The Power Dynamics In And China Has Hands By T. Tsiang

In any given social situation or relationship, a power dynamic exists. When creating an authentic narrative, it is crucial that those power dynamics exist within the text. However, since each person holds with them a multitude of identities, power dynamics are not necessarily clear-cut or based on simple dichotomies. In H.T. Tsiang’s novel And China Has Hands, the protagonist—Wong Wan-Lee—is faced with the task of understanding how power dynamics function, and struggles to find spaces and moments in which he has agency and power. While traditional gender politics would make it seems as though Wong Wan-Lee has more power and sense of control over Pearl Chang in And China Has Hands, the deliberate presence of intersectionality complicates the

Even in these moments when Wan-Lee tries to take control of Pearl Chang, she still manages to keep her agency in these situations. For example, in this same moment when Wan-Lee dehumanizes Pearl Chang to a piece of food by violently grabbing her breasts, Pearl Chang switches to the dominant role in their relationship by stopping the assault and walking away. Pearl Chang not only takes control of her own body in this moment and has the agency to walk away; she also takes a moment to confront Wan-Lee Directly. She moves away from him and yells “This is not a tennis ball; this is my breast! This is not a Lee-Chee nut; this is my nipple! You hurt me! I thought you were born in China, the land of Confucius, Lao-Tze and Buddha. But you are as tough as any white brat I ever met when I was South!” (106). In this single moment, Pearl Chang subverts the power dynamic in two ways. First, she reclaims control of her body, and also humanizes herself in a way that confronts his seeing her body as an object and as food. Second, she also confronts the idea that he is better than her because he has a “more pure” Chinese identity. In comparing his actions to the actions of a southern brat, she makes the savageness of his actions more clear (connecting back to that first moment when they were drinking tea) and addresses the fact that his is not innately more refined because he has a “more authentic” Chinese experience. Thus, in this single moment, Pearl Chang is able to subvert Wan-Lee’s ideas of the power dynamic of their relationship by reclaiming agency over her own body, and by addressing the problematic beliefs that create the foundation of his