The Chinese Lady

Afong Moy in Early America

Nancy E. Davis (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

344 Seiten

2022
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-758198-8 (ISBN)

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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.

In 1834, a young Chinese woman named Afong Moy arrived in America, her bound feet stepping ashore in New York City. She was both a prized guest and advertisement for a merchant firm--a promotional curiosity used to peddle exotic wares from the East. Over the next few years, she would shape Americans' impressions of China even as she assisted her merchant sponsors in selling the largest quantities of Chinese goods yet imported for the burgeoning American market.

Americans views of the exotic Far East in this early period before Chinese immigration were less critical than they would later become. Afong Moy became a subject of poetry, a trendsetter for hair styles and new fashions, and a lucky name for winning racehorses. She met Americans face to face in cities and towns across the country, appearing on local stages to sell and to entertain. Yet she also moved in high society, and was the first Chinese guest to be welcomed to the White House.

However, this success was not to last. As her novelty wore off, Afong Moy was cast aside by her managers. Though concerned public citizens rallied in support, her fame dwindled and she spent several years in a New Jersey almshouse. In the late 1840s, P.T. Barnum offered Afong Moy several years of promising renewal as the compatriot of Tom Thumb, yet this stint too was short-lived. In this first biography, Nancy E. Davis sheds light on the mystery of Afong Moy's life as a Chinese woman living in a foreign land.

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.

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

Erscheinungsdatum	14.02.2022
Zusatzinfo	50 b/w halftones
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	237 x 156 mm
Gewicht	508 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	0-19-758198-6 / 0197581986
ISBN-13	978-0-19-758198-8 / 9780197581988
Zustand	Neuware