The Father from China Summary

The Chinese American narrator will tell the biographic story of the men in her family. She remembers that her father could be a pleasant and happy man, and she remembers a few specific occasions when they had fun together as a family. However, far more often her father had been a dour and angry man. He constantly used vulgar and abusive language and usually frowned and scowled as he worked. The narrator's father never talked much about his pre-immigrant life in China, so the information that will be presented is a mix of facts, innuendo, reasoning, and imagination. The narrator then goes back in time to tell the story of her father's life and emigration.

In China, Ah Goong and his wife Ah Po have three sons, Dai Bak, Ngee Bak, and Sahm Bak, when their fourth...