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The Lost Daughter of Happiness (Chinese: 扶桑; pinyin: fúsāng) is a historical fiction novel by Chinese writer Geling Yan.

This novel was published in Chinese in 1995. That same year, the book received the "United Newspaper Award" (Chinese: 联合报文学大奖.) It was later adapted into a TV Show called "Wind and Rain in Chinatown" (Chinese: 风雨唐人街) in 2012.

The English translation by Cathy Silber was published in 2001 by East Hyperion.

Historical Context

This book is set in mid-19th century San Francisco, a time marked with many significant historical events, such as the gold rush, the Mexican War, and publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the time at which the concept of manifest destiny was starting to become popular. These events largely overshadow the history of Asian immigrants in the United States at the time, and the extreme racial prejudices they faced while living there. This novel outlines the experiences of these immigrants leading up to the Chinese Exclusion Act, a perspective often overlooked in the study of contemporary history.

Plot Summary

Fusang begins as the simple-minded but beautiful daughter of a tea farmer in mid-19th century China. Her dim wit is both her strength and her weakness, as she is betrothed into a wealthy family due to her complacency and willingness to follow orders but is soon tricked onto a slave ship heading to the United States and sold into slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown at the age of 20. Fusang is then met with seemingly an endless barrage of hardships, from constant beatings to tuberculous, and faces them all with complacent non-action. She catches the eye of 12-year-old Chris, a Caucasian boy who tails her until he is 17, a patronizing white knight who dreams of someday freeing her from sexual slavery. Eventually, she is kidnapped and prostituted out by a gangster, Da Yong. As they spend more time together, Da Yong realizes that Fusang is the person to whom he was betrothed to in China. Da Yong decides to try and correct his past wrongdoings, but his past as a loan shark, killer, and slave trader catch up to him and he is sentenced to death. He frees Fusang, who then marries him for an unknown reason before his execution. She returns to China and is supposedly never heard from again.

Characters

• Fusang (扶桑) – An even-tempered woman who was kidnapped from China and sold into prostitution
• Chris (克里斯) – An American boy with an infatuation for Fusang
• Da Yong (大勇) – A Chinese gangster who enslaves Fusang

Themes

Taoist Principle of "Non-Action"

Fusang is a woman who undergoes many hardships yet treats everyone who violates her with endless tolerance. Despite being forced into prostitution, she does not lament her own unhappiness or concoct a plan to escape, and instead chooses to obey her captors' orders to the best of her ability. Through non-action, Fusang is able to lessen her burden as a prostitute and is eventually set free.

Orientalism

Chris is fascinated with Fusang not because of her personality, but because of the allurement of her otherworldliness. Much like other orientalists, Chris does not genuinely care about the object of his adoration but instead feels the need to play the savior. Initially, he does save her from almost certain death after she contracts tuberculosis. However, the motivations behind his actions are misplaced, as evidenced by his participation in the gang rape of Fusang and his initial refusal to marry her once she is set free from prostitution.

Conflicting Perspectives

Geling Yan's novel is written from the point of view of an unknown author who is doing research on Fusang. The narrator frequently references how they do not know the motivations behind some of Fusang's actions, yet frequently attempts to sympathize with her as a fellow Chinese immigrant to the United States. The lack of understanding yet attempt at empathy is representative of humanity's own inability to truly experience another person's thoughts and emotions, and suggests that the best way to overcome these differences is to recognize common ground and build from there.