Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco (47 page)

Many more women converged on Oakland Airport on April z6, 1939,
to welcome Lee Ya Ching as she piloted her plane in from San Diego.
Trained in Geneva, Switzerland, and Oakland, China's foremost female
aviator had once starred in movies and worked as a copilot for Southwestern Airlines in China. Prior to returning to the United States on a
national tour to solicit aid for war relief, she taught aviation in Hong
Kong, piloted a government plane around China to interest young men
in aviation, and organized nursing schools and refugee camps in Shang-
hai.75 Like the aviator Katherine Cheung, who had in 1936 won the admiration of the Chinese community with her daring acrobatic skills and
commitment to serve China through aviation, Lee Ya Ching impressed
audiences with her aerial displays and stirring speeches on women's role
in the War of Resistance:

There might have been a time when it was all right for women to let their
men go out and defend them and their homes. But men can't defend
women and homes from bombs out of the sky. Since we risk as much by
doing nothing, we prefer to become soldiers and fight for our country.74

As one reporter remarked, "She not only brings glory to China's Air
Force but she does likewise for all Chinese women."75

Every Chinese woman was thrilled about Madame Chiang's visit to
San Francisco in March 1943 as part of a nationwide speaking tour to
foster support for China. They were proud of the intelligent and dignified manner in which she had represented China to Congress and the
rest of America, and they were also inspired by her personal charisma
and fearless leadership as China's first lady and foremost ambassador of
goodwill. Two years before, the various women's organizations involved
in war work had joined efforts to send her a scroll of appreciation for
her "service to China and the Chinese people."76 During this six-day
visit in San Francisco, however, they rolled out the red carpet for her.
They assisted the CWRA in arranging all the particulars, greeted her at
the port when she arrived, marched in the grand parades held in her
honor, and attended all her public appearances and speeches.77 In recognition of their contributions to the war effort, Madame Chiang held a private audience with representatives of the six key women's organizations at the Palace Hotel before she left for Los Angeles, at which time
she thanked them for the warm reception she had received in San Francisco and reminded them to uphold the principles of the New Life
Movement in their daily lives. Only in this way, she said, would racial
discrimination against the Chinese be lessened. She further stressed
women's important role in teaching their children Chinese language and
culture, grooming their daughters for the betterment of family and community life, and promoting goodwill among Westerners.78

The fact that the Chinese government chose to send Dr. Wu Yifang,
principal of Ginling Women's College and the only woman among nine
delegates, to represent China at the founding meeting of the United
Nations was a source of pride for the Chinese American community, especially since Russia, known for its strong stance on gender equality, had
sent only men.79 The reception held in Dr. Wu's honor at the Chinese
YWCA in 1945 was as much a tribute to her as a celebration of the enhanced status of Chinese women due to their contributions in war work.
As Dr. Wu had said over a decade before, "Progress of a nation is relatively dependent upon the progress of its women. China is going
through a transition that is not yet completed, but one that eventually
will mean a new China."10 Six women, representing each of the six key
Chinese women's organizations, walked in with Dr. Wu at the beginning of the program and sat with her on stage. In her speech that day,
Dr. Wu acknowledged "the immense contributions that women have
made to the War of Resistance and now to the peace effort after the war."
Taking note of how smoothly the program went, one reporter commented, "This well-organized event is indeed a good example of the
ability of our women's groups to work together."al

In sum, as with previous national crises in China, the War of Resistance called for the contribution of every man and woman not only in
China but also overseas. Women in China, in shouldering guns at the
battlefront, administering to the wounded, devoting themselves to
wartime propaganda, contributing to production, and maintaining their
homes and neighborhoods, more than proved their mettle. The result,
the aviator Lee Ya Ching pointed out, was that "Chinese women who
wouldn't have broken from tradition for another century perhaps are
thinking and acting for themselves, in the great national emergency...
Naturally, you can't liberate a mind and then expect it to go back behind deadening prison walls."82 Likewise, Chinese women in the United
States were moved to action, participating in many new avenues of po litical involvement, although still in gender-specific ways and in subordinate roles to men. In the process, they too proved their worth and elevated their status in the community. As one reporter noted on the occasion of Women's Day in 1945:

At the welcoming reception for Dr. Wu Yifang. From left to right: Mickey
Fong Lee, Chinese YWCA; Mrs. Kwock Chang Lien, Women's Patriotic
Club; Mrs. Jue Jun Yew, New Life Association; Mrs. Chan Gum, Women's
Council; Nellie Tom Quock, reception chair; Dr. Wu Yifang; May Chan,
Fidelis Coteri; Jessie Dong, Square and Circle Club; and Jane Kwong Lee,
translator. (Courtesy of Chinese YWCA, San Francisco)

After the War of Resistance started, because of the efforts of overseas
Chinese in national salvation work, the overseas Chinese women's movement has taken off with remarkable speed. Women's organizations have
formed and earned good marks for their fundraising and war relief work.
In addition, women's thinking has progressed. They have joined the men
in national salvation work. They understand that only by liberating the
people can the women's liberation movement have a bright future.83

America's entry into the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor would
give Chinese women further cause to express their patriotism and find
places for themselves in the public arena; only this time they would be
in step with mainstream society.

