In the Land of the Free

Introduction

Sui Sin Far become the first Asian-American fiction writer, publishing numerous short stories, essays, and articles under her adopted pen-name Sui Sin Far. Her father was a British merchant, and her mother was a Chinese missionary who had received her education in England. They met in Shanghai, were married in the early 1860s, and moved to England shortly thereafter. In 1872, when Sui Sin Far was still a child, the family left England for Canada, where Sui Sin Far would live until she was nearly 32. Sui Sin Far's early life was not easy. Although the family was culturally British, she and her siblings faced racist taunts and physical abuse because of their mixed-race status. As the eldest daughter in a family of 14 children, Sui Sin Far was compelled to spend much of her time caring for her younger siblings. When her family's financial situation deteriorated, Sui Sin Far was obliged to abandon her formal schooling before the age of 12 in order to contribute to the family funds. The author who earned recognition under the pseudonym Sui Sin Far and became the first writer of Chinese origin to be published in North America was born Edith Maude Eaton in England to an English father and Chinese mother. Her family immigrated to North America when she was young and eventually settled in Montreal, Canada. In the 1880s, while working as a stenographer, she began her career as a freelance journalist. She did not begin publishing stories focusing on Chinese-immigrant themes until the mid 1890s.

Discussion

The Story

After discovering that she is pregnant, Lae Choo, the dutiful, obedient wife of Hom Hing, returns from California to China so that her child will be born in her homeland. While she awaits the birth of their first son, her husband's aged parents fall ill. After the death of both parents, she returns to San Francisco with her young son. Because of bureaucratic red tape, the immigration authorities keep the infant, telling Lae Choo and Hom Hing to return the next day to learn the disposition of his case. The parents are confident that the authorities will return their child, but after five months the child is still in the care of the missionaries with whom the immigration authorities have placed him.

In desperation, Hom Hing hires a lawyer, James Clancey, to petition the immigration service for the release of their son. Unsuccessful in this attempt, the lawyer asks for five hundred dollars to go to Washington, D.C., to petition the government personally. Hom Hing does not have the money, but Lae Choo offers her jewelry instead. “See my jade earrings my gold buttons my hair pins my comb of pearl and my rings one, two, three, four, five rings; very good all same much money. . . . You take and bring me paper for my Little One.”

Another five months pass before Clancey succeeds. At last able to regain her son, the joyful mother goes directly to the mission to ...