The Jade Peony

The first-generation Chinese-Canadian characters in The Jade Peony occupy a liminal space; they are caught between loyalty to their ancestral homes and traditions, which are very much still alive and maintained by their community, and the desire and mandate to make themselves accepted by white-dominated, Western Canadian society. 

This theme is developed by each child’s narration, in a particular way. In Part 1, we see this theme expressed through Liang’s infatuation with Shirley Temple. Liang wishes to replace her Chinese features with Shirley Temple’s idealized white ones, so that she can achieve the acceptance and belonging that are withheld from her both because she is Chinese and because she is a girl. However, she is also staunchly loyal to the myths and folklore of Old China, brought to her by Poh-Poh and Wong Suk. Jung, for his part, yearns to serve the military of a country that views him as a resident alien. Caught up in the zeitgeist against the Nazis and the nationalistic propaganda of both China and Canada, Jung cannot fully see that the country that would gladly send him to war and sacrifice his life does not actually love or hold a place for him because he is Chinese.