Description:

This artifact is an autobiography written by my late grandfather about his life in China. It recounts his experiences living through WWII, the rise of the Communist Party, the Cultural Revolution, and other important events up until his death in the 2000’s. It is significant for my family as a memorial to my grandfather, especially my mother, who was not able to see him very often after she moved to the United States. It is a way for us to keep connected to China, especially for my brother and me, who were born in the United States and therefore have little firsthand experience of life in China.

This artifact connects to the larger body of memoir in Asian-American history. Memoir has served as a critical part of community-building for Asian-Americans and is a powerful method of preserving experiences and memories in a visceral manner. Books like Carlos Bulosan’s America is in the Heart and Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do contain descriptions of the author’s/author’s parents’ home countries similar to those found in this artifact. It provides a great deal of context to my parents’ decisions to move to America and the cultural differences they faced once they arrived.

This artifact illuminates the role of the rise of the Communist Party in China in driving immigration out of the country, especially after events like the Cultural Revolution and the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989. It is also a reminder of the difficulties in staying connected to relatives who have been left behind in the home country, and the pain that it can cause after those relatives pass away. It also represents the efforts made to build a place that feels like home in a new country, and the role of old artifacts in bringing that sense of home into a new place.

Keywords: Immigration, memoir, China, Communism, autobiography