Chinese Cinderella

In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah described her painful childhood and her difficult journey to reach her ultimate triumph over despair. Her family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. When her father remarries to Niang, her half siblings are thoroughly spoiled while she and her siblings from their father’s first wife are subjected to rejection. Although she excels in her schoolwork, Adeline yearns the love, support and understanding of her family. Her life journey describing the hardships she faced have been rendered in the form of a found poem. The poem connects to the events throughout her life by using significant phrases describing her hatred towards her injustices as a young girl.

Adeline is from Tianjin, the third largest city in China trailing only Beijing and Shanghai in size and population. Tianjin is the major commercial port city in north China. Tianjin is located at the end of nine tributaries merging into the Haihe River which flows through the city. Tianjin is known as the “World Museum of Architecture” because of its combination of worldwide cultural influences.

Adeline was taken from her hometown in Tianjin when she was five or six and moved to a new home in Shanghai. She was excited to be going to a new school, however her happiness soon ended as she waited hours after school was let out for someone to pick her up. She was forced to walk several blocks through the unfamiliar streets of Shanghai, trying to find her way to her home. After remembering her new telephone number, she ran into a butcher shop and called her father to pick her up. Adeline learned to be independent and self reliant at a very young age.

When the remaining members of the Yen family arrived in Shanghai, it was the first time in two years that Niang had seen her daughter. When her daughter didn’t recognize her, Niang was embarrassed and upset. Niang tried to hug her, causein Little Sister to break Niang’s pearl necklace making Niang enraged. She began beating her daughter ferociously as the rest of the family watched, cowardly. Adeline felt compelled to end the punishment by yelling, “Don’t beat her anymore. She is just a baby!” This was the first time anyone had enough courage to stand up to Niang, and because of her bravery, she earned respect and admiration from her