine years of his life, Jin lives in San
Francisco’s Chinatown. However, when his parents
are able to afford a home in the suburbs, Jin is illprepared for the identity crisis that will ensue.
 In addition to struggling with others’ prejudice, he
has to struggle with his own insecurities.
 The motif of “tranformation” fits nicely with the
transformative powers of The Monkey King.
Jin’s “White” Hairstyle
The Chin-Kee Show
 The third storyline in American Born Chinese
features a sitcom-like structure, as popular, “normal”
Danny contends with the annual visits of his Chinese
cousin Chin-kee.
 Chin-kee is the embodiment of every stereotype that
many Americans hold regarding persons of Chinese
nationality or descent. He reminds many critics of
Long Duk Dong, a character from John Hughes’
extremely popular teen movie, Sixteen Candles.
Long Duk Dong
Controversy
 "I do get some reactions to the Cousin Chin-Kee that
worry me a little bit," said Yang…. "There's some
people that come up and tell me, 'He's so cute, so
funny, endearing.' That's definitely not what I was
going for,"
 Yang believes that most people understood the
purpose of a character like Chin-Kee — acting as the
juxtaposition against his popular, assimilated cousin.
Controversy
 "I think the vast majority
of the responses are
positive, but I have had
some Asian-Americans
and come up and tell me
I was perpetuating the
stereotype by explicitly
showing it," he said.
Identity Construction
 Yang notes: "I think the Asian American community
right now is in the midst of defining itself. For a
while I think we were all trying to be white. Then
there was a period of time when we were trying to be
black. And now we're finally coming up with
something that's truly our own."
Theme
 Identity:
 Jin’s searches for his identity throughout the story.
 In order to understand who he is, he has to come to terms with
his ancestry.
 He struggles to assimilate and avoid stereotypes
How does he attempt to assimilate?
 Why does he want to assimilate?
 Have you ever given up a part of yourself to be more like your
peers?


He has to examine himself to see who he really is- and only
starts to understand this when he meets the Monkey King, a
direct tie to Chinese mythology.
American Born Chinese
American Born Chinese
American Born Chinese
American Born Chinese