ABC Jeremy Lin: When all Chinese are between dream and reality

ABC Jeremy Lin: When all Chinese are in the eyes of a Chinese American columnist between the dream and reality, Jeremy Lin. After reading it, there is a very complicated mood. Decided to translate the full text, because it provides a very special perspective, allowing readers to stand in a cultural position between China and the United States, such as Asian Americans, to feel the conflicts between culture and ideas, and to reflect on reality And dreams - when the Chinese who grew up in a dream-seeking country began to reflect.
Translator: Dairy Denny
Author: Danny Chau
What I See In Jeremy Lin
Maybe you can already see it from my last name, I am an Asian American. I am very small, and sometimes I am very unobtrusive and very docile. Like WesleyYang, I don't always feel comfortable with my yellow skin. But this Friday night, in Lin Shuhao's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, I felt a kind of gravity. Every time he touches the ball, I can't help but stand up, and my heart is filled with pride and unadorned excitement. I never shouted so loudly, and I can't remember when I was crying for a sports competition. Whether or not he has been imposed on him, Jeremy Lin carries the hopes and dreams of several generations of Asian Americans on his shoulders. It's hard for me to come up with another such historical moment: we are so proud of being an entire community because we are Asian.
No one knows what to expect from Jeremy Lin. It was supposed to be a one-sided game and it became a miracle. We don't know how long Lin Shuhao can continue this kind of performance; but for all those who have had more or less doubts about him in the past period of time, his performance has repeatedly made our doubts endless, almost all kinds of The evidence of fact forces us to believe in him.
Behind this phenomenon, everyone is not just celebrating the score on the scoreboard, isn't it? What is Linsanity? How did he influence the Asian American community and Asian immigrants around the world? What did Lin Shuhao let us see?
Jeremy Lin has become the most discussed topic on Twitter in the past week, but what surprised me the most is the comments that tried to connect Jeremy Lin and Yao Ming. No, if Yao Ming’s legacy to the NBA is a book, then Jeremy Lin is not just an appendix. No, the crazy forest phenomenon will not let Yao Ming’s time in the league be forgotten. No one can replace Yao Ming’s role as an ambassador for the sport. No one can replicate the beautiful low-post technology that Yao Ming is 7 feet 6 inches tall. Yao Ming has always been an individual phenomenon. However, although he has always been himself, you cannot separate Yao Ming from China. His will is the will of China. His efforts represent China's efforts. He was trained to serve his country and to promote his two loves in the world: his country, and basketball. For me, Jeremy Lin has different meanings.
"You are an American!" My parents always told me this way, with a smile but with a mocking tone. Yes. I am American. I was born in California, my Mandarin is not very good, and I have never been to any place in Asia. When I was a child, I accepted many basic Asian cultural theories, the most important of which was filial piety. Respect your elders and don't let them down. They made all the sacrifices you can think of, in exchange for such a golden opportunity to live in the United States now. They worked hard, prayed, and had shed blood and tears for you. do not waste time. Work hard, study, exercise, and become a good person. I have seen my parents disappointed once. I don't want to see that scene anymore. We have learned that for ourselves and our families to live better, we must make sacrifices. This may or may not include the disappearance of our own dreams.
But I am an American! If there is no dream, what else do I have? Those "advanced" occupations are the gold standard for Asian parents to assess good or bad. These occupational incomes are stable and are the logo of the aura. And they are always recruiting people. But we don't all dream of becoming doctors, lawyers, and financial analysts. For those who are not well embedded in these “tools”, we are in deep crisis. We are struggling in a tug-of-war: one side is the Chinese tradition that is planted in our genes—the filial piety we obey and our responsibility to fulfill our family's wishes, and the other is our own dream. Some of us have never found a balance in this tug-of-war. Some people have forgotten their passion in a pragmatism that weakens people's will, and some have abandoned all our ancestors' traditions with care. But some of us have found this balance to calm our past, present, and future.
Jeremy Lin did it, which is why he is so important. He proved that there is another way. When I saw Jeremy Lin cut into the inside and scored under the defense of a group of leaping giants, it was hard to imagine what else he could do in his life. But this story may have been completely different: in the past basketball week, Lin Shuhao's entire basketball career, only periodic, as usual, was despised and ignored. He can leave it all. We all know that he has a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University. But he has the courage and determination to stick to his dreams. From this point on, the sense of racial superiority gradually disappeared, and his story began to look so pure.
Jeremy Lin is modest, self-disciplined, and has spiritual strength. He is also fearless, enterprising and creative. He has found his model of expressing himself and his definition of success. Whether he becomes a true NBA star in the future, or breaking his crystal shoes and returning to the end of the bench, it doesn't matter to me. Ethan Sherwood Strauss may be right. Jeremy Lin’s existence may always be limited to a sign like Jeremy Lin – but only because the logo does not deviate from the “Lin Shuhao”. Yes, he motivated the entire Asian-American community; yes, he changed the American description of the typical Asian desperate Saburo; but the greatest inspiration that Jeremy Lin brought to me was his ability to be his own. Free and the kind of freedom he has in his position when he is with a group of the best basketball players in the world. Although I have been educated since I was a child, I believe that different cultures have determined different definitions of success, but now I believe more than ever: we have the ability to write a definition of our success. If Jeremy Lin has proved anything, then it must be how important it is to be "loyal to himself."
What did Lin Shuhao let us see? We ourselves, and the possibilities in our lives that we did not really believe.
I am an Asian. I am an American. I am small, not arrogant, very docile. But I have my voice, I have my control over myself. I hope that one day, I can confidently demonstrate this voice and this power. Just like Jeremy Lin.