Eat a Bowl of Tea

“Eat a Bowl of Tea” illuminated the importance of tongs and fongs for Chinese Americans. At the beginning of the film, Wah Gay has letters from his wife read to him by someone in his community and he sends money to her in China through the “Wang Family Association.” Takaki explains that such family clans did not only provide protection, but met other needs: “The clans established temples, transmitted letters to the villages in the homeland…” (119).  Tongs also receive migrants and when Wah Gay’s son, Ben Loy, comes back with his new wife, Mei Oi, a banquet is held for them. At the banquet, one of the community leaders recognizes that bringing back a bride from China has only recently become a possibility. Before World War 2, which Ben Loy fought in, the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented men from bringing their families to America. I think the movie shows that there are positives and negatives to immigrants adjusting to America within tongs. When Ben Loy comes back, the tong provides him with a job at the Chinese restaurant—illuminating the kinds of jobs held by the Chinese Americans within Chinatowns—and provides him and his wife with an apartment. However, the whole fong is invested in Ben Loy and Mei Oi’s marriage because they want them to have children. Right now the fong consists of bachelor men; for example, at the banquet, Mei Oi is the only woman: “In America, Chinese women found themselves in a world of men” (121).  The fong is now relying on the young couple to start the next generation and shift their people to a family oriented community. When the married couple are in bed, Ben Loy says he can’t because he feels like everyone is watching the—which they are. During several scenes at the barber shop, the men comment on Mei Oi’s weight to see if she is pregnant yet and the Wah Gay tells his son he needs to be a big man and have children! Since the community is so close, Wah Gay feels pride from his son’s marriage and hopes that he will have a son and continue their family line. However, when the couple is unable to get pregnant, Mei Oi has an affair and they are shunned by the fong. They give Ben Loy a bad job and apartment, and it is only when they are free of the community in San Francisco, that they can start over and have a family. Because the white society racializes the Chinese during that time, the fong provides necessary protection, resources, and community. However, both Wah Gay and Mei Oi are complex characters. As they start their relationship together in America, the second generation with Mei Oi coming for the first time, they deal with community dynamics within the fong, expectations of families and cultures, and assimilation.