Called to Rise: Chinese Americans in CBI

A special educational traveling exhibit exploring Chinese American participation in the China Burma India (CBI) Theater of World War II
Available for rental in your venue; contact us for more information
Buy the Called to Rise companion book commemorating the 75th anniversary of World War II

Major John C. Young, instructing Chinese troops on use of weapons, February 20, 1945. Photo courtesy Connie Young Yu

When the United States entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, China had already been at war with Japan for ten years. Chinese American had supported China’s lone fight, raising money for her defense and protesting the export of scrap iron and other material from the U.S. to Japan. At last America would recognize the importance of the Chinese role in the war in keeping large segments of Japanese armed forces occupied in China.

Chinese Americans in CBI is a largely untold story in a forgotten chapter of World War II. Moreover, it is part of the larger story of how Chinese Americans, along with so many communities of color and women, contributed to the defeat of fascism abroad and to a new phase in the struggle for civil rights and social justice here at home. Chinese Americans who lived through the period remember it proudly as a turning point in their empowerment in our society and participation to the fullest in a double victory.

Exhibit sponsored by: Chinese Historical Society of America, National Parks Service, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Asian Improv arts with Lenora Lee Dance, and API Cultural Center.