October 1, 2003
For Immediate Release
Contact: Debora Kodish
Philadelphia Folklore Project
215.726.1106
735 South 50th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19143

Announcing new book: Walking on Solid Ground (buy online)

"Walking on Solid Ground is an important book. The book's dialogue between different generations of Chinese Americans helps us to understand the pivotal role that connecting with our traditions plays in fighting for, and building, vital communities." - Grace Lee Boggs

"This short, easy to read, and beautifully illustrated children's book teaches readers of all ages more about culture and community than volumes of college
texts! The book shows that culture cannot be studied in absence of the people who shape - and are shaped - by those dynamic traditions. And in this country that is so focused on the individual, even in multicultural studies, this small book also helps readers see the incredible importance, complexity and fragility of community. "Walking on solid ground" is about the history of Chinese immigration to the U.S., the teaching and learning of Chinese cultural traditions, and community organizing against the stadium in Chinatown, Philadelphia. Most importantly, the book inspires readers to 'walk on solid ground.'" Deborah Menkart, Executive Director, Teaching for Change

(October 1, 2003) Announcing a new children's book, Walking on solid ground, about Philadelphia's Chinatown, as seen through the eyes of three people. Mr. Shu Pui Cheung is significant as the community's teacher of lion dance and kung fu, who, through his work, has provided essential knowledge (and necessary performance) for hundreds of major community events of significance: public holiday celebrations of this ethnic community, business openings and family rites of passage, and demonstrations to stop urban renewal projects threatening and/or displacing Chinatown residents. The second voice is that of Ms. Shuyuan Li, also a significant cultural specialist in the community. A recent immigrant, Ms. Li is a fourth generation Beijing opera artist, and the artistic director of the Philadelphia Chinese Opera Society, the region’s only organization devoted to the preservation and perpetuation of this 200-year-old art. The third perspective in the book comes from Aaron Jin Chau, a 13-year-old student of both of these artists and cultural workers. Interview excerpts from all three people form the core of the book, which also includes background and context on the history and struggles of the community.

In our interviews, Aaron Chau described tourists coming to Chinatown. He mentioned that he didn't know what was worse: their staring, or their way of totally ignoring the community. His observation aptly names difficulties in outsiders' attittudes towards China, Chinese people, and Philadelphia's Chinatown for over more than 200 years. In writing a book about Chinatown for children, we faced a number of difficult questions directly related to Aaron's insight. Who is the book for? How do we ground a story of a community in values that make sense to the Chinatown community itself? How do we talk about larger issues-- including the opium trade, exoticization of (and trade in) Chinese culture, a history of racist Chinese Exclusion Laws and ongoing community struggles-- in a small book for young readers? We chose to begin with three different people, to let them tell their stories, and to focus on the values central to culture, community, art, and neighborhood life that were central in their discussions of Chinatown's past, present and future.

The book shows that folk arts aren’t commodities, but containers for a set of values that are also central to what people have struggled to build and sustain in this urban community. Similarly, we wanted to show that a community isn't just a geographic set of streets, but rather a set of relationships grounded in deep knowledge acquired over time.

Publication of this book was supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is published with the assistance of the School District of Philadelphia. It is a collaboration of the Philadelphia Folklore Project and Asian Americans United.

Walking on solid ground by Shu Pui Cheung, Shuyuan Li, Aaron Jin Chau, and Deborah Wei, edited by Deborah Wei and Debora Kodish, is a paperbound 64-page bilingual book (Chinese, English) with 48 photographs (from 1911 to the present) from private and public collections, most never before published. It is available from the Philadelphia Folklore Project for $12.95 + 1.50 postage for single books. (ISBN: 09644937-4-8). Bulk rates are available, and a curriculum guide is under development. Make checks out to “Philadelphia Folklore Project” and mail to 735 South 50th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19143.