1. An Introduction to The Joy Luck Club
Fig. 1 Amy Tan, author (thefamouspeople.com)

2. A Little About the Author
Amy Tan’s Chinese name is An-mei.
means "Blessing from America”
Born in 1952 in Oakland, CA
middle child and only daughter
Her parents John and Daisy immigrated from China in the late 1940s.
two sons — Peter and John

3. “American Circumstances and Chinese Character”
Although the parents rarely socialized with their neighbors, Amy and her brothers tried hard to fit into American society.
Tan was deeply unhappy with her Asian appearance and heritage.

4. Unhappy Amy
Only Chinese girl in her class from the third grade until she graduated high school
Frustrated, isolated, ashamed
slept with a clothespin on her nose, hoping to slim its shape
Rejected her Chinese culture as a teenager
Cultural assimilation: a process by which members of an ethnic minority group lose cultural characteristics that distinguish them from the dominant cultural group or take on the cultural characteristics of another group.

5. Parental Expectations, Losses, and Life
High expectations for success
When Tan was 15, her brother and her father each died of brain tumors within the same year.
Moved to Montreux, Switzerland
She rebelled by doing a lot of crazy things; they returned to the U.S. a year later.
Her mother tried to control her university education, but Tan continued to rebel in different ways, including changing her major from pre-med to English and linguistics.

6. Life Successes
Although she had experienced difficulty in finding a path, eventually, Tan’s business writing became so successful that she bought her mother a house.
In 1986, Tan's mother was hospitalized after a heart attack.
"I decided that if my mother was okay, I'd get to know her. I'd take her to China, and I'd write a book."

7. Inspiration
Tan wrote a short story, "Endgame," about a brilliant, young chess champion who has a difficult relationship with her overprotective Chinese mother.
Tan expanded the story into a collection, and it was sold to the prestigious publisher G.P. Putnam.
Published in 1989, The Joy Luck Club has received universal acclaim

8. The Joy Luck Club
Because there is much focus on the mothers’ lives in the novel, it’s important to understand a little about modern Chinese history, a time marked by violent social, political, and economic upheaval.

9. China

10. Changes Frustrated with Manchu rule, the Chinese rebelled.
1912: Sun Yat-sen stepped down as president, and General Yuan Shih-k'ai was elected the first president of the Republic of China.
The Chinese Republic maintained a fragile hold on the country until 1949.
Sun Yat-sen
Gen. Yuan Shih-k’ai

11. Japan, China, and WWI 1915: Japan sought to conquer China.
"Twenty-one Demands"
reduced China to a Japanese territory
China agreed to many of the demands, including the transfer of some land to Japan.
China's entered the war in 1917.
Leaders fully expected America to support China against Japan, but they were mistaken.

12. To simplify the situation…
At Versailles, President Wilson withheld America's support for China's restoration of independence.
Viewed as betrayal
Turned to communist ideals
President Wilson

13. The Chinese Communist Party was formed in 1921
The Chinese Communist Party was formed in Among its original members was Mao Zedong.
Mao Zedong
Chairman Mao

14. Two years later, the Communists helped Sun Yat-sen reorganize the crumbling Kuomintang.

15. In 1926, the strengthened Kuomintang, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, tried to unify China under Kuomintang rule and rid the country of warlords and imperialists.
Chiang Kai-shek

16. Chiang purged the Communists and relied increasingly on foreign intervention.
In 1928, he established a new government, but his rule was unstable. He failed to unify the country, and the Communists soon began to marshal the opposition.

17. Mao Zedong rallied the peasants and set up opposition governments.
Increasing Japanese aggression chipped away from the North and Manchuria.

18. In 1931, the Japanese exerted their control throughout Manchuria
In 1931, the Japanese exerted their control throughout Manchuria. The Communists fought their way across the country.
In 1937, the Kuomintang formed a united front with the Communists against the Japanese.

19. In 1937, Japan and China plunged into war
In 1937, Japan and China plunged into war. World War II saw a serious erosion of power for the Kuomintang, while the Communists expanded their membership, military force, and territory.

20. The Kuomintang was split into factions
The Kuomintang was split into factions. Severe inflation, official corruption, and loss of morale further weakened the government. Meanwhile, the Communists continued to build strength.

21. In 1945, the former USSR declared war on Japan and armed the Chinese communists. Shortly after Japan surrendered, tension between the Communists and Kuomintang erupted. The U.S. tried to mediate but failed.

22. In 1949, the Communists seized control and established the People's Republic of China. Mao Zedong became the head of state.

23. In 1954, Communism became law, and China began the transformation to a socialist society. Through extensive Marxist-Leninist propaganda, people were reeducated.
Women were assured equal rights with respect to employment, property ownership, and divorce. Religion was controlled and missionaries were expelled. These changes were achieved through terror.

24. Between 1949 and 1952, more than two million "counterrevolutionaries" were executed.

25. So what?
The Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters each have different life experiences, enduring hardships of their own.
These hardships help the families understand each other.
Each of the four sections is tied together by emotional themes:
1: sacrifice and loss (mothers); 2 and 3: childhood memories (daughters); 4: the power of love and hope

26. To be precise…
The Joy Luck Club is about the power of storytelling between generations: to know your family’s past is to know yourself, and with that knowledge, you are free to shape your own destiny.