The Story of These Women Will Never Be Silenced Again

Where do you believe the true intersection between East and West lies? Do you think genuine harmony between these worlds is possible, or is it destined to remain an aspiration? As a novelist, do you envision a way in which these two worlds can truly connect and enrich one another?

I think there are many intersections. Food has become international. People around the world eat Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food, while foods like hamburgers and spaghetti are now popular in the Asia. This may seem frivolous at first glance, but it points to one of the many impacts of globalization. But let’s take something deeper like emotions and relationships. In my writing I’m always considering the universality of love, hate, jealousy, envy, and so on. Similarly, we all had a mother and father somewhere along the line. Maybe you knew your parents; maybe you didn’t. Maybe your parents loved you; maybe they didn’t. But we all had them. Is this the same as politics, religious beliefs, or the love we have for our homelands? Obviously not, but they are still sources of connection that we can build on.

Many writers have spoken about receiving a vivid image of a character or a scene that ultimately inspires an entire story. Was that the case with Daughters of the Sun and Moon, or did the story itself come first, demanding to be told?

In 1897, my great-grandparents settled a stone’s throw from where the 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre began. For years – practically my entire life – I’ve wondered why they chose that particular spot to live. Why pick a place that was soaked in historic blood? My great-grandfather was Chinese. My great-grandmother was white. It was against the law for a Chinese (down to a quarter-Chinese blood) to marry a white person in California until 1948. (It was against the law in other states until 1967.) My great-grandparents sought a place where they would feel safe and their half-and-half children would be safe too. I came to believe that they chose that corner not despite what had happened there but because of what had happened there. They believed that kind of violence could never happen again. So, in many ways, what happened on the Night of Horrors is part of my family’s origin story in Los Angeles.

Many readers note that Daughters of the Sun and Moon is deeply emotional, heart-wrenching, and at times difficult to read because of the harsh historical realities of 1870s Los Angeles. What was the greatest challenge you faced while writing Daughters of the Sun and Moon?

Strangely enough, what was hardest for me was conveying what Los Angeles was like in 1870. None of us has a picture in our minds of what it was like. There are no movies or television shows set in that time. Photography was still new, so there are very few photos of early Los Angeles. We literally don’t have a visual idea of what it looked like. This is the main reason that the character of Moon tells her part of the story as an old woman of 82 years, looking back on her life from the perspective of 1926. In her first chapter, she says something along the lines of “Los Angeles was not what you think it was. There were no planes, cars, electricity, radio, or movies.” These are all things we recognize today…and also things we have seen in Hollywood movies that take place in Los Angeles. But in 1870, Los Angeles was just a tiny town of 5,000 people. It was extremely dirty and dusty. (No paved roads and only horses for transportation.) And it was extremely violent. Today, historians say that Los Angeles was the most violent of all the Wild West towns. Readers of Daughters of the Sun and Moon will be taking a giant step into a past they know almost nothing about. Get ready for lots of surprises!

There is a saying that a person continues to live as long as their name is spoken aloud. But is that enough to honor the victims of events such as the Los Angeles Chinese Massacre of 1871, sometimes referred to as the "Night of Horrors"? In a world where governments and financial circles so skillfully exploit inequality, hate crimes, and even reverse discrimination for their own purposes, what still remains in the hands of ordinary people?

The massacre was covered up for well over a century. Only in recent years have scholars written about it. For the past fifteen years or so, the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles has held a commemoration on October 24, the anniversary of the massacre, during which the names of those who died are read aloud. Next year, the ground will be broken for a memorial that will be built on the site of where the massacre began. There will be eighteen “trees” made of granite, each one to represent one of the men who was killed. I have been a part of the 1871 Memorial Project since its inception. I can now say with certainty that the names of the dead will no longer be lost or covered up. So, yes, ordinary people can bring about change if they work hard and long enough. This is especially important now, when, as you point out, there has been a rise in hate crimes, exploitation, and discrimination around the world. Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? I believe that it’s up to us—as “ordinary people”—to resist and fight back at every opportunity.

