Anchee Min Quotes

China, Author
January 14, 1957

Anchee Min or Min Anqi (Chinese: 閔安琪; pinyin: Mǐn Ānqí; born January 14, 1957 in Shanghai, China) is a Chinese-American author who lives in San Francisco and Shanghai. Min has published two memoirs, Red Azalea and The Cooked Seed: A Memoir, and six historical novels. Her fiction emphasizes strong female characters, such as Jiang Qing, the wife of chairman Mao Zedong, and Empress Dowager Cixi, the last ruling empress of China.

The self was a very strange concept to me until I came to America, and my child was born with that entitlement, and that just thrilled me.

Anchee Min
- America
There have been 50 or 60 books written about Empress Orchid, but none of them bothered to really examine the period in China when she lived. I was taught that she was evil; it's in all the textbooks.

Anchee Min
- She
- Evil
- Period

I understood that without English I would never get far, so my dream was to become a receptionist, and so I started to learn English from watching 'Sesame Street.'

Anchee Min
- Dream
- English
There are a lot of things that immigrants, especially Chinese-Americans, want to share with their children, but there are a lot of things they don't want to share.

Anchee Min
- Children
- Chinese
When Chinese get together - what's buried stays buried. We don't even discuss our embarrassing early days struggling in Chicago.

Anchee Min
- Together
- Chinese
- Chicago
Of course I have the license to make up things, but I think a lot of what's written about China is misleading, and most Americans don't know much about China, in-depth, even though China is such a crucial business partner, rival, whatever.

Anchee Min
- Up
- Business
- Partner
When I first came to America, you know, I would look at the newsstands and see the women on the magazine covers. I had never seen anyone smile the way these girls smile! It's like they have nothing to worry about!

Anchee Min
- Women
- America
- Worry
No matter how American I become, I'm considered part of the Chinese community by my own family.

Anchee Min

To be able to do art, it was a luxury to me.

Anchee Min
- Art
My goal was to do anything that would lead to a job. I know that writing would not lead to a job. It's too fancy for me. My biggest goal was to be an office receptionist, answer phones. I didn't expect to go beyond that.

Anchee Min
- Writing
- Job