The Concubine's Children Summary

Joseph 2 The Concubine's Children is a story with an insightful outlook to what the Chinese had to endure pertaining to immigration and providing for their families during such rigorous times. The story consists of one family torn between two countries; China and Canada. As the author provides concise and vivid details, the story comes alive painting a picture of the hardships they had to overcome. The country of China is known to have a long history of strict domestic values. Many of these values were reflected in The Concubine's Children. Chan Sam was a hard worker right from the start. In the Chinese culture, the male is the head of the house followed by his sons. When Chan Sam's father died he was a young adolescent and had to drop
out of school to support the family. As the oldest of four, Chan Sam became the new head of the household at the ripe age of twelve. He supported his mother and brothers and even sold some mau tin to buy water buffalo in hopes to reduce the manual labor they had to withstand. In China, marriages are arranged by the parents. As well as supporting his immediate family, sixteen year old Chan Sam also had a family of his own to support; a wife and daughter. As a Chinese expectation, Chan Sam's wife moved into his parents house where he could then be their provider. The whole story revolves around the Chinese Diaspora or emigration. Hard times caused the Chinese to migrate to the Americas in order to support the family. Thousands of Chinese including Chan Sam were forced to do this as times in China were not the greatest. The Chinese population overseas grew immensely. Most of them lived in "Chinatowns" in each city. They were horrifically discriminated against
Joseph 3 which is why they tended to stray away from society and reside in Chinatowns. Work became harder to find as more came over and was usually exhausting labor. Still the pay was more than in China and was able to support families in the home land. As for China times became dramatically rough. The Second World War had started and Chinese civilians were being massacred by the thousands. Houses and fields were destroyed all over and the house Chan Sam had built for his family later on in the story was taken over by soldiers. During this time, Husbands overseas in Canada or the Americas could not send money home to their families due to the war which put them in a high risk for starvation. Money was scarce and lives were in great danger. Chan Sam had moved to Canada to earn a living well over the amount he would earn in China.
He would send money periodically to his siblings as well as wife and daughter. He was there for no more than five years when he received news of his wife's death. He returned to China only to find his brothers were in an immense amount of debt. Before returning to Canada, Chan Sam remarried to a woman named Huangbo. While in Canada, Chan Sam had a concubine named May-ying. She was to keep him company while away from the head wife and to help produce a male child to look after them in an old age. Concubinage was a normal part of Chinese society especially if the first wife had not yet been able to produce male
offspring. Chan Sam ends up having one son, Yeun, and three daughters, Ping, Nan and Hing. They were a family divided between two nations across the globe yet Chan Sam lived up to his role and provided for his China family as well as his Canada family. He reflects the tradition of being the "bread winner". He accepts his role as the provider
Joseph 4 and gives his family food to eat, clothes to wear and a roof over their head. Chan Sam and May-ying's immigration to Canada affected the traditional values with which they had both lived.
Traditionally in China, the woman does not work. She raises children, cleans and cooks. The male is to work and make money to provide for the family and put food on the table. However when living in Canada, Chan Sam found it difficult to find work which led to May-ying becoming a tea house waitress. This was extremely degrading and Chan Sam found it difficult to accept. Tea house waitresses were usually not married and were looked upon as prostitutes, often doing sexual favors after hours. "But here in Chinatown, he couldn't repress a nagging feeling that he was a man wronged. He did not like having to share the company of his concubine with the regular customers of the Pekin Tea House."1 Chan Sam, unemployed, stayed home to raise Hing while May-ying worked in the tea house. May-ying was the provider for the family in Canada and China which was not traditional Chinese values. "Every two months, or more often if he could manage it, Chan Sam sent home what money he could manage from May-ying's wages and tips."2 Fortunate to have any kind of income, they accepted the circumstances and swallowed their
pride. Education is important in every country but is extremely emphasized in the Chinese culture. In our culture as well as many other cultures, education is expected. We are told from a young age to go to school, do well, get a good education so we can earn a descent living and provide for our families. Throughout this story, education is strictly enforced. Chan Sam believed in the best education for his daughters. "Upon
Joseph 5 the move to Vancouver, he immediately enrolled Hing in the private Mon Keong School. Sponsored by the large Wong clan association, it was the best of Vancouver's three main Chinese schools."3 Even while located in Canada, Chan Sam showed a great amount of concern for how Ping and Nan were doing overseas. He even wrote a letter to the principal stating, "However difficult, I am going to cover all school fees and expenses involved in my daughters' education."4 The principle let Chan Sam know the girls did not show up to school everyday and when he confronted them, they confessed. He made them promise they would stay in school and everyday gave them a thirty minute writing lesson. Chinese persistence for a good education is what makes them so successful. Elders take pride in their young doing well in school and often boast. This was not the case for May-ying and Hing. May-ying did not care how Hing did education wise which only gave Hing more motivation to do well. Growing up education was all she had and she took pride in that. The story shows the constant struggle of supporting and raising a family miles apart. Many Chinese traditions are lost and relationships are jeopardized. With the authors family knowledge, we were able to capture the true story and hardships that followed the Chinese Diaspora.