"One Family" Vision

Sui Sin Far is a precursor of Chinese-American literature. Whether seen from her white-skinned appearance, or from her life experience that she was born and brought up in the West or from the times of "yellow peril" when she lived, she has nothing special with other white writers of her time. However, the "Chinese instinct" derived from her half Chinese blood triggers two "rebirth[s]" in the development of her cultural consciousness: from an English woman to a Chinese, and eventually to "an Eurasian" with "no nationality". Therefore, in Sui Sin Far's eyes, the two worlds, commonly regarded as warring in nature, now come to be reunited into "one family".Sui Sin Far's "one family" vision is embedded in her Chinese stories in Mrs. Spring Fragrance, which is her only published volume. Some special families are depicted for symbolizing and epitomizing her "one family" vision, but all come to a tragic end. The inaccessibility to "one family" vision is ascribed to two social barriers in reality: Whites' ethnocentrism and Chinese stick-to-the-old mentality. However, both are rooted from the long-standing mindset of "race", which is also the most inveterate obstacle to "one family" vision. In deconstructing the concept of "race" and "sex", Sui Sin Far challenged the root of racism and sexism, which is destabilized into an arbitrary social construction, and set up her "one family" ideal: a world culturally pluralistic, structurally integral, relationally communicative, without any hierarchical difference and conflicts, but full of equality and love.Sui Sin Far's "one family" vision not only encourages the later Chinese generations to fight for the social acceptance and equal right in American society, but also helps explore the way to the peaceful and harmonious destination of our society.