When my mother graduated from college in China, her parents gifted to her a beautiful Guo Hua painting of Mu Dan Hua. Guo Hua is a traditional ancient Chinese style of painting, which is painted on rice paper with mao bi and mo. The painting depicts Mu Dan Hua, flowers that her hometown, Luoyang, was famous for. Every year, thousands if not millions of people would flock to the annual flower festivals. My mother dearly treasures this painting, due to the connection it has with her hometown and family. She brought this painting with her when she came to America for school, round to experience new cultures in different environments. She kept this painting with her through her journey to knowledge, as a reminder of her childhood. Though my grandparents did not have enough money to send my mother to college, my mother still wished to learn, so she applied for scholarships. My mother finished graduate school in America with a Ph.D. in engineering, which she choose as her profession because, “My mother was an engineer, and I wanted to follow her.” For my mother, this painting was a connection to cling to, a reminder of her Chinese family and roots in America. For me, when I look at this painting, once hidden for so long in the back of a cabinet finally taken out, I am reminded of my mother's path through education, and her determination to learn.


 

– Tinghan

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant