Jurgensmeier 1 Michael Jurgensmeier Research Paper Ethnic Lit. Dr.

Wrede 4/18/12

Ghost on the Gold Mountain: The role of fear, uncertainty and tradition in the minds of Chinese immigrants as portrayed in Maxine Hong Kingstons novel The Woman Warrior.

The role of ghosts in Maxine Hong Kingstons novel, The Woman Warrior, has created a considerable amount of debate over what Kingston is referring to when she mentions ghosts and their role in her novel and the role of ghosts regarding the struggle of Chinese immigrants in America. While western folklore and urban myth, specifically American, labels ghosts as the soul of a deceased person still existing in the physical world in a spiritual manner, the role of ghosts in Eastern, specifically Chinese, culture is similar in some aspects, yet noticeably different in others. By using the concept of ghosts in the Chinese culture, Kingston is able to describe several representative themes encountered when writing about Chinese immigrants, such as coming to terms with the life left behind in China and accepting a new life in America, the fear and anxiety of the first impression of American culture and the conflict of adjusting to a new culture while still having that desire to maintain a former culture. In The Woman Warrior, the role of ghosts is a reference to not only the traditional spiritual ghost common in

Jurgensmeier 2 western culture, but also the Chinese Immigrants fear of the unknown manifesting itself in people and in places in a foreign land. Although it may not seem obvious, Kingston presents the concept of ghosts at the beginning of the novel in the first story titled, No Name Woman. The story of No Name Woman is centered on, what is assumed by the reader as, Kingstons aunt and is set in China before Kingston had been born and her family had made the journey to America. Impregnated out of wedlock, Kingstons aunt, and eventually the entire family, quickly becomes the subject of dishonor among her village when news of the pregnancy is made known. Motivated by cultural superstition, possibly even religious factors, among many other physical factors, the most obvious of which is the fact the village is low on food and is faced with the possibility of starvation, the village responds to the news of the pregnancy by violently robbing her family of their food and belongings. Robbed and shunned Kingstons family berates, places blame and ultimately curses the day Kingstons aunt was born. Shortly after her village and family have turned their backs on her she goes into labor. Once again motivated by cultural superstations, and perhaps religious factors, Kingstons aunt delivers the child alone in a pig-pen because of her belief in jealous, pain dealing gods who didnt steal piglets (Kingston 15). After the childs birth the new mother finds herself alone, heart-broken and filled with shame and anger. At the end of the story Kingstons aunt murders her newborn baby and commits suicide by jumping into the villages drinking well thereby exacting her revenge on the village and her family by contaminating the villages drinking water with the corpses of her newborn child and herself. (Kingston 3-16) The story of No Name Woman is summarized in this paper because although it may not seem peculiar to a western reader, there are several themes and aspects of this story that have a completely different meaning in Chinese culture. To an American audience the story of No Name Woman may come across as a horrible, albeit sad tale. Whats interesting is the notion that much is being missed by an

Jurgensmeier 3 audience unfamiliar with Chinese traditions and folklore. In Chinese culture the image of a woman shunned, unwed, giving birth alone, murdering her newborn child and committing suicide without a proper earth burial has several Chinese connotations that must be addressed to fully grasp what Kingston is attempting to share with her audience as well as placing some understanding in the identity of ghosts in her text. Surprisingly, family history and a persons ancestors play a larger role in Chinese culture than that of American culture. According to Dr. Stephan Feuchtwang, a professor of world religions and the author of Religion and Society: Anthropology of Religion, Charisma and Ghosts: Chinese Lessons for Adequate Theory, the role of ancestors, family name and history is of such importance that is arguably the cornerstone of Chinese society. In fact, this respect, almost worship, of ancestors dates back literally thousands of years. Feuchtwang writes, Chinese society during the Han period could be described as a lineage society, as seen in the lineage enterprises in life and the lineage burials at death. Officials in the Han Dynasty extolled the filial principles and ceremonial regulations of the Confucian tradition: while the parents are alive, one serves them ritually, and when dead, one also serves them with proper ritual. (Feuchtwang 168) What Dr. Feuchtwang is basically saying is that although a family member or ancestor has died, the deceased still have a voice in family matters when it comes to being accepted by society. Often, if a person comes from an honorable family with a long line of notable ancestors that can date back thousands of years, that person is privileged in society. On the other hand, if a person is born into a family with a dark, or dishonorable past, that person will be expected to deal with the consequences and will rate lower on a the social scale. Obviously Kingstons family seems to have landed in the shallow end of the ancestral pool with the suicide of her aunt. The dark shadow of her aunts memory seems to literally haunt her family as it stressed to Kingston that she never discuss her aunt around her father. Her mother goes so far as to say

