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    On Gold Mountain: A Family Memoir of Love, Struggle and Survival
    Unavailable
    On Gold Mountain: A Family Memoir of Love, Struggle and Survival
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    On Gold Mountain: A Family Memoir of Love, Struggle and Survival
    Ebook678 pages10 hours

    On Gold Mountain: A Family Memoir of Love, Struggle and Survival

    By Lisa See

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    In 1867, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather left China in search of riches on the 'Gold Mountain', the Chinese name for the promised land of America. His son Fong See later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws that prohibited unions between the races. Through sheer endeavour and entrepreneurial genius he became one of the most successful Chinese men in the country. Over the decades, each generation of the See family strived to grasp their dreams, realise their ambitions and overcome their disappointments and sorrows.
    This sweeping chronicle of five generations of a Chinese-American family encompasses stories of adventure and heartache, racism and romance, secret marriages and sibling rivalries. On Gold Mountain is a powerful social history of two cultures meeting in a new world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMay 4, 2011
    ISBN9781408811788
    Unavailable
    On Gold Mountain: A Family Memoir of Love, Struggle and Survival
    Author

    Lisa See

    Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, China Dolls, and Dreams of Joy, which debuted at #1. She is also the author of On Gold Mountain, which tells the story of her Chinese American family’s settlement in Los Angeles. See was the recipient of the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Association of Southern California and the Historymaker’s Award from the Chinese American Museum. She was also named National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women.

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    Reviews for On Gold Mountain

