Ep. 4: History Professor Sixiang Wang reconciles his Sino-US identity from studying Korean history

Chinatown 2.0

Sixiang Wang is an assistant professor in Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA, specializing in Korea’s premodern history. He speaks fluent mandarin, writes Chinese poems and is well-versed in China's history and culture. Sixiang described his journey of attempting to self-distance from his Chinese identity to embracing and mastering the language and culture. He shared how studying Korean history somehow helped him reconcile a lifelong passion for Chinese studies with his American identity. We also talked about the current state of Sino-US relation and analogized Trump's presidency with past Chinese emperors. Lastly, we touched upon Sixiang's philosophy of child-raising that deviates from the traditional Chinese parenting style.

Sixiang shared with us:

* Guest intro
* Growing up in a rough Queens Hispanic neighborhood as "the only Chino"
* Childhood struggles between desire to be American vs love for Chinese language & culture
* Epiphany in reconciling American and Chinese identity from reading Korean history
* Sentiment towards US-China tensions from a Chinese American perspective
* Ways to understand Trump presidency, e.g., the angle of history of Chinese emperors
* De-emphasizing goals of admittance to top colleges and high test scores in raising children