9781422277416

C onnecting C ultures T hrough F ami ly A nd F oo d

The Chinese Family Table

by K ath ry n H ul i ck

C onnecting C ultures T hrough F ami ly and F oo d

The African Family Table The Chinese Family Table The Greek Family Table The Indian Family Table The Italian Family Table The Japanese Family Table The Mexican Family Table

The Middle Eastern Family Table The Native American Family Table The SouthAmerican Family Table The Thai Family Table

C onnecting C ultures T hrough F ami ly and F oo d

The Chinese Family Table

By Kathryn Hulick

MASON CREST

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2019 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4041-0 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-4043-4 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7741-6

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Santa Barbara, California Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Tom Carling Production: Patty Kelley www.shorelinepublishing.com Front cover: Asia Images Group/Shutterstock

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hulick, Kathryn, author. Title: The Chinese family table / by Kathryn Hulick. Description: Broomall, PA : Mason Crest, 2018. | Series: Connecting cultures through family and food | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017058185| ISBN 9781422240434 (hardback) | ISBN 9781422240410 (series) | ISBN 9781422277416 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Food habits--China--Juvenile literature. | Chinese Americans--Food--Juvenile literature. | China-- Social life and customs--Juvenile literature. | United States--Emigration and immigration--Juvenile literature. Classification: LCC GT2853.C6 H86 2018 | DDC 394.1/20951--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc. gov/2017058185

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Introduction............................................................................................. 6 1. Getting Here. ............................................8 APPETIZER: DIM SUM..........................................................22 2. Settling In................................................24 SIDE DISHES: VEGETABLES, MEAT, AND FISH.................. 34 3. Connecting..............................................36 MAIN DISH: RICE....................................................................46 4. Reaching Back........................................48 DESSERT................................................................................ 60 Find Out More......................................................................................62 Series Glossary of Key Terms..........................................................63 Index/Author........................................................................................ 64 Contents

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Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic moments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together addi- tional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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C onn ect i ng C u ltu r es T hrough F am i ly and F ood

Introduction

F ireworks crackle in the sky on New Year’s Eve. Flashes of white, blue, green, andreddazzle the eyesas loudpopsandbangsreverber- ate through the air. Many cultures around theworld set off fireworks to celebrate a variety of holidays. But the tradition got its start in China. TheChinese discoveredgunpowder, the concoction thatmakesfireworks burst, in around 850 ce . Today, China is the largest coun- try in the world by population. One out of every five people in the world lives there. Chinese culture has a longer history than any other in the world. By 2000 bce , the ancient Chinese had organized themselves into a society with a single ruler. In addition to gunpowder, the ancient Chinese also invented paper, silk,

porcelain, and tea.

The Chinese began to explore the rest of the world as early as 1050 ce . In the 1400s, explorers ventured to Africa and brought back giraffes, among other curiosities. But then new rulers took power. And the Chi- nese attitude toward leaving home changed. Anyone who left might be labeled a traitor. Chinese rulers re- stricted or banned emigration, the movementof people tonewlands, for several longperiodsbetweenthe14th and 19th centuries. In the late 17th century, any migrant who returned home risked being put to death. Even after the law against emi- gration was lifted, Chinese culture keptmost people close tohome. This is mainly due to the influence of an ancient scholarcalledConfucius.His

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Introduction

teachings have shaped the Chinese way of life. Confucianism says that family and loyalty are of utmost im- portance. Children must obey and care for their parents and other el- ders.Today,mostChinesemaintaina strongattachment totheirhomeland. Theybelieveinreveringtheirparents and honoring deceased ancestors. However, as poverty, wars, nat- ural disasters, and changes in gov- ernment affected various parts of

China, caring for family sometimes meantventuringout toforeignlands. Somepeoplelefttoseektheirfortunes elsewhere. Most intended to return home. Even thosewhostayedabroad maintained very close ties to their familyinChina.Theyalsocontinued to cookandeat food fromtheirhome regions. Foodhelpedmigrants feel at home in faraway lands.

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Getting Here

A glint of gold flashed in the banks of a stream. It was 1848, and a workman was building a new sawmill on Sutter’s Creek in California. The discovery set off a gold rush that brought tens of thousands of treasure hunters to America. Many of these newcomers were Chinese men. In China, some began referring to the United States as “gold mountain.” By 1851, 25,000 Chinese people had moved to California. Gold discoveries in Australia and Canada during the same time period sparked similar waves of migration from China to those countries. Before the gold rushes, large communities of Chinese people had already

Words to Understand emigrant

a person who leaves his or her home country to live

elsewhere ethnicity a person’s national or cultural identity

immigrant a person who has permanently settled in a new country prejudice a commonly held opinion about a group of people that is not based on fact or reason sojourner a person who temporarily lives in a place

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The discovery of gold set off a gold rush that attracted people from around the world, including the first Chinese immigrants to the United States.

