0:00:06.965,0:00:08.855
In her Auntie An-mei’s home,

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Jing-Mei reluctantly takes her seat

0:00:10.607,0:00:12.837
at the eastern corner [br]of the mahjong table.

0:00:12.837,0:00:16.252
At the north, south, and west [br]corners are her aunties,

0:00:16.252,0:00:18.895
long-time members of the Joy Luck Club.

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This group of immigrant families [br]comes together weekly to trade gossip,

0:00:22.743,0:00:26.765
feast on wonton and sweet chaswei, [br]and play mahjong.

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However, the club’s founder, Jing-Mei’s [br]mother Suyuan, has recently passed away.

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At first, Jing-Mei struggles [br]to fill her place at the table.

0:00:35.672,0:00:40.342
But when her aunties reveal a deeply [br]buried secret about Suyuan’s life,

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Jing-Mei realizes she still has a lot [br]to learn about her mother, and herself.

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In Amy Tan’s 1989 debut novel, [br]"The Joy Luck Club,"

0:00:49.745,0:00:53.364
this gathering at the mahjong table [br]is the point of departure

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for a series of interconnected vignettes.

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The book itself is loosely structured [br]to imitate the format of the Chinese game.

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Just as mahjong is played over four [br]rounds with at least four hands each,

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the book is divided into four parts, [br]each with four chapters.

0:01:08.565,0:01:11.021
Alternately set in China [br]or San Francisco,

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each chapter narrates a single [br]story from one of the four matriarchs

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of the Joy Luck Club [br]or their American-born daughters.

0:01:18.105,0:01:20.399
These stories take the reader through [br]war zones

0:01:20.399,0:01:23.599
and villages of rural China, [br]and into modern marriages

0:01:23.599,0:01:26.309
and tense gatherings [br]around the dinner table.

0:01:26.309,0:01:30.652
They touch upon themes of survival [br]and loss, love and the lack of it,

0:01:30.652,0:01:33.441
ambitions and their unsatisfied reality.

0:01:33.441,0:01:36.878
In one, Auntie Lin plots an escape [br]from the hostile family

0:01:36.878,0:01:38.552
of her promised husband,

0:01:38.552,0:01:41.452
ultimately leading [br]to her arrival in America.

0:01:41.452,0:01:45.740
In another, the Hsu family’s all-American [br]day at the beach turns dire

0:01:45.740,0:01:49.874
when Rose is overwhelmed by the [br]responsibility her mother assigns to her.

0:01:49.874,0:01:54.139
The resulting tragedy traumatizes [br]the family for years to come.

0:01:54.139,0:01:56.939
These tales illustrate the common [br]divides that can form

0:01:56.939,0:02:00.724
between generations and cultures, [br]especially in immigrant families.

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The mothers have all experienced great [br]hardships during their lives in China,

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and they’ve worked tirelessly [br]to give their children

0:02:07.539,0:02:09.373
better opportunities in America.

0:02:09.373,0:02:13.223
But their daughters feel weighed down [br]by their parent’s unfulfilled hopes

0:02:13.223,0:02:14.958
and high expectations.

0:02:14.958,0:02:19.078
Jing-Mei feels this pressure as she plays [br]mahjong with her mother’s friends.

0:02:19.078,0:02:23.771
She worries, “In me, they see [br]their own daughters, just as ignorant,

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just as unmindful of all the truths [br]and hopes they have brought to America.”

0:02:28.643,0:02:29.533
Time and again,

0:02:29.533,0:02:33.138
the mothers strive to remind their [br]daughters of their history and heritage.

0:02:33.138,0:02:35.731
Meanwhile, their daughters [br]struggle to reconcile

0:02:35.731,0:02:38.860
their mothers’ perception of them [br]with who they really are.

0:02:38.860,0:02:42.037
"Does my daughter know me?" [br]some of the stories ask.

0:02:42.037,0:02:46.069
"Why doesn’t my mother understand?" [br]others respond.

0:02:46.069,0:02:48.673
In her interrogation of these questions,

0:02:48.673,0:02:51.742
Tan speaks to anxieties [br]that plague many immigrants,

0:02:51.742,0:02:54.682
who often feel both alienated [br]from their homeland

0:02:54.682,0:02:57.141
and disconnected [br]from their adopted country.

0:02:57.141,0:03:00.731
But by weaving the tales of these [br]four mothers and daughters together,

0:03:00.731,0:03:02.896
Tan makes it clear that Jing-Mei

0:03:02.896,0:03:06.256
and her peers find strength to tackle [br]their present-day problems

0:03:06.256,0:03:09.322
through the values their mothers [br]passed on to them.

0:03:09.322,0:03:11.543
When "The Joy Luck Club" [br]was first published,

0:03:11.543,0:03:13.256
Tan expected minimal success.

0:03:13.256,0:03:16.305
But against her predictions, [br]the book was a massive critical

0:03:16.305,0:03:18.375
and commercial achievement.

0:03:18.375,0:03:21.868
Today, these characters [br]still captivate readers worldwide.

0:03:21.868,0:03:24.397
Not only for the way they speak [br]to Chinese American

0:03:24.397,0:03:26.159
and immigrant experiences,

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but also for uncovering a deeper truth:

0:03:28.873,0:03:32.308
the need to be seen and understood [br]by the ones you love.