The Joy Luck Club Practice Flashcards

A collection of vocabulary terms and key characters from Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club focusing on character identities and cultural themes.

Jing-Mei Woo (June)

The protagonist who takes her mother's place at the Joy Luck Club and travels to China to meet her twin half-sisters.

Suyuan Woo

The founder of the Joy Luck Club in Kweilin and San Francisco; she was forced to abandon her twin daughters on a road during the war.

An-Mei Hsu

A mother who learned the concept of 'shou' (respect) by watching her own mother cut her own flesh to make a curative soup for her dying grandmother.

Lindo Jong

A woman who escaped an arranged marriage to Tyan-yu by using clever 'signs' and 'bad dreams' to convince her mother-in-law the match was doomed.

Ying-Ying St. Clair

A 'Tiger' lady who lost her spirit (chi) after an abusive first marriage and later struggled to communicate with her daughter, Lena.

Waverly Jong

Lindo's daughter and a childhood chess prodigy who grew up to be a successful tax attorney with a competitive relationship with June.

Lena St. Clair

Ying-ying's daughter who works as an associate in an architectural firm and struggles with a marriage based on a strict 'balance sheet' of expenses.

Rose Hsu Jordan

An-mei's daughter who initially struggled with 'lack of wood' (indecisiveness) but eventually stood up to her husband, Ted, during their divorce.

The Joy Luck Club

A social group started by Suyuan Woo where four women played mah jong, ate special foods, and shared stories to hope for good fortune.

Mah Jong

A traditional Chinese game played with tiles; in the novel, it serves as a symbol of strategy, luck, and the connections between the mothers.

Shou

A Chinese concept of deep respect and duty for one's parents and ancestors.

Chabudwo

A Chinese expression meaning 'almost the same' or 'not much difference.'

Hulihudu

A Chinese term describing a state of being 'confused' or 'muddled.'

Chi

The vital life force or spirit that Ying-ying believes she lost and must pass on to her daughter.

The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates

A traditional Chinese book mentioned by the mothers that warns of various dangers awaiting children outside the home.

Invisible Strength

A strategy taught to Waverly by Lindo, used for winning arguments and chess games by biting one's tongue and remaining patient.