In real Chinese folklore, those vows are cut into the back of a male hero, a great general named Yue Fei. In his search for a mythology for Asian Americans, Chin turned to classical Chinese literature. The outlaws showed courage, loyalty and integrity, according to Chin. That heroic moral code died when the Chinese came to America. To help revive the tradition, Chin recently published two children's books based on old Chinese tales.
Feminist scholars brush aside the heroic tradition.
Chin contends there is a spirit of equality in the ancient tales. There's more misogyny in the Bible and Greek literature than in Chinese mythology. Fans of Maxine Hong Kingston filled the courtyard of an old brick library in San Francisco's Chinatown. Wittman Ah Sing makes love to a white woman he just met at a Berkeley party. He parted her sweet, suckable toes and kissed one. . .