The Li of Chinese American Familism

2019 ◽  
pp. 127-156
Author(s):  
Russell M. Jeung ◽  
Seanan S. Fong ◽  
Helen Jin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Cultural Scripts ◽  
The Family ◽  
Tea Ceremony ◽  
Over Time

Chapter 6 identifies how Chinese Americans maintain the value of family through rituals, including rites of passage, ethnic routines, and table traditions. Rites of passage such as the wedding tea ceremony provide individuals with distinct responsibilities within the family. Ethnic routines, including family meals, transnational visits, and reunions, inculcate the norms of hospitality, reciprocity, and face/shame. They also teach the cultural scripts of familism through table traditions, such as pouring tea. Traditions and rituals change over time, however, and second-generation Chinese Americans pass on their liyi values and ethics differently than their immigrant parents did. The second generation lack a migration story of family sacrifice and have an attenuated knowledge of Chinese liyi traditions, and racialized multiculturalism further reduces ethnic traditions to what is marketable and consumable. Chinese Americans therefore hybridize and Americanize their ethnicity, which results in a new liyi Chinese American identity that consists of food and fun.

Translation

2019 ◽  
pp. 72-95
Author(s):  
Russell M. Jeung ◽  
Seanan S. Fong ◽  
Helen Jin Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Chinese American Families ◽  
American Children

Chapter 4 reveals that immigrant parents had mixed success in translating the liyi practices of Chinese Popular Religion to their Chinese American children due to four major barriers. First, Chinese American families transmitted practices by modeling rituals without explaining them. The second generation performed customs without fully understanding the symbols and meanings. Second, the dissonant acculturation between parents and children led the second generation to be more Americanized and less receptive to traditional, hierarchical values. Third, Christian dominance and privilege in the United States rendered Chinese practices exotic and superstitious. Fourth, gendered and racialized experiences “othered” Chinese traditions as foreign and outdated. In spite of these barriers, Chinese Americans distilled and hybridized what was most important to them from these practices to sustain familism.

scholarly journals Cultural Values, Social Status, and Chinese American Immigrant Parents’ Emotional Expressivity

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-395
Author(s):  
Stephen H. Chen ◽  
Qing Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Emotional Expressivity ◽  
The Family ◽  
American Immigrant ◽  
Education Levels

Cultural values and social status are two salient factors in the psychological experiences of immigrant families, and both have been associated with immigrant parents’ patterns of emotional expression in previous studies. The present study examined how endorsement of cultural values (collectivism and conformity) and social status were uniquely associated with immigrant parents’ emotional expressivity in the family. First-generation Chinese American immigrant parents ( N = 239, 80% mothers; M = 41.31 years old) of elementary-age children reported on their endorsement of values of collectivism and conformity, their patterns of emotional expressivity in the family context, and their family income and education levels. Path analyses indicated unique positive associations between family income and all domains of parents’ emotional expressivity and negative associations between family income and parents’ endorsement of collectivism and conformity. Parents’ endorsement of collectivism was negatively associated with negative-dominant expressivity. We discuss implications of our findings for theories of culture and emotion, as well as for future intersectional approaches with Asian American populations.

scholarly journals Nightclub as a Liminal Space: Space, Gender, and Identity in Lisa See’s China Dolls

Humanities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Melody Li
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Chinese Values ◽  
Modern Chinese ◽  
Chinese American Women ◽  
A Site

Nightclubs flourished in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 1930s when it became a nightlife destination. To Chinese Americans, however, San Francisco nightclubs became a new site at the time for them to re-explore their identities. For some, visiting these nightclubs became a way for them to escape from traditional Chinese values. For others, it became a way to satisfy Western stereotypes of Chinese culture. Lisa See’s China Dolls (2015) describes three young oriental women from various backgrounds that become dancers at the popular Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco in the late 1930s. Through the three girls’ precarious careers and personal conflicts, Lisa See proposes the San Francisco nightclub as both a site for them to articulate their new identities beyond their restricted spheres and a site for them to perform the expected stereotypical Asian images from Western perspectives. It was, at that time, a struggle for the emergence of modern Chinese women but particularly a paradox for Chinese-American women. The space of the Chinese-American nightclub, which is exotic, erotic, but stereotypical, represents contradictions in the Chinese-American identity. Through studying Lisa See’s novel along with other autobiographies of the Chinese American dancing girls, I argue that San Francisco nightclubs, as represented in Lisa See’s novel, embody the paradox of Chinese American identities as shown in the outfits of Chinese American chorus girls—modest cheongsams outside and sexy, burlesque costumes underneath.