Your books often portray remarkable female resilience. At what point does mere survival become true triumph over adversity? And is there a historical woman whose story immediately comes to mind when you think of that transformation?

Your first question is really interesting to me. I understand what you’re getting at, but I would never dismiss getting through any type of adversity as “mere survival.” Surviving is a basic need, imperative, and goal for every human being. A person can be living in the depths of misery—in physical pain, under a harsh government, or suffering from mental disease or depression—and we all fight really hard—until sometimes we no longer can—to both overcome adversity and survive.

The three main characters in Daughters of the Sun and Moon were inspired by four real women. Dove was inspired by a fifteen-year-old girl who was brought to Los Angeles in an arranged marriage to a much older man who was repeatedly described in the press as being “hideously ugly.” She wasn’t here for very long before she was kidnapped and held captive for many months. Moon was inspired by the real wife of Dr. Chee Long “Gene” Tong. And Petal was inspired by two women who were sold by their families in China, brought to America against their will, taken to an auction house, stripped naked, and sold into prostitution to the highest bidder. Petal is who I’d like to focus on to answer your question. The story takes place after the American Civil War. Slavery had been outlawed and was in our Constitution. There was one exception, however, and that had to do with the sale and ownership of Chinese women in the state of California. From the moment the two women who are the inspiration for Petal arrived here, they did everything they could to escape and find freedom. It’s not giving too much away to say that in the novel Petal escapes a couple of times. Everything that happens to her—every detail—happened to those two real women. They were knocked down, arrested, beaten, and tortured, but they would just get back up again. They persisted against all odds. My life is completely different from theirs, and yet they continue to inspire me with their courage, endurance, and persistence.

In your books, we encounter many Eastern women whose spirit is unbreakable and whose strength of will seems limitless. Do you believe that Eastern culture itself carries certain values or messages that help women face life's challenges in a way that differs from the approach we often see in the West?

Maybe, in the sense that women and girls historically had no value in China. Just this morning I was reading about the impact Confucious’ saying An educated woman is a worthless woman has had across the millennia of Chinese history. If women couldn’t be educated, how could they know about other brave women, about the details of war and politics, about their own history? Empowerment comes from education and acquired knowledge. But this isn’t unique to China. We can look at every country around the world and see that women have suffered, persisted, and have often triumphed over their circumstances. Women have sought help and comfort from religion and faith. They’ve also found the courage to be brave for themselves and their families. The approaches may seem different on the surface, but I believe that the courage and persistence of women—even in the most difficult circumstances—is universal.

Your books enjoy remarkable popularity in Bulgaria. Lady Tan's Circle of Women features a female physician living in imperial China, while The Island of Sea Women centers on the haenyeo, an all-female free-diving community where women dive for seafood without oxygen tanks while men stay at home to care for the children. What did you bring back with you from these worlds and eras after finishing those books?

This is so lovely to know. Thank you to all the readers in Bulgaria! You’ve made me very happy. 

I have always been inspired by history that’s been lost, forgotten, or deliberately covered up. When I find a piece of women’s history that people don’t know about, I want to honor and celebrate it. Every single one of us—men and women, some of whom might be reading this interview right now—is here today because of the women who came before us. I’m talking about mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts. We stand on their shoulders. We are here right now because of them. I think about those women every day. They inspire me every morning when I wake up, when I cook meals for my family, when I sit down to write, and when I go to bed at the end of the day.

Which book do you wish you had written yourself? And what was the last book that truly impressed you?

Hmmm… There are many books that I treasure, but I don’t wish I’d written them. What I enjoy most about a book is a writer’s unique voice and style. A book is the product of one mind and one view of art, after all.

If I may, I’d like to rephrase your question to ask which book do I wish I could rewrite? I’ve always thought it would be interesting to read Anna Karenina from a woman’s perspective and from Anna’s point of view.

The last book that truly impressed me is Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. The plot is great, the characters are memorable, the setting is intriguing, and the background premise—saving the international seed bank from rising waters caused by climate change—is not just relevant but essential to planetary life.

Interview by Vladimir Tsankov