Two eminent Chinese American artists discussed how parental pressure, coupled with living in a different culture from the one their parents grew up informed their worldview, and even fuelled their sense of rebellion.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and novelist Amy Tan were speaking at last month's Sino-U.S. Cultural Forum, where they were joined by other celebrities from the US and China.

Both Tan and Ma admitted to having a rebellious streak growing up. However, Tan, with her admissions of drug-taking and temporary imprisonment outdid Ma's tales of occasional drunkenness.

Growing up in a world that was completely different to the one their parents knew, it was perhaps inevitable that Tan and Ma would challenge their parents' often harsh authority.

When discussing their immigrant parents, Tan, in particular, had many stories about her mother. Orville Schell, chairman of the forum and the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York, recalled that Tan's mother lived with the expectation that her children would have all the advantages of living in America, coupled with Chinese character and discipline.

Tan remembered her mother's stern side. "She was very Chinese in her attitude to everything, especially things she considered dangerous," said Tan, author of New York Times bestsellers including, "The Joy Luck Club", "The Kitchen God's Wife" and "The Hundred Secret Senses. " Tan recalled growing up with her mother's endless threats and warnings ringing in her ears, especially where boys were concerned. "She'd say, 'Don't kiss a boy, otherwise it could lead to pregnancy, and then a baby, which you'd have to put in the garbage,'" said Tan. The chilling warning ended with the predication that Tan would probably end up killing herself as a consequence of kissing a boy at such a young age.

In addition to the warnings, there were threats of varying levels. When her mother would say, "I'll go back to China if you don't listen to me," Tan sometimes thought it wouldn't be such a bad thing. However, when her mother switched to, "Why didn't you listen to me? I may as well be dead," Tan knew she was furious.

Tan also recalled being taken to a girl's funeral by her mother. "She told me, 'That's what will happen to you if you're disobedient,'" said Tan. She also remembered a funny conversation, during which her startled mother said,"How could you think that, I haven't put it in your head yet!"

他們生活在異國(guó)他鄉(xiāng)，成長(zhǎng)環(huán)境與父母全然不同，還面對(duì)著來(lái)自父母的壓力。他們的世界觀是如何形成的？他們叛逆的性情又怎樣被點(diǎn)燃？?jī)晌恢拿兰A裔文化人對(duì)此展開(kāi)了探討。

大提琴家馬友友和小說(shuō)家譚恩美與眾多中美名人一起參加了上月舉行的中美文化論壇。

譚恩美和馬友友都承認(rèn)，他們的成長(zhǎng)歷程中都留有叛逆的痕跡。不過(guò)，相比起馬友友時(shí)不時(shí)的叮嚀大醉，譚恩美磕藥和坐牢的故事則更勝一籌。

譚恩美和馬友友成長(zhǎng)的環(huán)境與父輩完全不同，因此也無(wú)可避免地挑戰(zhàn)著他們父母嚴(yán)酷的權(quán)威。

在談到父輩那代移民時(shí)，譚恩美特別例舉了她媽媽的眾多軼事。本次論壇的主席、亞洲協(xié)會(huì)美中關(guān)系中心（紐約）的阿瑟?羅斯主任夏偉回憶道， 譚恩美的母親期望她的孩子能享有生活在美國(guó)的優(yōu)勢(shì)，同時(shí)兼具中國(guó)人的品質(zhì)和性格。

譚恩美回憶起媽媽嚴(yán)厲的一面，說(shuō)道：“從她對(duì)所有事物的態(tài)度來(lái)看，她就是個(gè)中國(guó)人，尤其是在面對(duì)她覺(jué)得危險(xiǎn)的事物時(shí)?！弊T恩美憑借著作品如《喜福會(huì)》、《灶神娘娘》、《靈感女孩》等多次被《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》評(píng)為暢銷(xiāo)小說(shuō)家。譚恩美回憶道，她的成長(zhǎng)伴隨著母親不絕于耳的威脅與警告，尤其是涉及到跟男孩子打交道的時(shí)候?！八龝?huì)說(shuō)，‘別和男孩接吻，否則就會(huì)導(dǎo)致你懷孕，然后你就會(huì)有了小孩，還不得不把他（她）扔到垃圾桶里，”譚恩美說(shuō)道。最終，這個(gè)令人不寒而栗的警告以譚恩美很可能自絕生命的預(yù)言作為結(jié)局，因?yàn)樗谇酀耆A時(shí)親吻了一位少年。

除警告外，譚恩美的母親還有各式各樣、不同級(jí)別的威脅。當(dāng)她媽媽說(shuō)：“如果你再不聽(tīng)我的，我就要回中國(guó)了。”有時(shí)候，譚恩美想這未嘗不是件好事。然而，當(dāng)她母親轉(zhuǎn)而說(shuō)道：“你為什么不聽(tīng)我的？我還不如死了算了?！弊T恩美知道那個(gè)時(shí)侯的她已經(jīng)非常憤怒了。

譚恩美回憶起她母親帶她去參加一個(gè)女孩的葬禮，“她告訴我，如果你不聽(tīng)話就會(huì)變成這樣。”她還記起了一個(gè)非常有趣的對(duì)話，其間，她母親表現(xiàn)得頗為驚訝，既而說(shuō)道：“你怎么能這么想呢？我還沒(méi)把這些想法灌輸?shù)侥愕哪X袋里呢!”