ABSTRACT
In Chinatown Square Shopping Center in Chamblee, northeast Atlanta, a Chinese woman named, Zhuang-Tse used to own and run, with the help of her two sons, one of the seven fast-food services in the food court—“Little Mandarin.” When the author met them for an oral history interview on May 31, 1992, Zhuang-Tse and her sons were packing up the last few utensils left in what was once Little Mandarin. In the interview, Zhuang-Tse told the author the story of her life, and stories of three other Chinese immigrant women who have not only led similar lives, but have also influenced and inspired her in her life in the United States. Chinese women have lived in the United States since the mid-nineteenth century, but their voice is seldom heard. The life story of Zhuang-Tse and stories she has told of other Chinese women contradict the commonly held view that Chinese women are passive and submissive.
