Acculturation: Chinese Americans' Way To Survive

Chinese Americans have played an increasing role in American social life. Since the first landing the United States, the Chinese Americans have faced and scrambled over great obstacles in about one and half century. They have to confront the conflicts and shocks between Oriental and Hesperian civilization, and since then, they have been trying hard to adapt themselves to American culture. Chinese Americans in the New Land had undergone the painful transition and gradually developed a dual personality of Chinese tradition and Americanism. Finally, they make it possible by the adoption of acculturation strategy to melt into the mainstream.The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it will display the cultural confusion and challenge of Chinese Americans from the historical and cultural perspectives by combining their early life and American culture. Secondly, it will illuminate the strategy taken by Chinese Americans and their contribution to maintaining the Chinese heritage by their achievements in politics, education and social activities. By analyzing the three strategies adopted by Chinese Americans to argue that currently, the suitable way of surviving is through acculturation and point out that its core is that Chinese Americans positively embrace the mainstream values and principles not passively been Americanized.