    4/5

    187 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The story of Lisa See's Chinese family's immigration to the United States and the condition of the Chinese people in the United States. A little long.....a lot of names.....For the most part it was an intriguing tale of the hardships the Chinese had to endure and the remarkable success of this famiy.
    • 4/5
      Lisa details the history of Fong See, his travels to America, the business he created, and his ever growing family. In a time where Chinese were used as immigrant laborers, Fong See built a business in oriental art and married a white woman and spread his influence beyond the Chinatown of Los Angeles. Although this book was slow at times, I thought it was interesting to read about the Chinese immigrant experience and the prejudice these families endured. The mixed-race children encountered their own difficulties, as they straddled the old and new Chinese/American cultures. I do wish the author had stuck with one name for everyone, instead of using the American name, Chinese name and then nick names. As the family grew this became more and more difficult to keep up with. Overall, a good book, one worth picking up.
    • 5/5
      Excellent book, so interesting about the early lives of the people that came to CA to help build the RR, I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to read about the early days of our beloved country. Some part are heartbreaking but it all goes to show that laws need to be followed.
    • 5/5
      I can't begin to tell you what an Impact this book had on me, Growing up in Las Vegas with most of my relatives in Southern California, and Actually living through some of the times described in this book was a reminiscence beyond description, My Uncle Used to work "The Chinatown Beat" in the 1950's and 60's for the Los Angeles Police Dept. I got goose bumps when I read these story vignettes of Just one family's lifetime of generations, and the Immigration rigmarole that they had to endure. It frightens me to this day because of the "new Politics" and how it affects so many people struggling to learn and earn in a new country. The story's real life struggles indicates the perseverance and deceptions that many go through to hold the family together. Bound by antiquated (In the American mind) traditions and Christian ethics, the culture of China just doesn't make sense. Whether you agree with Ms. See's portrayal of these events or not, believe me they are real. Mr Fong in spite of what some readers might think of his business and familial tactics proceeded to create a business and family under very dire circumstances. and it his he who we have to thank for what ultimately produced the Splendid and learned author of the book. Mr. Fong may have been the grit in the oyster but Ms. See certainly is a fine Specimen of a pearl. Hee hee sorry no Gold just "pearls of great price" Interesting too is one of Lisa later books is about a girl named Pearl. There are no coincidences.
    • 5/5
      See has been one of my favorite authors for some time, and this book is what put her there. I read this book several years ago, but still remember it like it was yesterday. Having a blended family myself, it was wonderful to know that See's family blended or not held on to the history of the family with pictures and stories. You get a great history lesson with out knowing it. There is racism, secret love and marriage, family affairs and scandle, big business and failure. I have told everyone that if they find this book, get it- it has to be the best read.
    • 4/5
      I read On Gold Mountain slowly, with days between chapters to think about new ideas. On Gold Mountain was many things to me.It was an eye-opening revelation to me of how racist our laws and immigration policies were towards the Chinese, up until our recently.It was an amazing journey into Chinese society both in America and in China.It was an uplifting and hopeful account of how, in spite of everything, Chinese immigrants were able to come to America, work, and prosper.It was a heart-breaking indictment of the treatment of the Chinese by our government and big business, particularly the railroads. The suffering and death of so many people has gone too long unnoticed in our history books.It was an amusing commentary on the foibles of human nature, and how love truly can triumph over it all, down through the generations.It was an incredibly well-researched, well-documented and remarkably frank story of one Chinese immigrant and his numerous descendants.In the developing field of social history, and using social history to illuminate a genealogy, On Gold Mountain is a seminal work, published five years prior to the ground-breaking "Bringing Your Family History to Life through social history" by Katherine Scott Sturdevant. As such, it is a remarkable example of the professional standards to which the social historian/genealogist may aspire.Although the family history is rife with bi-racial marriage, multiple wives and concubines, infidelity and divorce, Lisa See presents the story in a sympathetic and factual manner, and avoids sensationalizing her family history. It is as much about the family business of importing Asian art, furniture and folk items, and other businesses the younger generations developed, as it is about the personal history of the family.I would recommend Lisa See's book to anyone planning to write a social history; to all high school and college students in classes on U. S. Government, sociology, immigration, and capitalism. I would also recommend it to anyone who likes a good work of non-fiction about real people.
    • 4/5
      Very interesting history of author, Lisa See's family.
    • 5/5
      If you intend to keep track of every single person involved in this family history, you really have to have the ability to keep a virtual family-tree in your head, but you can just as easily sit back and enjoy the telling of what it was like to be a Chinese American family as California (and the United States) grew and changed from gold rush times to the modern era. Readers will have a general idea of many of the situations described , but the depth that this book reaches helps to open the eyes even more to what was and expose the struggles people faced as time and culture changed. The balance between historical fact and personal drama is so amazingly perfect that there were points in this book where I actually found myself doing some research of my own, just to get an even better idea of what was within the story, whether it was a location, an item, or an idea. I can say that I honestly felt as if I experienced life alongside the family as they grew and changed. History is important to keep alive, but family history is even more important and I felt oddly touched to have been told the story of this family, as if the author had reached out in the crowd, pulled me aside and said "I want to share my family with you."
    • 5/5
      very interesting
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful nonfiction story of the authors Chinese side of her family. Starting with immigration during the time of building the railroad in California to current times. It is wonderfully written and flows like a nonfiction read. I didn't want it to end, but then I love everything Lisa See has written. I would highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      I usually buy nonfiction books with good intentions, but often struggle to finish when there's a good fictional story waiting to be read, but I found On Gold Mountain to be easily readable and full of good stories. I have read most of Lisa See's fiction and was interested to see that many elements of her fictional stories came from her own family history.I did not read this book quickly, the print was small in my version and many of the people's names are similiar. I frequently referenced the family tree and maps in the opening section. Lisa See has done a fantastic job of compiling a tremendous amount of information about her colorful family in a highly readable format. I recommend this book to all Lisa See fans, history buffs, and people that enjoy a good story!
    • 4/5
      Lisa See researches and writes an interesting history of her Chinese-American blended family. Having read a fiction book by See, it was interesting to see where she was coming from in real life.
    • 4/5
      Subtitle: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of a Chinese-American Family.This is See’s “biography” of her family, starting with her great-great-grandfather, Fong Dun Shung, who immigrated to America (“The Gold Mountain”) in 1861 as an herbalist / healer working for the railroad. He brought with him two of his four sons, who both worked as laborers helping to build the transcontinental railroad. His fourth son, Fong See, arrived in 1871 at age fourteen, and soon became an entrepreneur shopkeeper, with wives on two continents. See-bok, as he became known, was illiterate, but a shrewd businessman, and he founded a family dynasty. The story of this family is a history of the immigrants from China (and other Asian nations). See used extensive research that began with the oral history passed down in her family. She looked at national archives, immigration records, property records and news articles. Her narrative explores not just her family’s history, but shows the history of America’s policies on immigration, specifically those coming from Asia. It’s a fascinating story and exceedingly well told. I was very glad that the book included maps and a family tree, because I frequently made use of both. The last forty pages or so of the book are Lisa See’s own story, including her trip to China to get more information from the family members still there. This really brought her family’s story full circle for me. I’ve had this book on my TBR for ages, but it was the prompt to read a memoir that had me finally picking up. Additionally, I have recently learned that an opera has been written based on this family story and that also piqued my interest. I’m so glad I finally read it.
    • 4/5
      Lisa See has written her family’s history over the course of over one hundred years. The narrative traces back to the author’s great-great-grandfather, who traveled from China to California to reap the riches of “gold mountain” (as America was called in China). He worked as a laborer on the Transcontinental Railroad. In 1866, the author’s great-grandfather, settled in California. Lisa See examines the many family members’ hopes, motivations, struggles, business ventures through the generations. Themes include the Chinese immigrant experience, racial discrimination, and women’s issues. It is easy to spot the influences of her family’s history on her fiction. She sets her family story against a backdrop of historic events. It also provides a number of cultural insights. Recommended to those interested in immigration accounts, family sagas, or California history.