Jurgensmeier 4 that Kingston shouldnt even bring up the fact that her father had a sister who died. Kingston gives her readers the impression that her father has no interest in having a sister and in return her readers make the assumption it is because of the horrifying nature of her death, not so much the notion that her death could be viewed as a bad omen cursing her family. When a person considers the role of gossip and story-telling in Kingstons novel, the suicide and death of Kingstons aunt is the kind of story so captivating, mysterious and taboo that its difficult to understand why Kingstons mother, Brave Orchid wouldnt discuss it more. It seems likely that the death of Kingstons aunt is not discussed or acknowledged not because of the emotionally painful nature of her death, but rather what death represents in Chinese culture. Besides, if a literal interpretation of the Dr. Feuchtwangs book is any indication of Chinese tradition, the fact that Kingstons aunt also murdered her newborn infant, the shamed womans only heir, along with her than there is no one to continue the aunts branch of the family. Kingstons aunt is no ones ancestor, so in a way she doesnt exist in the eyes of Chinese tradition. The theme of no longer existing in Chinese tradition and culture is a reoccurring theme in Chinese-American literature and The Woman Warrior is no exception. Throughout the novel there seems to be this internal struggle with almost every character as they attempt to adjust to American life while still trying, and eventually failing, to hold onto the lifestyle they left behind. Brave Orchid is a great example. Brave Orchid was a trained doctor in China. In America she is the wife of a laundry shop owner. In China she led a certain lifestyle with priorities separate from those she found herself practicing in America. In America Brave Orchid forgets who she is, finds herself working nonstop simply to survive and constantly trying in vain to relate to her children who are becoming Americanized. Much like Kingstons aunt in No Name Woman, Brave Orchids Chinese heritage and ancestral history and standing has died in America. It seems the ghost of Kingstons aunt has cleverly exacted more revenge upon her former family.

Jurgensmeier 5 A more concrete example of a type of Ghost from Chinese folklore is the Chiang Shih. Author and ghost enthusiast, Rosemary Ellen Guiley describes this ghost in her second edition of The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. According to Guiley a Chiang Shih is a Chinese, angered demonghost that is trapped in the physical world because it wasnt given a proper burial and as a result spends eternity haunting travelers because the Chiang Shih itself is a traveler on a journey to the afterworld. It is a journey the Chiang Shih will never finish and as a result chaos ensues. (Guilley 74)Again, the Chiang Shih is another example of the type of spirit that would haunt Kingstons family, considering Kingstons aunt who was never buried and died in a well and ultimately it could be a metaphor for the struggle of all Chinese immigrants who leave their former world behind without a proper burial. The most peculiar mention of ghosts in The Woman Warrior is from the story titled, At the Western Palace. At the Western Palace is a story about Brave Orchid sister, Moon Orchid making the trip to America from China in an attempt to start a new life with her husband who left her in China decades earlier and has since remarried. Moon Orchid seems to have all these expectations about her new life only to have her dreams crushed when she realizes her husband no longer wants her and America becomes a very scary place for her. Eventually Moon Orchid begins to have delusions about what she refers to as Mexican ghosts whom she thinks are plotting against her. The Mexican ghosts are, of course, simply Mexicans going about their lives. Once again, after doing some research on Chinese culture this behavior can also be explained. Author Yuan Ju gives the following definition of ghosts in his book, Rethinking Ghosts in World Religions, Ghosts are unwanted reminders. Ghosts are traces of repressed desires. Ghosts are discarded dreams. Tied to a place. Ephemeral but also eternal. (Yuan-Ju 272) It seems when Moon Orchid had been denied by her husband and was overcome with grief the vision of her future in America was destroyed and the dreams she had had in her journey to America from China became nightmares and all that she feared became just that, ghosts.

Jurgensmeier 6 Kingston has shared with the world an interesting take on the traditional ghost story. Although her story isnt the kind of traditional sort of scary that is familiar with what Americans view as a ghost story, it is certainly a ghost story. While ghosts may represent the struggle, history and fear in the hearts of Chinese immigrants attempting to adjust and start a new life in America in The Woman Warrior, questions still remain. Why do so many cultures share ghost stories? What is their appeal? What are ghosts? Write and folklore educator Jeanine Banks Thomas gives excellent answers to all those questions in her book titled Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. She explains telling a ghost story marks events that do not square with a narrators knowledge of the ordinaryThat ghost stories are still frequently told indicates that understanding all the events of everyday life can be difficult, elusive, indefinite and sometimes impossibleI say that the DNA each of us carries in our bodies makes us all ghosts. That is, we imagine them as ethereal forms and as those whove died before us and not as those of us who are alive today. However, our DNA makes us, in part, the ghosts of our ancestors. We embody scraps, fragments and glimmers of our forebears. We are shadows of who they were. (Thomas 25-30)

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Works Cited Kingston, M H. The woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. New Yrok City, NY: Vintage , 1976. 15. Print. Feuchtwang, Stephan. Religion and Society : Anthropology of Religion, Charisma and Ghosts : Chinese Lessons for Adequate Theory. Berlin, DEU: Walter de Gruyter, 2010 Guilley, R E . The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. 2nd. New Yrok City, NY: Checkmark Books, 2000. 74. Print. Numen Book Series, Volume 123 : Rethinking Ghosts in World Religions . Boston, MA, USA: Brill Academic Publishers, 2009. p 272. Thomas, J B . Haunting Experiences:Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. Logan, Utah: Utah State Press, 2007. 25-30. Print.

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