Chinatown's Community Organizations Reflected in Louis Chu's Eat a Bowl of Tea

Louis Chu's novel Eat a Bowl of Tea(1961) is widely recognized as a pioneer masterpiece in Chinese American litera-ture. It pictures the bachelor society of Chinatown in New York City after the Second World War. Several characteristics of China-town's community organizations are reflected in this novel: kinship-based; responsible for protecting and caring for the members;led by commercial elites; rule of man, rather than rule of law. It offers us a precious chance to take a glimpse of the Chinese-Ameri-can society in post-World War II era.

Louis Chu's novel Eat a Bowl of Tea(1961) is widely recognized as a pioneer masterpiece in Chinese American literature. It pictures the bachelor society of Chinatown in New York City after the Second World War. Several characteristics of Chinatown's community organizations are reflected in this novel: kinship-based; responsible for protecting and caring for the members;led by commercial elites; rule of man, rather than rule of law. It offers us a precious chance to take a glimpse of the Chinese-American society in post-World War Ⅱ era.