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C onn ect i ng C u ltu r es T hrough F am i ly and F ood

settled abroad in nearby countries in Southeast Asia. But the lure of an easy fortune helped spur amigration that eventually established Chinese communities in more far-flung regions of the world. Many historians do not refer to these early travelers as emigrants because they intended to return home after working for several years. A better word for them is sojourners . However, most sojourners never actually found work in gold mines. And many never made their way back home. They became immigrants , or people who permanently settle in a new country. Seeking a Fortune Far fromHome S ome people, called brokers, made a business out of recruiting male Chinese workers and transporting them abroad. One recruitment

notice from the 19th cen- tury translates to, “Ameri- cans are very rich people. They want the Chinaman tocomeandmakehimvery welcome. There you will have great pay, large hous- es, andfoodandclothingof thefinestdescription.”Un- fortunately, this was a lie. Life for Chinese sojourn- ers could be extremely difficult. The unluckiest oneswound up trapped as

The hard life and pressure to find work led some men to fall victim to opium abuse.

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Getting Here

slaves laboring inhorrif- ic conditions in places includingCubaandPeru. Many died. Luckier sojourners

The Chinese in Peru

After slavery was abol- ished in Peru, planta- tion and mine owners needed a new source of labor. They found it in China. The Chinese men who came to Peru to work often faced horrific, slave-

made it to San Francis- co, California, and could send mail and money to family backhome. But the journey wasn’t easy. The culture, landscape, and food were all unfamiliar. One Chinese man wrote of his journey, “When I got to SanFrancisco I was half starvedbecause Iwas afraid toeat theprovisions [food] of the barbarians.” By barbarians, he meant Americans.

like conditions. However, as time wore on, Chinese Peruvians began to lift themselves out of poverty and make a better place for themselves in society. Today, five percent of the Peruvian population is of Chinese descent. This has influenced food in the country. Maria Antonieta Zegarra grew up in Peru. She says, “We have Chinese restaurants, which we call Chifa. It’s like Chinese food but with Peruvian flavor. It’s delicious!”

As the numbers of Chinese living in California increased, though, they established communities complete with groceries selling imported Chinese foods, including tea, rice, bean curd, preserved eggs, and dried fish. They also set up restaurants. White Americans began to visit some of these establishments. In 1851, miner William Shawwrote that Chinese restaurants were the best places to eat in San Francisco. He said, “The dishes are mostly curries, hashes, and fricassee served up in small dishes and as they are exceedingly palatable [tasty], I was not curious enough

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C onn ect i ng C u ltu r es T hrough F am i ly and F ood

to enquire as to the ingredients.” Eventually, Chinese men established a reputation as excellent chefs. Many learned how to prepare European dishes and found work as servants cooking for white Americans. Facing Racism D espite the success that some Chinese people found, they regularly faced prejudice and racism. As early as the 1850s, some white Amer- icans began to spread hateful messages about the Chinese. They viewed them as an inferior race. “They are not of our people and never will be… They do not mix with our people, and it is undesirable that they should,”

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, anti-immigrant feelings grew, including a desire to expel Chinese workers and block future immigration.

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Getting Here

stated a racist newspaper column in 1853. After slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, some Chinese workers took over jobs that had once primarily belonged to African slaves. For example, Chinese men often worked as domestic servants.

Often, the only jobs Chinese workers could find involved difficult,

WhereWere theWomen?

Almost all early Chinese emigrants were young men. In 1850, approximately 4,000 Chinese men lived in San Francisco, but just seven Chinese women lived there. In the male- dominated Chinese society of the time, men ruled the household and provided income. Women did

not travel far from the home. In fact, many could not even walk very far due to the practice of foot binding, which has since ended. At the time, tiny feet were seen as a mark of great beauty, but a bound foot could not grow or carry weight properly. However, some Chinese women did make it to America. In fact, the very first Chinese person known to have come to the United States was a woman named Afong Moy. But she wasn’t here freely. Two businessmen brought her over in 1834 to put her on display. Shockingly, people paid 50 cents to see her bound feet, watch her use chopsticks, and listen to her speak Chinese. Decades later, Chinese women living in the United States still aroused curiosity. In rural areas of the Wild West, white neighbors used to call any Chinese woman “China Mary.” One “China Mary” worked as a fisher, hunter, prospector, cook, laundry operator, and more in Canada. Another owned a restaurant in Arizo- na. And a third outlived three husbands and died at the age of 100 in Wyoming.

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C onn ect i ng C u ltu r es T hrough F am i ly and F ood

manual labor. Many opened laundries. One Chinese woman recalls, “In China in the old days women thought that people came over to pick gold. Ai! Really! You think they knew that they were coming to work in the laundry?”Washing and ironing clothes by hand was back-breaking work, and most white Americans weren’t willing to do it. Other Chinese immi- grants worked in agriculture, doing the difficult labor of preparing fields, planting, or harvesting. Many more Chinese went to work building the Transcontinental Railroad, which connected the east and west coasts of the United States for the first time. The Chinese worked longer hours and received less pay than white men. An estimated 12,000 to 14,000 Chinese men worked on the railroad.

Chinese workers were among the thousands who labored in hot, desert conditions to complete the transcontinental railroad.