yan phou lee...contemporary hardships anti-chinese riots of 1885 and 1886. the scott act was enacted...
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Yan Phou Lee
Tim Male & Harvey Shiver
Background
● Born in Xiangshan, China in 1861.● Immigrated in 1880 to Hartford,
Connecticut as part of the Chinese Educational Mission.
● Was “recalled” after one year, but immigrated back on the condition that he could never return to China.
● Died in 1938. Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/BECK(1898)_p303_YAN_PHOU_LEE,_A_SCHOLAR.jpg
Achievements● Married Elizabeth Jerdine in
1887.● Lee wrote several pieces about
the ways in which Chinese immigrants were mistreated in the United States.
● Spent most of his life advocating for equality for the Chinese-American community.
Contemporary Hardships
● Anti-Chinese riots of 1885 and 1886.● The Scott Act was enacted in 1888 and lasted
until 1943; came to exclude all Asian immigrants in 1924.
● Lee’s works were highly controversial, angering many Americans, but also managed to gain a sympathetic backing, primarily from white middle-class readers.
WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA
● Published in 1887 by D. Lothrop Company
● First book published by someone of Asian descent in English in the U.S.
● The book covers many topics including Chinese religious practices, schooling, architecture, etc.
Critical Conversations around the work
● To some, Lee is seen as “writing from the vantage point of privilege” and so he does not present a story sympathetic to “typical” Asian-Americans
● Yet, Lee acknowledges criticism by saying “I happened to be born into the higher middle condition of life”
● Lee’s work is utlimately complicated because he “understands two points of view…[and is] straddling two worlds” as a result
Works Cited● “Chew Heong v. United States: Chinese Exclusion and the Federal
Courts.” Federal Judicial Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.● Kim, Elaine. Asian American Literature: An Introduction to the Writings and
Their Social Context. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1982. Print.● Ling, Amy. “Yan Phou Lee on the Asian American Frontier.” Recollecting
Early Asian America: Essays in Cultural History. Ed. Josephine Lee, et al. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2002. 273-287. Web.
● “Scott Act (1888).” The Chinese American Experience: 1857-1892. Harpweek, n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.
● “Yan Phou Lee to Marry.” New York Times. The New York Times, 3 July 1887. Web. 6 Sept. 2014.
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