Also unlike most/all of your responses thus far, I am considered (I think?) 2nd generation, meaning that I was born here, but my parents were immigrants. (Specifically Chinese ancestry.)
If we were mixed in some fashion, it wouldn't surprise me as I've wondered if we are as "pure" Chinese as families tend to like to believe and perpetuate. Even if my own direct lineage is technically "pure" Chinese (which essentially means, for us, "Han" Chinese) at least say 6-10 generations which I think isn't perfectly likely, I wouldn't be surprised if my cousins and extended family may have had some issues.
Separately, one of your friends commented on the family history of children by rape (incest, or other). On my maternal side, I apparently originally had more than 10 aunts (all girls in that side). Only 3 (including my mother) survived World War II. My parents (and their families) were trapped separately (not yet having met), during the various Japanese occupations over there. They have never discussed what happened during their childhoods, but their hatred and and venom remains to this day, though somewhat muted due to age. Not sure if there's a clear term in English (or at least in the U.S.), though I can respect the origins of my parents' anti-Japanese sentiments. The hate remains between our two groups, even if seemingly ignored, denied, or easily dismissed by other groups. (And though raised here in this country with very little direct contact with Japanese at all, I've actually experienced a few, rare times direct, if brief anti-Chinese discrimination from Japanese; separately, I've noted also very distinct "evil eyes" of Japanese towards others, Chinese, or Koreans etc. These were notable exceptions and not typical, yet not unexpected by me altogether.)
Separate from war and PTSD, there's also a lot of behavior patterns which my parents and extended family (at least the ones I've met) seem to perpetuate. Whatever the origins, and whether WWII was it or not, there's a lot of ugliness that has continued through the family. Though not formally diagnosed, I am suspecting a tremendous amount of mental illness historically. I'm sure there are a lot of skeletons in our closet, but unless I learn to speak Chinese fluently and pick up the sociocultural nuances, I'm never going to know more than I do now.
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my own geneaology; thoughts
Date: 2008-02-09 04:27 pm (UTC)If we were mixed in some fashion, it wouldn't surprise me as I've wondered if we are as "pure" Chinese as families tend to like to believe and perpetuate. Even if my own direct lineage is technically "pure" Chinese (which essentially means, for us, "Han" Chinese) at least say 6-10 generations which I think isn't perfectly likely, I wouldn't be surprised if my cousins and extended family may have had some issues.
Separately, one of your friends commented on the family history of children by rape (incest, or other). On my maternal side, I apparently originally had more than 10 aunts (all girls in that side). Only 3 (including my mother) survived World War II. My parents (and their families) were trapped separately (not yet having met), during the various Japanese occupations over there. They have never discussed what happened during their childhoods, but their hatred and and venom remains to this day, though somewhat muted due to age. Not sure if there's a clear term in English (or at least in the U.S.), though I can respect the origins of my parents' anti-Japanese sentiments. The hate remains between our two groups, even if seemingly ignored, denied, or easily dismissed by other groups. (And though raised here in this country with very little direct contact with Japanese at all, I've actually experienced a few, rare times direct, if brief anti-Chinese discrimination from Japanese; separately, I've noted also very distinct "evil eyes" of Japanese towards others, Chinese, or Koreans etc. These were notable exceptions and not typical, yet not unexpected by me altogether.)
Separate from war and PTSD, there's also a lot of behavior patterns which my parents and extended family (at least the ones I've met) seem to perpetuate. Whatever the origins, and whether WWII was it or not, there's a lot of ugliness that has continued through the family. Though not formally diagnosed, I am suspecting a tremendous amount of mental illness historically. I'm sure there are a lot of skeletons in our closet, but unless I learn to speak Chinese fluently and pick up the sociocultural nuances, I'm never going to know more than I do now.