Battle Hymn

of the Tiger Mother

amy chua

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For Sophia and Louisa

And for Katrin

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This is a story about a mother, two

daughters, and two dogs. It’s also about

Mozart and Mendelssohn, the piano

and the violin, and how we made it to

Carnegie Hall.

This was supposed to be a story of how

Chinese parents are better at raising kids

than Western ones.

But instead, it’s about a bitter clash of

cultures, a fl eeting taste of glory, and how

I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old.

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DE

Part One

The Tiger, the living symbol of strength and power,

generally inspires fear and respect.

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3

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1

The Chinese Mother

A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereo-

typically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to

produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it’s

like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I

can tell them, because I’ve done it. Here are some things my

daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

• attend a sleepover

• have a playdate

• be in a school play

• complain about not being in a school play

• watch TV or play computer games

• choose their own extracurricular activities

• get any grade less than an A

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a m y c h u a

4

• not be the #1 student in every subject except gym

and drama

• play any instrument other than the piano or violin

• not play the piano or violin.

I’m using the term “Chinese mother” loosely. I recently met a

supersuccessful white guy from South Dakota (you’ve seen him

on television), and after comparing notes we decided that his

working-class father had defi nitely been a Chinese mother. I know

some Korean, Indian, Jamaican, Irish, and Ghanaian parents who

qualify too. Conversely, I know some mothers of Chinese heri-

tage, almost always born in the West, who are not Chinese moth-

ers, by choice or otherwise.

I’m also using the term “Western parents” loosely. Western

parents come in all varieties. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say

that Westerners are far more diverse in their parenting styles

than the Chinese. Some Western parents are strict; others are

lax. There are same-sex parents, Orthodox Jewish parents, sin-

gle parents, ex-hippie parents, investment banker parents, and

military parents. None of these “Western” parents necessarily

see eye to eye, so when I use the term “Western parents,” of

course I’m not referring to all Western parents—just as “Chi-

nese mother” doesn’t refer to all Chinese mothers.

All the same, even when Western parents think they’re

being strict, they usually don’t come close to being Chinese

mothers. For example, my Western friends who consider them-

selves strict make their children practice their instruments

thirty minutes every day. An hour at most. For a Chinese mother,

the fi rst hour is the easy part. It’s hours two and three that

get tough.

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b a t t l e h y m n o f t h e t i g e r m o t h e r

5

Despite our squeamishness about cultural stereotypes, there

are tons of studies out there showing marked and quantifi able

differences between Chinese and Westerners when it comes to

parenting. In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48

Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western moth-

ers said either that “stressing academic success is not good for

children” or that “parents need to foster the idea that learning is

fun.” By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the

same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said

that they believe their children can be “the best” students, that

“academic achievement refl ects successful parenting,” and that if

children did not excel at school then there was “a problem” and

parents “were not doing their job.” Other studies indicate that

compared to Western parents, Chinese parents spend approxi-

mately ten times as long every day drilling academic activities

with their children. By contrast, Western kids are more likely to

participate in sports teams.

This brings me to my fi nal point. Some might think that the

American sports parent is an analog to the Chinese mother. This

is so wrong. Unlike your typical Western overscheduling soccer

mom, the Chinese mother believes that (1) schoolwork always

comes fi rst; (2) an A-minus is a bad grade; (3) your children

must be two years ahead of their classmates in math; (4) you

must never compliment your children in public; (5) if your child

ever disagrees with a teacher or coach, you must always take the

side of the teacher or coach; (6) the only activities your children

should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually

win a medal; and (7) that medal must be gold.

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also by amy chua

Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to

Global Dominance—and Why They Fall

World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy

Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability

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First published in Great Britain, 2011

Copyright © Amy Chua, 2011

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Portions of Chapter Four first appeared as “On Becoming American” in Defining a Nation: Our America and the Sources of Its Strength, edited by David Halberstam (National Geographic, 2003).

All photographs are from the author’s family collection, with the following exceptions:p. 30, Bachrach Photography

p. 168, © Susan Bradley Photographypp. 216 & 223, Peter Z. Mahakian

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the Publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical

articles or reviews

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc36 Soho Square

London W1D 3QY

www.bloomsbury.com

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and SydneyA CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 4088 1267 9 (hardback edition)

ISBN 978 1 4088 1316 4 (trade paperback edition)

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Designed by Nicole Laroche

Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives Plc

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