Being Cantonese

As an immigrant in the United States, learning English is a priority. That was my priority for the past 52 years, and I still have trouble with the English grammar. In 2022, at the film screening of Living Dictionary: Cantonese by Laura Garber and Wangyuxuan Xu, I was made aware that Cantonese was being replaced by Mandarin in China. School children may not converse in Cantonese at school or they'll be fined.This political move has a ripple effect on the Chinese schools in San Francisco Chinatown. Parents prefer to enroll their children in Mandarin rather than Cantonese speaking classes. Essentially, Cantonese is being silently and systematically erased.

Someone I met at the film screening asked me a question that changed my course as a writer: "Why is there no Cantonese play in San Francisco?" This question led me to the Four Seas Players in New York, where they have been producing Cantonese plays for over 50 years. Inspired by their work and realizing that there is a lack of repertoire in the Bay Area, I set out to write my first Cantonese play, DragonBeard.

Writing in Cantonese brings back memories of the language and culture. Like a cozy blanket I'm comforted and at the same time stimulated by the complexity, humor, slangs, unique intonations and fluidity of Cantonese. I've come home. And for the audience who came to see DragonBeard, they've come home too.

I've begun this journey of returning, to explore the culture that shaped me. I've made a promise to myself to produce one Cantonese production a year at the Clarion. Canto Pride

is such a production. In 2026, we'll produce A Lantern Riddle, my second Cantonese play.

In the year after, there'll be another configuration of Canto Pride... In the heart of hearts, Cantonese will always be there.

There are other dialects in Chinatown. Each one deserves to be honored and preserved. Poets Genny Lim and Nellie Wong incorporate TaiShan dialect in their poetry. Unbound books, our next door neighbor, will open soon and carry books in Chinese. Other Chinatown art organizations such as Chinese Cultural Center brings artists from Hong Kong. We're all doing our part to keep the cultural fire burning. And it's getting brighter.

Photos by Zabrina Deng. Posters designed by Inga Chernogradskaia.