The All-American War Effort: 194 1

All of America was stunned on the morning of December 7, 11941, when 353 Japanese bombers and fighters swooped over
Pearl Harbor, breaking the backbone of the country's Pacific Fleet during a two-hour preemptive strike. President Roosevelt declared war on
Japan and the Axis powers within twenty-four hours of the attack, thus
ending the debate on whether the United States should enter the war
once and for all. America's entry into World War II was the turning point
for both the Allies and the country's economic slump. Almost overnight,
the United States turned its full attention to war production, supplying
the Soviet Union and Britain with much-needed military equipment and
supplies to fight the Nazis. As the Soviet army finally succeeded in driving Hitler's army out of Eastern Europe after a series of savage and
bloody battles, Americans joined forces with the British, successfully
pushing the German army out of Northern Africa, Sicily, Italy, and
France. In May 1945, the Allies took Berlin, Hitler committed suicide,
and the Nazi regime was toppled. Attention then was focused on the
war in the Pacific, where the U.S. Navy had been waging an "islandhopping" offensive to prepare for a full-scale invasion of Japan. America's use of its newly developed atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August
6, 1945, and on Nagasaki three days later (before giving Japan a chance
to surrender) finally brought Japan to its knees and ended World War II.

On the home front, the war accomplished what the New Deal had
failed to do-bring about economic recovery. Massive government
deficit spending in war production resulted in a boom economy for the
country. The GNP rose from $125 billion in 1941 to $21z billion in
1945; total output of manufactured goods increased 300 percent between 1940 and 1944; and government expenditures soared from a mere
$11 billion in 1939 to $117 billion in 1945. As thousands of men were
sent to the battlefront, a labor shortage occurred in the expanded war
economy. Wages increased 44 percent in four years, and jobs in the war
industries and in the private sector opened up for both women and racial
minorities. Swept up by the tide of patriotism in the face of a national
crisis, Americans across the country bought war bonds, cooperated with
war production and rationing, and volunteered for civil defense and Red
Cross work.

Chinese Americans, although deeply immersed in a nationalist movement to resist Japanese aggression in China, were as shocked as other Americans by Japan's bold move at Pearl Harbor. Lonnie Quan, who
was living in San Francisco Chinatown at the time of the attack, recalled
that "day of infamy":

I remember December 7th so clearly. I was living at Gum Moon Residence Club on Washington Street. It was Sunday. I didn't have a radio
in the room. I didn't know what was going on. And my date came to
take me out, and he said, "This is it." And I didn't know what he was
talking about. He said, "President Roosevelt declared war. Pearl Harbor
was attacked." I was shocked. I think everybody was in a state of shock
for a few weeks. I remember going to work in a restaurant, Cathay House.
And everybody was just kind of glued to the radio. And for the next few
weeks, it seemed like everything was at a standstill.84

Whereas Japanese Americans were seen as enemy aliens, stripped of their
civil rights, and herded into concentration camps for the duration of the
war, the mass media promoted Chinese Americans, along with Filipino,
Korean, and Asian Indian Americans, as valiant allies and loyal sons and
daughters of Uncle Sam.85 Chinese Americans, fearful of being mistaken
for Japanese, displayed signs in their windows announcing, "This is a
Chinese Shop," wore buttons that read "I am Chinese," or carried
identification cards signed by the Chinese consul general.86 Social attitudes toward Chinese Americans changed overnight. Once considered
immoral, unclean, and a threat to the American way of life, they were
now depicted as good, honest, hardworking Americans. According to
Helen Pon Onyett, who had experienced discrimination living in Waterbury, Connecticut, up to the time of the war:

Really at that time, even being second generation, it was a little bit difficult being in the minority. You weren't really a part of things. Then when
World War II happened, everyone couldn't do enough for China. And
Madame Chiang Kai-shek came and provoked a lot of sympathy and
everyone started feeling, we are Americans and we should support
China. And I could feel the reaction toward me. We were the only Chinese family in town, and their reaction toward us was really a turnabout.87

The overwhelmingly positive response to Madame Chiang Kai-shek's
visit in 1943 was indicative of mainstream America's new attitude regarding China and Chinese Americans. Educated at Wellesley College
and an accomplished orator who spoke impeccable English, Madame
Chiang addressed Congress with an eloquent but forceful speech on behalf of China's war effort. "The U.S. Senate is not in the habit of rising
to its feet to applaud," wrote a reporter in Time. "For Madame Chiang
it rose and thundered."88 She spoke as an equal, subtly condemning the United States for its lack of support in the last five and a half years
of war. However important Hitler might be, she pointed out, the United
States must act now and join China's fight, or lose the possibility of creating a world democracy.89 When she finished, one grizzled congressman was heard muttering, "Goddam it, I never saw anything like it.
Madame Chiang had me on the verge of bursting into tears. "90 She made
a similar impact on the thousands of Americans who came out to welcome her in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Her dignified presence shattered the stereotyped image of China
as a weak, backward nation and of Chinese women as exotic porcelain
dolls. Representing China, now America's ally, she was, in the words of
one Chinese American reporter, "A lady of tact and charm, as well as
courage and intelligence. A lady who speaks for and is symbolic of a great
people."91 It was partly thanks to her efforts that the Chinese exclusion
laws were repealed: as she indicated to several key congressmen at a dinner party on May 15, repeal would give a good boost to Chinese
morale.92