Intergenerational and Personal Connectedness: Held Together in Christian Faith

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-139
Author(s):  
Lina S. Ponder
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
American Woman ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Family Connectedness ◽  
The Family ◽  
Two Generations

Christianity is the predominant religious affiliation for Chinese Americans. The divide and loss of connectedness of cultural values between first and second generations has left both parties deeply grieved. Research has confirmed this intergenerational divide and the potential of Christian faith to help cohere the family unit. Notably, the influence of the new primary culture of Christianity may enable a way for the two generations to better understand one another. In addition to the church providing a new model for the strengthening of familial relationships, it is suggested that the enhanced ability for mentalization developed through one’s relationship with God and connecting self-states may also translate to the improvement of personal and family connectedness. This article presents a case of a second-generation Christian Chinese American woman who found links of connection with her first-generation immigrant parents and between the multiplicity of her identity through her Christian faith.

The Development of Homologous (Canine/Anti-Canine) Antibodies in Dogs with Haemophilia A (Factor VIII Deficiency): A Ten-Year Longitudinal Study

1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (01) ◽  
pp. 021-024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn Tinlin ◽  
Sandra Webster ◽  
Alan R Giles
Keyword(s):  
Factor Viii ◽  
Canine Model ◽  
Significant Inhibition ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Haemophilia A ◽  
Variable Expression ◽  
The Family ◽  
Over Time

SummaryThe development of inhibitors to factor VIII in patients with haemophilia A remains as a serious complication of replacement therapy. An apparently analogous condition has been described in a canine model of haemophilia A (Giles et al., Blood 1984; 63:451). These animals and their relatives have now been followed for 10 years. The observation that the propensity for inhibitor development was not related to the ancestral factor VIII gene has been confirmed by the demonstration of vertical transmission through three generations of the segment of the family related to a normal (non-carrier) female that was introduced for breeding purposes. Haemophilic animals unrelated to this animal have not developed functionally significant factor VIII inhibitors despite intensive factor VIII replacement. Two animals have shown occasional laboratory evidence of factor VIII inhibition but this has not been translated into clinical significant inhibition in vivo as assessed by clinical response and F.VIII recovery and survival characteristics. Substantial heterogeneity of inhibitor expression both in vitro and in vivo has been observed between animals and in individual animals over time. Spontaneous loss of inhibitors has been observed without any therapies designed to induce tolerance, etc., being instituted. There is also phenotypic evidence of polyclonality of the immune response with variable expression over time in a given animal. These observations may have relevance to the human condition both in determining the pathogenetic factors involved in this condition and in highlighting the heterogeneity of its expression which suggests the need for caution in the interpretation of the outcome of interventions designed to modulate inhibitor activity.

scholarly journals Effect of Perceived Social Support on Mortality Rate Among Older Chinese Americans

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 198-199
Author(s):  
Charu Verma ◽  
Mengting Li ◽  
XinQi Dong
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Perceived Social Support ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Time Of Death ◽  
All Cause Mortality ◽  
Older Chinese ◽  
Older Chinese Americans ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Most existing studies have examined the relationship between social support and health in cross-sectional data. However, the changing dynamics of social support over time and its relationship with all-cause mortality have not been well explored. Using data from the Pine Study (N = 3,157), this study examined whether social support was associated with time of death at an 8 years follow-up among older Chinese Americans. Social support from a spouse, family members and friend were collected at the baseline using an HRS social support scale. Perceived social support and time of death were ascertained from the baseline through wave 4. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess associations of perceived support with the risk of all-cause mortality using time-varying covariate analyses. Covariates included age, sex, education, income, and medical comorbidities. All study participants were followed up for 8 years, during which 492 deaths occurred. In multivariable analyses, the results showed that positive family support [HR 0.91; 95% CI (0.86, 0.98)] and overall social support [HR 0.95; 95% CI (0.92,0.98)] were significantly associated with a lower risk of 8-year mortality. Results demonstrate robust association in which perceived positive family and overall social support over time had a protective effect on all-cause mortality risk in older Chinese Americans. Interventions could focus on older adults with low social support and protect their health and well-being. Future studies could further explore why social support from family is different from social support from other sources regarding mortality risk in older Chinese Americans.

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