Glossary for Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men
The following are some brief annotations to help you through
the reading. They are not a substitute for a dictionary, further study (if
you are so moved), or, most importantly, your own imagination and
interpretation.
pp. 3 - 5 Legend of Tang Ao - Kingston bases this story on an incident
from an 18th century Chinese novel in which a man is transformed into an
actual woman. Most of the short fables and myths in the book are based,
sometimes loosely, on traditional Chinese folktales and stories.
p. 12 Tang People's Street - Chinese-Americans often used this term to
refer to "Chinatown." It is a literal translation from the Chinese. Tang
was the name of a powerful Chinese dynasty of the eighth and ninth
centuries and many Chinese, especially around the Canton region call
themselves "people of Tang". (Tang is pronounced with a broad "a", rhymes
somewhat with the word "prong", and does not sound like the name of a
powdered breakfast drink.)
p. 12 Cantonese - Canton is the English name of a major city in
southern China, near Hong Kong. Most Chinese who came to the U.S. before
the 1970's came from the Canton region and they and their dialect of the
Chinese language are known as "Cantonese". Chinese is a tonal language the same word said in a different tone or inflection has a different
meaning. Kingston uses this feature of the spoken language as a source of
puns and word plays throughout the book. There are pronounced regional
differences in China.
p. 14 pigtail - From the 17th century to 1911, China was ruled by the
Manchus, a people originally from northeast Asia. They required all native
Chinese males to wear a long queue, or pigtail, that often extended to the
small of the back, as a sign of submission to Manchu rule. Chinese in the
U.S. usually retained this hairstyle, for, if they ever returned to China
without it, they could be executed for their display of assumed
disrespect. The Republic refers to the
Republic of China that
replaced Manchu rule after its overthrow by the Revolution of 1911.
p. 15 "Center" - This is a literal translation of the Chinese word
for center or middle. The Chinese word for China can be translated as
"Middle Kingdom". Here Kingston is also using the word "center" in a
symbolic way, as she does throughout the book.
p. 17 red eggs and ginger - Parents in certain villages in south
China often give their babies a "red egg and ginger" party on the infant's
one-month birthday. Red is the color of prosperity and good luck in China.
Note other instances where Kingston uses the color red in her book.
pp. 19, 4 bound feet - From approximately the 16th to the early 20th
century, many Chinese families forced at least one daughter of the family
to undergo this painful procedure. The toes of an infant girl's feet would
be bound with strips of cloth so they would grow under the arch toward the
heel. Ideally, a grown woman's foot would fit inside a rice bowl. The
deformed foot was considered to be erotic, but left the woman either
completely or partially crippled.
p. 22 Tu Fu - One of China's most famous poets. He lived during the
9th century Tang dynasty.
p. 28 grass style - A rapid, running form of freehand Chinese writing
that was said to resemble flowing grass.
p. 42 America, the Gold Mountain, The Beautiful Nation - Chinese often
called the United States "Gold Mountain" (although in this book, "Gold
Mountain" seems to signify more than just the U.S.). The literal
translation of the Chinese words for America is "beautiful nation". Here,
as elsewhere in the book, Kingston is playing with words.
p. 55 walls…covered with poems - Chinese immigrants in the early 20th
century were often detained for months and sometimes years in a federal
detention center on Angel Island, in the San Francisco bay. They carved
hundreds of poems into the wood of their cells. Many of these poems can
still be seen today. Note the frequent reference to poets among the
Chinese in America.
pp. 87, 12 relocation camps - The U.S. interned persons of Japanese
ancestry in America, including American citizens, in prison camps during
World War II.
p. 93 Han men - See Tang Men above. Chinese from Northern China called
themselves Han men, after the name of the Han dynasty of the 2nd century
B.C. to 2nd century A.D. Chinese speak a number of dialects. One dialect
may even be incomprehensible to a Chinese from another region of the
country. The sound of a strange dialect is a common source of humor.
p. 95 Lao Tse - 6th century B.C. philosopher/sage in China credited
with founding the belief system known as Taoism. One of its basic beliefs
is that an elemental and fundamental force, the Tao, resides in and unites
all things. Taoism teaches respect for this force, and contemplation,
balance, and simplicity if one is to be with this force and achieve
harmony in life. Kingston's mention of glowing lights throughout the book
may be references to Taoist beliefs.
pp. 114-5 yin/yang - Terms referring to a Chinese philosophical concept
that interprets the world as composed of opposed but complimentary
forces.
Harmony is achieved by a balancing and proper proportion of these forces
of hot and cold, male and female, and so forth.
p. 148 Rock Springs, Wyoming Massacre - In 1885, 28 Chinese were killed
in one of the worst incidents of anti-Chinese violence in the West. The
Los Angeles Massacre occurred in 1871 and claimed 22 Chinese, many
lynched
from city lampposts.
p. 268 Sun Yat Sen, Chiang Kai Shek - Sun (the Chinese is to put the
surname first) was the leader of the 1911 Revolution. He lived in
California for several years before he returned to become the first
president of China.
Chiang Kai Shek was a military man who governed China from the
late 1920's until 1949, when the Communist revolution led by Mao Tse Tung
forced his government to flee to Taiwan off the coast of China.
pp. 268-9 Fa Mu Lan; Ngok Fei; Fan Kuei; Ts'ao Ts'ao - Historical and
mythical heroines and heroes in Chinese folklore.
p. 276 Kung Fu Tze - The Chinese name of Confucius, China's most famous
philosopher. Confucius lived about five hundred years before Christ. His
teachings are sometimes called a "religion," but are really more of an
ethical system and social philosophy.
p. 295 Ho Chi Kuai - "Just like the devil."
p. 302 jook tsing - Pejorative term for Chinese-Americans. Literally,
the term means "trapped inside a bamboo segment" - one cannot go up or
down (bamboo is hollow but segmented). The meaning is that one can be
neither completely Chinese nor completely American.
p. 304 a very important, religious party… - This dinner apparently is a
festival to commemorate the dead, a traditional annual event in Chinese
society, although The Brother, fully Americanized, apparently is unaware
of the significance of the occasion.