The Art of Chinese Parenting

The Art of Chinese Parenting

It’s difficult not to look around prestigious college campuses in this day and age and not acknowledge the huge Asian presence. Before reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” by Amy Chua, I was tempted to believe that Asians were a super-race with more developed brains and naturally higher IQs. However, it’s now clear that the success lies behind the parenting. Asian academic achievement is 20% talent, 80% sweat and tears.

“$#!* Asian Mothers Say” is a new Youtube sensation chronicling the wise words of Asian mothers everywhere, including the phrases, “You so stupid!” and “B?! B is for….!” --Well, you get the picture. Chinese parents “assume strength, not fragility” Chua tells us in her article. As a result, she expects more of her daughters: “straight A’s in school, fluency in Chinese, and extreme discipline in the pursuit of their music lessons” (Tiger, Tiger, All Too Bright).

A high value is put upon upholding the family honor, especially when it comes to academics almost every source tells us. In the Disney animated movie Mulan, the Fa daughter, Mulan goes to meet a match maker and sings an entire song about the honor she hopes to bring to her family with her charm and poise. When her date with the match-maker goes horrifically and the woman pronounces her to be completely impossible marriage material, Mulan feels deep shame for having brought dishonor to her beloved family. In The Joy Luck Club, Lindo Jong boasts openly in the streets of San Francisco, introducing her daughter as the chess champion of Chinatown. Her daughter Waverly’s excellent chess skills are meant to reflect back on Lindo’s mothering ability, so she flaunts her daughter until Waverly can no longer stand it. Christine Rosen tells us in “Tiger, Tiger, All Too Bright” that the Yale professor Amy Chua’s relentless pushing of her daughters Sophia and Lulu tells much more about her own insecurities: that she is no more than a...