Clashing Cultures: Chinese Boys in Connecticut Homes

Join visiting Seattle Author Dori Jones Yang for fascinating insights into what she learned about Chinese and American cultural values in researching her new book. In the 1870s, dozens of Connecticut families welcomed to their homes two or more Chinese boys, sent by their government to America to learn English, study technology, and return home to modernize their country. The boys, some as young as 11, must have felt extreme culture shock as they learned to love baseball and American ways, yet they were warned not to become “too American.”

That is the dilemma the author captures in her new book, The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball. For readers aged 10 to 14, this novel imagines the experience of two fictional Chinese brothers as they try to adapt to life in small-town Connecticut in 1875 without losing their values. Native of Ohio, former Hong Kong correspondent, and wife of a Chinese man, Dori Jones Yang has spent much of her life negotiating the gap between Chinese and American cultures.

How well do Americans today welcome foreigners in our midst? And what difficulties are faced by those who try to adapt to our ways? Bring your questions for a lively discussion.

This event is free, but please RSVP to let us know you will attend at (860) 236-5621 x238 or rsvp@chs.org.

Dori Jones Yang has written, co-authored, compiled, and translated a wide variety of books, including historical fiction, inspiration, biographies, oral histories, and children’s books. A former foreign correspondent in Asia, she aims to build bridges between cultures and generations. Dori speaks Mandarin Chinese and has dabbled in French, Cantonese, Japanese, Spanish, German, Italian, and Malay. She also seeks joy in playing music, including piano, violin, cello, and the Chinese zither, called the guzheng. She has traveled widely throughout the world, including many parts of China, Mongolia, and the Silk Road.