(translated)
“I dreamt that I went to sleep, a place I have never been to.
Through a wall, holding a net in the hand, eyes like a mysterious moon
I found that I have been in the net I have in my own hands.
It is like me, it is like my memory
But my memory is not here, not here.
When I slept, I dreamt of a woman I have never seen before.
She looks a bit strange but it makes me fascinated
She took away the idea that I was out of control.
I am afraid, I am afraid to wake up suddenly, I am afraid to wake up suddenly.
She laughs at me, she laughs at me.
Laughing, my memory is not here, not here.
I am happy, happiness, happiness”
I’m not sure how accurate this translation might be, but these lyrics reminded me of the relationship between Pearl and Wong Wan-Lee in “And China Has Hands”. When Wong Wan-Lee meets Pearl, he believes that she is an Angel from his dream – “when I slept, I dreamt of a woman I have never seen before/ She looks a bit strange, but it makes me fascinated/ She took away the idea that I was out of control”.
Wong Wan-Lee is astonished when he first encounters the half Chinese, half African-American Pearl Chang; unlike anybody else he’s seen before, the body and character of Pearl soon becomes a site of conflicting emotions and strange tension for Wan-Lee. His growing obsession for Pearl is somewhat matched by Pearl’s own exoticizing curiosity for the Chinese launderer— to her, he represents the perfect opportunity to challenge, affirm, and formulate her own (mis)conceptions of the Chinese.
Each anxious, thrilled, and disturbed by the other, the two characters come together through a string of absurd but telling situations. I particularly thought about the scenario in which Pearl visits Wong Wan-Lee and tells him that the Chinese need to incorporate meat into their national dishes. Wong Wan-Lee is affected by this comment, and becomes deeply uncomfortable in the moment with her increasing physical advances. He worries, repeatedly, that she would laugh at him for being a vegetarian – “she laughs at me, she laughs at me. / laughing, my memory is not here, not here.” In observing how Pearl inconsistently distances herself from identifying with “her people” and her heritage, the cacophony of Xie Tian Xiao’s “幸福” might serve as a sound for Wong Wan-Lee’s confusion, a shared discord.