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I. Biography
Maxine
Hong Kingston was born in Stockton, California on October 27, 1940. She is the oldest of six American born children. Maxine and her literary work have been deeply influenced by Maxine's parents and their folklore from
native China. Before coming to America in 1924, Maxine's father Tom Hong was a scholar and teacher in the village of Sun Woi, near Canton. Her mother, Ying Lan, worked as a trained midwife until joining her husband in
America. Upon settling in Stockton, they operated a gambling house until Maxine was born. In fact, Maxine was named after a lucky blonde gambler. When Maxine was born, they opened a laundry, which they continued
to operate for several years.
Maxine grew up in a neighborhood filled with immigrants from her father's village. Her first language was Say Yup. This shows the close ties she had to her Chinese heritage. In
addition to working long hours in the laundry with her family, Maxine did very well. She earned eleven scholarships that helped her to attend the University of California at Berkeley. She initially planned to major in
engineering, but later switched her major to American literature. In 1962 Maxine graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree. Also in that same year she married Earl Kingston.
In 1965 she earned her teaching
certificate. She taught high school for a year in Hayward, California, before moving to Hawaii where both she and her husband taught school. From 1970 to 1977 she taught at the Mid-Pacific Institute, a private boarding
school. While teaching there she published The Woman Warrior in 1976. In 1980, she published China Men, a sequel to The Woman Warrior. In 1987, Maxine published a collection of twelve prose
works that she titled Hawaii One Summer. In 1989 she published her third book, Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book. Maxine currently is writing and teaching at UC Berkeley.
II. Literary Works
The Woman Warrior: Memories of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
deals primarily with Maxine's experiences growing up as a Chinese American woman. It is also about the stories of her mother and the other women in her family. She addresses several topics in the book. These topics range from prejudice against Chinese Americans; the struggle to find identity in two very different cultures; the struggles of the Chinese American woman; the relationships between sisters, mothers and daughters; and the relationships between women and men. Maxine intertwines legend, storytelling, lyric and narration to tell the stories about various Chinese women. This book was immediately successful and received rave reviews. It was a bestseller and was awarded the National Book Critic's Circle Award.
China Men is similar to The Woman Warrior in style. But, it tells the stories of the men in her family from their perspective. She considers these two books one big book. China Men
talks about immigrating to America, becoming a Chinese American and the difficulties and prejudice these men faced. China Men
received excellent reviews, but was a little more controversial. It too received the National Book Critic's Circle Award.
Her third book, Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, was her first novel. It was
praised by critics but viewed as slightly more controversial than her other works. The story is set in San Francisco and tells of a fifth generation Chinese American man, named Whittman Ah Sing. The book tells the story
of his struggles and the maturing of a young man. Tripmaster Monkey
is different from her first two books, demonstrating Maxine's wide range of literary style. The protagonist in the story has been compared to Mark Twain's Huck Finn and J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield. In an interview, Maxine said that unlike typical American literature, she wanted her characters to grow up and become responsible members of society. By doing this she hopes to "help us all grow up."
III. Stockton, California and Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston was born in Stockton and spent her childhood in Stockton's Chinatown. Maxine's personal history is deeply connected with that of
the Chinese Community in Stockton. Here are just a few places that you might remember from Maxine's literature that are or were located in Stockton, California:
Maxine's House:
Maxine and her family lived on Hazleton Avenue in south Stockton.
Maxine's Family Business: Remember the family laundry Maxine wrote about? The laundry was on El Dorado street where the Bank of
America is currently located.
Lafayette School: This historic public school was located on the corner of American and Church streets. It was opened in 1912 and closed in 1972. It is currently the
Edna Gleason Park.
ChungWah Chinese School: Over the years, this school for Chinese American children was located at several places in Stockton but none of those sites have the original buildings on them.
The children were taught how to write and speak Chinese at this school, once located at 131 East Church Street; classes were held from 5pm to 8pm every night and 9am to 12pm on Sundays. Maxine talks about this school
throughout The Woman Warrior.
Edison High School: Edison is still a operating high school today, located at 1425 South Center Street.
Other Places: Maxine includes several
Stockton references in her works like the Rex-all drug store and various other business in and around Stockton's Chinatown. These storefronts were located in the area surrounding Lafayette Street and where the cross-town
freeway is today, adjacent to the modern Chinatown built to replace the one destroyed for freeway construction.
IV. Works by Maxine Hong Kingston
The Woman Warrior (1976)
China Men (1980)
Through the Black Curtain (1987)
Hawaii One Summer (1987)
"The Novel's Next Step" (1989)
"The Tao is Up" (1989)
Tripmaster Monkey (1989)
Approaches to Teaching Kingston's The Woman Warrior (1991)
Conversations with Maxine Hong Kingston (1998)
Maxine's Books Are Available In Audio
To order either The Woman Warrior or China Men on audio tape please contact:
Books on Tape, B.O.T Library Edition
(1-800-626-3333)
Books on Tape
P.O. Box 7900
Newport Beach, CA 92658
And ask for book number 3865 or 3666
Also to find out more about Maxine and hear her "talking story" go to the web site
V. Questions for Maxine Hong Kingston
We were privileged to ask Maxine this question about her writing:
Why
do you write, to what extent is your writing a result of finding your "voice" as a Chinese American woman?
Her reply was the following:
Your question, why do you write? Is to me, no different from, Why do you
live? Why do you celebrate? Why do you mourn? I breathe, I eat, I sleep, I write. I also write to communicate with my fellow beings. Creating myself as an American and a Chinese American and American
culture and Chinese American culture are beneficial by-products.
If you have questions about Maxine Hong Kingston, Conversations with Maxine Hong Kingston (University of Mississippi Press, 1998) is a good reference
book. But, if you still would like send Maxine your comments and questions, she can be reached at this address:
Maxine Hong Kingston
c/o Random House Publishing
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
VI. Kingston on the Web
Click Here for a listing of Maxine Hong Kingston Websites.
VII. Sources
"Maxine Hong Kingston". UXL Biographies. UXL. 1996 <
Kareem, Nadra. "Deconstructing Sexism and Colonialism in Maxine
Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior." 25 Apr. 1998
http://www.oxy.edu/~kareem/Maxine.htm
Kingston, Maxine Hong. Questions asked via e-mail. 9-17 Feb. 1999.
Minnick, Sylvia Sun. Samfrow: San Joaquin Chinese Legacy. Fresno, CA: Heritage West Books, 1987.
This essay was submitted by students of Matthew Weeks, a
teacher at St. Mary's High School in Stockton, California. |
