Anchee Min: Difference between revisions

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{{Chinesefamily name hatnote|[[Min (surname)|Min]]|lang=Chinese}}

'''Anchee Min''' or '''Min Anqi''' ({{zh|first=s|s=闵安琪|t=閔安琪|p=Mǐn Ānqí}}; born January 14, 1957, in [[Shanghai|Shanghai, China]]) is a [[Chinese-American]] author who lives in [[San Francisco]] and [[Shanghai]]. Min has published two [[memoir]]s, ''[[Red Azalea]]'' and ''[[The Cooked Seed: A Memoir]]'', and six historical novels. Her fiction emphasizes strong female characters, such as [[Jiang Qing]], the wife of chairman [[Mao Zedong]], and [[Empress Dowager Cixi]], the last ruling empress of China.

Min was born in Shanghai on January 14, 1957. Her parents were both teachers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/2013books/la-xpm-2013-may/-09/entertainment/-la-ca-jc-anchee-min-20130512-story.html|title='The Cooked Seed' details Anchee Min's fraught immigrant saga|last=McAlpin|first=Heller|date=2013-05-09|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref> She was nine years old when the [[Cultural Revolution]] began.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10116718/Anchee-Min-If-I-had-stayed-in-China-I-would-be-dead.html|title=Anchee Min: 'If I had stayed in China, I would be dead'|website=Telegraph.co.uk|date=July 4, 2013 |access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref> As a child, she was a member of the Little Red Guards and was made to report her favouritefavorite teacher, who was accused of being an anti-Maoist, to the authorities.<ref name=":0" />

When Min was 17, she was sent to a collective farm<ref>{{Cite news|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/2013books/la-xpm-2013-may/-09/entertainment/-la-ca-jc-anchee-min-20130512-story.html|title='The Cooked Seed' details Anchee Min's fraught immigrant saga|last=McAlpin|first=Heller|date=2013-05-09|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=2016-05-25}}</ref> near the East China Sea, where she endured horrific conditions and worked 18-hour days.<ref name=":0" /> Eventually, she suffered a spinal cord injury.<ref name=":0" /> She began an affair with the commander at her camp, a woman named YinYan, although she attributes the affair largely to loneliness.{{fact|date=February 2024}}

At the collective farm, Min was discovered by a team of talent scouts from the [[Shanghai Film Studio]] and was selected to become an actress for her ideal "proletarian good looks."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/magazine/the-re-education-of-anchee-min.html|title=The Re-education of Anchee Min|last=Scott|first=A. O.|date=2000-06-18|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref> She eventually won the lead role in a propaganda film inspired by [[Jiang Qing|Madame Mao.]]<ref name=":1" /> However, the film was never completed.<ref name=":1" /> After [[Mao Zedong]]'s death and the subsequent falldownfall of [[Jiang Qing]],<ref name=":1" /> Min was ostracized and treated badly. She was depressed and considered suicide.<ref name=":1" /> With the assistance of her friend, American actress [[Joan Chen]], and the sponsorship of her aunt living in Singapore, Min obtained a passport and applied to the [[School of the Art Institute of Chicago]].<ref name=":1" /> She then emigrated to the United States. As she was initially entering the country, she was nearly deported when it was discovered that, contrary to what she had put on her visa application, she did not speak English. However, she was able to convince the immigration officer to allow her to enter into the country.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10116718/Anchee-Min-If-I-had-stayed-in-China-I-would-be-dead.html|title=Anchee Min: 'If I had stayed in China, I would be dead'|last=Bertodano|first=Helena de|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2013-07-04|access-date=2018-04-23|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

After moving to the US, Min worked five jobs at the same time<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nationalwritersseries.org/programs/an-evening-with-anchee-min/|title=An Evening with Anchee Min - National Writers Series|website=National Writers Series|date=January 24, 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-05-25}}</ref> and learned English by, among others, watching ''[[Sesame Street]]''.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/05/12/181972729/a-cooked-seed-sprouts-after-all-in-america|title=A 'Cooked Seed' Sprouts After All, In America|website=NPR.org |access-date=2016-05-25}}</ref>

Min's is opening bisexual.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Min |first=Anchee |date=March 21, 2017 |title=Anchee Min on X: "June 2015-Gay marriage legalized in the U.S.! As a bisexual woman I am ecstatic :)" |url=https://x.com/MinAnchee/status/844329973695463424 |access-date=September 23, 2024 |website=X}}</ref> Her first husband was a Chinese artist named Qigu Jiang. Together theyThey had a daughter, Lauryann, who attended [[Stanford University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://asiasociety.org/texas/overcoming-odds-author%25E2%2580%2599s-success-daughter%25E2%2580%2599s-talents-forged-%25E2%2580%2598self-worth%25E2%2580%2599|title=Overcoming Odds, Author's Success & Daughter's Talents Forged 'Self Worth'|website=Asia Society|access-date=2016-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420064104/http://asiasociety.org/texas/overcoming-odds-author%25E2%2580%2599s-success-daughter%25E2%2580%2599s-talents-forged-%25E2%2580%2598self-worth%25E2%2580%2599|archive-date=April 20, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> According to Min herself, she "lured [Qigu] into marriage, making herself pregnant by him although she knew he did not want a child" and subsequently their marriage fell apart.<ref name=":0" />

*''[[The Cooked Seed: A Memoir]]''. Bloomsbury USA, May 7, 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-59691-698-2}}

*''[[Katherine (Anchee Min novel)|Katherine]]'' Hamish Hamilton, 1995, {{ISBN|978-0-241-13541-9}}

*''[[Pearl of China: A Novel]]''. Bloomsbury Publishing, April 9, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-60819-151-2}}. Inspired by the life of [[Pearl S. Buck]] as a girl and young woman in China.

*{{cite web| title=Prairie Lights Books, Iowa City, Iowa, April 2010 interview audio file| url=http://accents.international.uiowa.edu/global-gigs/anchee-min/| accessdateaccess-date=May 20, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622161606/http://accents.international.uiowa.edu/global-gigs/anchee-min/| archive-date=June 22, 2010| dead-url-status=yesdead| df=mdy-all}}

*{{cite web| title= Powell's Books Author Interviews: Anchee Min| url= http://www.powells.com/authors/min.html| accessdateaccess-date= March 29, 2008| archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080318165955/http://www.powells.com/authors/min.html| archivedatearchive-date= March 18, 2008| deadurlurl-status= yesdead| df= mdy-all}}

[[Category:21st-century Chinese women writers]]