Summary of Iris Chang's The Chinese in America

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 The first wave of Chinese emigration to the United States began in the mid-nineteenth century, when China was still an imperial state ruled by the surviving members of the Qing dynasty.

The Qing, originally from Manchuria, had held power for two hundred years, but their power was waning.#2 The Chinese civilization was centered around the two rivers that flowed from Tibet to the sea, the Yangtze River in the south and the Yellow River in the north.

The Gobi Desert dominated the north-central area of China.#3 The Chinese civil service was formed out of the need for a centralized state to control a diverse population speaking different dialects, despite the fact that most people rarely traveled far from their home villages.#4 The peasants in China worked extremely hard, but they were never given anything in return.

They were fed a sparse but nutritious diet, and hardly anything was wasted.

They lived and died without ever seeing any members of the class that ruled over them.