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Jade last name origin

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Fifth Chinese Daughter

Fifth Chinese Daughteris a 1945 autobiography by Chinese-American artist and author Jade Snow Wong, who wrote the book when she was just 24 years old. It is an account of her childhood and young adulthood being raised by a fiercely traditional Chinese family in San Francisco in the early 20th century, and her struggle to attain an education despite her family’s staunch opposition. Using the third person despite the intimate nature of the subject matter allows Wong to distance herself from her own life, creating a powerful sense of objectivity despite the subjective nature of telling your own life story while also aligning with a traditional Chinese sense of humility and decorum. The book was immensely popular and was sponsored into multiple translations by the United States government in an effort to prove a lack of racial prejudice against Asian cultures in the U.S. after World War II.

Wong begins with her early childhood in San Francisco’s Chinatown; she is the fifth daughter in a family that will eventually grow to nine children. Only Chinese is spoken
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Historical Essay

by Allecia Vermillion

San Francisco Museum and Historical Society Summer 2009

Jade Snow Wong

Jade Snow Wong was born on a rare snowy January day in San Francisco in 1922, and given the English name of Constance. A lifelong San Franciscan, she was the fifth of nine immigrant children. Growing up she was taught to expect a particular type of life, laid out for her by tradition and her elders. Through education, determination and hard work, Wong went beyond these traditions to pursue her passion and talent for the arts.

Wong attended San Francisco City College and later Mills College, where she majored in economics and sociology. She worked as a secretary in a shipyard office during World War II, but was introduced to pottery through an art class during her last semester of college. Ceramics would become a lifelong passion. Wong worked at studios in Chinatown, Jackson Square and, most prominently, on Russian Hill. When she first began pursuing ceramics, she persuaded a Grant Avenue merchant to let her throw pots on her wheel in the shop’s front windo

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Fifth Chinese Daughter

1950 memoir by Jade Snow Wong

1950 cover

AuthorJade Snow Wong
LanguageEnglish
SubjectMemoir

Publication date

1950
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages264
ISBN9780295968261 (hardcover)

Fifth Chinese Daughter is a 1950 memoir by Chinese American writer and ceramist Jade Snow Wong. The name of the book refers to Wong being the fifth child born to immigrant parents from China. The book has been considered as an early classic of Asian American literature.[1]

Synopsis

In Fifth Chinese Daughter, Wong describes her upbringing in Chinatown, San Francisco, providing a detailed portrayal of her family's immigrant experience and the disciplined upbringing she received. It also explores her defiance against the expectations imposed by both her family and society for a Chinese woman.

Reception

Published in 1950, the book became a best-seller, especially in the aftermath of the lifting of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943.[2]

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