Novelist Amy Tan has always turned to her own family for writing inspiration. “The Joy Luck Club,” one of her most famous books, has autobiographical elements.
Now, she has some fascinating new material to work with thanks to her “Finding Your Roots” appearance.
The 72-year-old sat down with the show’s host, Henry Louis Gates Jr., for the Jan. 21 episode of the PBS series to trace her family tree and learn more about her ancestors.
In TODAY.com’s exclusive clip from the episode, Tan goes deep into her family tree, starting with her 22nd great-grandfather, who was the founder of Tan’s family clan in the 12th century.
“You are able to trace your family lineage back more than 800 years through a paper trail,” Gates told Tan.
Moved by the discovery, the author said, “Wow, it just shows you how deeply connected we are to the past. It also makes me want to write more stories about my family.”
“Well, we’ve done the research for you,” Gates mused in response.
The show’s host was curious to know how Tan’s late father would have felt to learn about his ancestor.
“He would’ve been very proud and glad that we finally understand that side of the family,” she said.
“(My dad) was so focused on making us American so we would fit in. And so I think he would just say, ‘Yes, now you’re ready to know this part of the family. You can be Chinese as well. You can go into this with pride and with curiosity now — and the knowledge that these are people who passed on all the things that are important,” she said.
Tan has written about the Chinese-American experience throughout her career as an author.
In 2017, the author spoke to PBS about her memoir, “Where The Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir,” and acknowledged that some of her fiction work is semi-autobiographical.
“Everybody’s novel is semi-autobiographical. I mean, you have questions, or the way you think of life, or the kind of people you think are interesting — or not interesting. People who have impacted your life and made you who you are, that’s who you put in your story,” she said. “So they’re all autobiographical.”
