The Girl from Purple Mountain: Love, Honor, War, and One Family's Journey from China to America

by May-lee Chai, Winberg Chai

A family memoir set against the shifting tides of twentieth-century China, The Girl from Purple Mountain begins with a the Chai family matriarch, Ruth Mei-en Tsao Chai, dies unexpectedly and her grieving husband discovers that she had secretly arranged to be buried alone―rather than in the shared plots they had purchased together years ago.

For many years, Ruth's family remained shocked by her decision and could not begin to fathom her motivations. Over time, they would fully understand her extraordinary story. Ruth was born in China at the beginning of the 20th century, during the reign of the last emperor. Educated by American missionaries, she was one of the first women admitted into a Chinese university, during an era when most Chinese women were illiterate and had bound feet. She would defy tradition and refuse to marry the man her family had chosen for her, instead choosing his younger brother as her husband. Later, as the Japanese Army advanced across China during World War II, her foresight and quick thinking kept her family alive as she, her husband, and their three sons were forced to flee from city to city. In war-torn Chungking, she was Lady Mountbatten's interpreter as the Allies struggled to help China. After the war, the Chais immigrated to the U.S. to what seemed, until Ruth's death, a happier and more peaceful life.

In this extraordinary family epic, Ruth's first-born son, Winberg, and his daughter May-lee explore family history to reconstruct her life as they seek to understand her fateful decision. As Winberg "It is my duty to try to understand my mother, to seek answers. To ignore the past is too much like forgetting . . . I hope my memories are enough to fulfill a son's obligations."

Genres: China, Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Asian American

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jon Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

A marvelous story of a Chinese family’s migration to the United States, this autobiographical account especially interested me because one of the brothers was my employer and mentor for many years. Told by the eldest son, Winberg, and his daughter, May-lee, the account portrays Chu and Ruth Chai, extraordinary scholars who became Christian, studied in the United States from 1928 to 1932, and returned to China to live through the Japanese occupation, the birth of the Republic of China under Sun Yat-Sen, and the civil war between Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Chairman Mao Tse-tung. Winberg came to study in the U.S. in 1951, eventually followed by his parents and his two younger brothers, who migrated in 1955 and continued their remarkable careers.

Ruth Chai was among the first women to win distinction in national exams as well as a government scholarship to study in the U.S. When she returned to China she was instrumental in starting and administering several Christian schools. Chu Chai studied law in the U.S. and when he returned to China served in legal and academic positions where he worked for modernization of the Chinese legal system. Winberg Chai, the author and eldest son, became a professor of political science, and was the first Asian-American vice-president of a state university. Both Chu Chai and Winberg Chai wrote a number of books on Chinese culture as well as on legal and political topics.

The family story makes jokes about the tyranny of the first-born, and indeed Winberg’s brothers are little mentioned except as the “middle” or “youngest brother” (and I will not name them out of respect for privacy). Both younger brothers earned advanced degrees and became academics. The youngest brother was my boss and mentor for many years. He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics, taught at a state university, authored a widely used textbook on the computer language COBOL, and founded a successful software company for which I worked. I make a point of mentioning him because, despite the remarkable history of his family, he continued the success story of a Chinese-American family in an entirely new direction, into the computer age. As the co-author May-lee says of her youngest uncle, “It was well-known in the family that he was a mathematical genius.”

To return to the story as told, the account of one family’s interaction with revolutionary Chinese history is remarkable. Ruth Chai helped receive Lord Louis Mountbatten, British admiral and future Viceroy of India, who came to advise Sun Yat-Sen, and she acted as interpreter for Lady Mountbatten. Chu Chai carried on a correspondence with Zhou Enlai, and brought him as a guest lecturer to his university. Ruth and Chu Chai had to steer a careful course through the revolution, and Ruth Chai seems to have been a driving force. At one point Ruth admonished Chu for “his crazy scheme to woo that Communist Zhou Enlai over to ‘that bandit general’ Chiang Kai-shek.” Indeed The family story revolves around Ruth Chai, starting from her becoming Christian through her astute intuitions regarding the revolution. But Chu Chai played his own remarkable role as a legal reformer in China and as a scholar in the U.S.

I’m entranced by this story partly because I was caught up in it. I attended the memorial service for Ruth Chai, helped Winberg’s middle brother prepare for his first child, and saw some of this history from the perspective of the youngest brother, my mentor. I’m amazed at the Zelig-like engagement of the Chai family with history, and the triumph of the Chai family spirit over the adversity of the 20th century, to make a thriving new life in America.

[Raymond Hwang · Rating 5 out of 5]

May-Lee and Winberg Chai write an intimate story of their own family. As only a daughter and father, they each write their perspective in forward and honest way. It is not Chinese to express so intimately the details of their lives in this a very public way.

What interested me most was what happened to the family when they fled Nanjing. My father and his family had also fled Nanjing but I don't have much detail.

This story is compelling drama and touching portrait of a family living through war, famine, survival and even triumph.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/3

This book dragged quite a bit.

[Sue Gaunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow to start. Told an interesting story in a unique manner. From both a father and daughter perspective.

[David Marxer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed every aspect of this book---the history, the multi-generational family ties and even the duel narative. I was at first worried about the daughter and father writing the same book, but soon came to love it for the richness of each of their styles and the way they 'filled in the gaps' of the story the other couldn't or didn't wish to tell. From the turn of the 20th century China, to the Sino-Japanese War, to Taiwan, to America, to returning to China in the 1980s, they lead the reader on a emotional jounry not soon forgotten...

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first non-fiction novel in a long time. It was an interesting story of a highly educated family in china who struggled through the Japanese occupation and many warlord changes and eventually emigrated to the US. It was told by both the daughter and the father's persectives - which added a depth to the story that I appricated.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book that truly makes you realize more than ever that ALL families have to deal with crazy relatives, not just mine! :)
Beautifully told by the son and granddaughter of 'the girl from purple mountain', which is confusing at first, but neat by the end. A little too much history at times for me, but I tire easily in that area. It will stay in my memory, as some books just do.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a daughter and father team about their different perspectives on their grandmother/mother who survived the Cultural Revolution and came to America. Writing is clear, beautiful, particularly the chapters by Winberg Chai.

[Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is the story of a family moving from China to the US. It covers a great deal of Chinese history in the early 20th century while telling it in the context how history affects a family. W. Chai is funny and honest. This was a really interesting read.

[Marleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable story of a beautiful young woman born in China at the beginning of the 20th century. Her life story was impacted by all social, cultural and political changes that affected her country. Her life was one of privilege and tremendous hardship.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun way to learn more about China's recent history. I realized that this is a large gap in my education. I learned a lot China's transformation over the past century. It's an easy read.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Written by a father and daughter in their two different viewpoints. Learned a lot about the history of China and their life as a multicultural family.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this story really fascinating. One of the more interesting biographical books I have read set in a particularly tumultuous time in Chinese history.

[Bindee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. great story told from different generations. gives an appreciation of what the Chinese people have had to endure

[jane]

My next book that was given to me to read!