Chinese Lady - Afong Moy in Early America

In 1834, a Chinese woman named Afong Moy arrived in America as both a prized guest and an advertisement for a merchant firm--a promotional curiosity with bound feet and a celebrity used to peddle exotic wares from the East. This first biography of Afong Moy explores how she shaped Americans' impressions of China, while living as a stranger in a foreign land.

List of contents

• Acknowledgments


• Introduction


• Part One: Setting the Stage


• 1. The Cast


• 2. Behind the Scenes


• Part Two: The Show


• 3. The Curtain Rises


• 4. Afong Moy Presents Chinese Objects for the Person


• 5. Afong Moy Presents Chinese Objects for the Home


• Part Three: On Tour


• 6. New York to Charleston


• 7. Return to the North


• 8. Cuba and Up the Mississippi River


• Part Four: Finale


• 9. Off Stage


• 10. The Final Act


• Epilogue


• Notes


• Selected Bibliography


• Index

About the author

Nancy E. Davis is curator emeritus of Home and Community Life at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. She has worked as a public historian in local, state, and national museums for more than forty years. Her research in museums and as a lecturer has frequently addressed aspects of Asian influence on American culture.

Summary

In 1834, a Chinese woman named Afong Moy arrived in America as both a prized guest and an advertisement for a merchant firm--a promotional curiosity with bound feet and a celebrity used to peddle exotic wares from the East. This first biography of Afong Moy explores how she shaped Americans' impressions of China, while living as a stranger in a foreign land.

Additional text

Ms. Davis strives mightily to tell Afong Moy's own story using the documents available,
triangulating not only from what was said but also from the silences. That so much remains unknown in "The Chinese Lady" doesn't reflect poorly on Ms. Davis as a historian. Rather it confirms Ms. Davis's assertion that "in mid-nineteenth-century America, the life of an Asian, and of a woman even when that woman lived an extraordinary life was destined to obscurity." - The Wall Street Journal

Product details

• Authors: Nancy E. Davis, Nancy E. (Curator Emeritus Davis
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 16.06.2022
• EAN: 9780197581988
• ISBN: 978-0-19-758198-8
• No. of pages: 344
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Ethnic Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Emigration & Immigration, HISTORY / World, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology, General & world history, c 1500 onwards to present day, Archaeology, Migration, immigration & emigration, Social and cultural history, Migration, immigration and emigration, General and world history, History and Archaeology, Modern Period, C 1500 Onwards, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General