South Flows the Pearl: Chinese Australian Voices

(Paperback)

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South Flows the Pearl is a fascinating journey through the history of Chinese Australia. Taking the reader from Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta to Sydney, Perth, Cairns, Darwin, Bendigo and beyond, it explores the struggles and successes of Chinese people in Australia since the 1850s, as told in their own words.

This unique book was written by an insider. Mavis Yen was born in Perth in 1916, the daughter of a Chinese father and an Australian mother. She lived in both countries and understood what it meant to navigate two worlds, to live through war and revolution, and to experience racial discrimination. In the 1980s she began interviewing elderly Chinese Australians, recording hours of conversations. Her intimate understanding of their languages and life experiences encouraged them to share their stories. Published here for the first time, they will change how you think about Australian history.

'This is a book that offers a new way to be Australian in this country, and casts Chinese Australians as the protagonists in their own stories When people agree to tell their stories, they speak to the future. Whether or not we listen is up to us.' Dr Sophie Loy-Wilson, University of Sydney

Reviews

"The true strength and value of this book lies in the fact that it contains first hand accounts ... South Flows the Pearl is not just an important historical text, its also a compelling, emotional and at times surprising read."

-- Elizabeth Flux * Books + Publishing *

"The lost manuscript, now the scholarly book South Flows the Pearl, offers a rich insight into the history of the Chinese in Australia, but it also introduces and pays homage to Mavis Gock Yen, whose life is as colourful and rich as those of her subjects."

-- Sue Smethurst * The Australian *

" South Flows the Pearl remains a valuable reference for Australian social history, with fascinating details of Australian life you might not find anywhere else".

-- Linda Jaivin * The Saturday Paper *

"When she was 71, [Mavis] began interviewing descendants of early Chinese Australian migrant families like hers. More than a decade later, she wrote South Flows the Pearl, a book reflecting the comprehensive history of early Chinese migration in Australia ... even though it was a book about Chinese Australian history, Mavis always thought it was Australia's history. It was just told through a Chinese lens."

* ABC Online *

Author Bio

Mavis Gock Yen was born in Perth in 1916. In 1925 her family moved to Shanghai and during the next twenty years she spent time in both China and Australia. In 1946 she settled in China, where she worked as a journalist and English teacher until after the Cultural Revolution. She returned to Australia with her daughter, Siaoman, in 1981, and studied professional writing at the University of Canberra.