Book Review

Canada and the United States

Huping Ling's book is a testament to the growing maturity of Asian American historical literature in the last several decades. Notwithstanding the persistence of the "Oriental" image, as Chinese and Asian Americans have made strides in political and socioeconomic advancements, scholars have begun revisiting the significance of the Chinese American past in the larger narrative. The focus of this field has also shifted from simply foregrounding the historical contributions of Chinese Americans to one that highlights the agency of these actors and how that intersected with the lives of European Americans and non-Chinese racial minorities. Ling's sweeping saga of the lives of Chinese American women since the California Gold Rush is largely situated within that latter approach, though there is also a heavy emphasis on "naming" the contributions.

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Aside from being the first book on Chinese American women to cover an expansive time frame, this study is also pathbreaking because it details this female experience in a number of different geographical regions, ranging from Hawaii to the East Coast, from the Upper Midwest to the South. Ling's coverage of the Midwest is particularly laudable, since scholars in the past have ignored the presence of Chinese American women and men in this region. Readers should be warned, however, that the author offers few regional comparisons and thus, the rationale for moving away from the emphasis on the West Coast has been somewhat undermined. Much to her credit, however, Ling does try to challenge the perception that the Chinese American female experience was unique. Ling has integrated her knowledge of the larger multiethnic American immigration past with the Chinese American narrative and found similarities and differences between these multiple histories.

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