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
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
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