The China mystique: Mayling Soong Chiang, Pearl S. Buck and Anna May Wong in the American imagination

“The China Mystique” is a historical analysis of the experiences and complex identities of Mayling Soong Chiang (Madame Chiang Kai-shek), Pearl S. Buck, and Anna May Wong. All three women contributed to the American public's knowledge of China from the 1920s to the 40s. Mayling Soong Chiang's American education informed her reform efforts in China, which gained her the admiration of many Americans. Pearl S. Buck, who grew up in China, earned praise for her 1931 novel set in China, The Good Earth. Chinese American actress Anna May Wong's onscreen personification of exoticized Asian femininity provoked American fascination and Chinese criticism. Public visibility enabled all three to shape significantly Americans' perceptions of China, America, and womanhood.; The subsequent alliance between the United States and China during World War II, and the mobilization of women in both countries' war efforts, provided opportunities for Chiang, Buck, and Wong to emphasize their diverse allegiances and imagine their own identities in important ways. Wong participated in public stagings of Sino-American friendship, claiming her identity as Chinese and American. Identifying as both “Chinese” and “American,” Buck publicly critiqued American racism and sexism. Chiang attempted to transform her American popularity as China's “First Lady” into political power in the masculine arena of international relations.; This study contextualizes their experiences in terms of historical developments: the expanding role of the United States in international affairs, changing roles for women in the United States and abroad, and the impact of America's shifting relations with Asia on the Chinese American community—from the anti-Chinese sentiment of the mid-19thcentury to the repeat of Chinese Exclusion in 1943. These developments contributed to changing definitions of ethnic, national, and individual identities. Gender provided a crucial continuity in the articulation of these identities, both alone and in relation to each other.; This analysis thus draws upon the often disparate literatures of women's studies, Asian American studies, and United States social and cultural history, foreign policy and immigration policy, in order to explore what it meant to be “American.” “Chinese,” or “Chinese American” during this period.