Mary Sia

Mary Li Sia (August 3, 1899 – November 18, 1971) was a Chinese-American teacher and cookbook author, called "the Julia Child of Hawai'i"[1] for her long and visible career teaching and writing about Chinese food.

Mary Sia
Mary Sia, from a 1971 obituary.
Born
Mary Ling-Sang Li

August 3, 1899
Honolulu
DiedNovember 18, 1971
Honolulu
OccupationCookbook writer, teacher
ChildrenCalvin C.J. Sia
Parent(s)Kong Tai Heong (mother)
RelativesLi Ling-Ai (sister)

Early life

Mary Ling-Sang Li was born in Honolulu, the eldest of the nine children of Chinese-born doctors Li Khai Fai and Kong Tai Heong.[2][3] Her sister Li Ling-Ai was an actress and film producer. Mary Li earned a degree in home economics at the University of Hawai'i.[4] She pursued further studies in music at Yale University, and in home economics at Cornell University.[5]

Career

Sia lived and studied in Beijing in the 1920s, with her husband, a medical school professor.[6][7] They moved to Hawai'i in 1939. She was director of the Oahu YWCA in the 1940s, and served on the branch's board. She taught classes in Chinese cooking at the YWCA in Honolulu from the 1940s into the 1970s.[8][9][10] She led her classes on trips through factories, restaurants, and markets, to understand the larger context of her recipes and techniques.[5]

Sia wrote cookbooks, including Chinese Chopsticks (1935), an English-language cookbook published in Beijing, for international residents of the city,[3][11] and Mary Sia’s Chinese Cookbook (1956), which went through multiple editions.[12][13] "I have spent a lifetime in opening new culinary worlds to thousands of people, both in the East and the West," she explained in the preface to her cookbook.[8]

Personal life

Mary Li married physician Richard Ho Ping Sia in 1924. They had three children, Sylvia, Calvin, and Julia, all born in Beijing before 1930. She played the organ at churches in Hawaii, and was an avid tennis player.[14] She was a widow when she died in 1971, aged 72 years, in Honolulu.[15] Her former teaching kitchen at the YWCA in Oahu became the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership in recent years.[4] Her son Calvin C.J. Sia became a noted pediatrician.[16] Her granddaughters Laura Ing Baker and Louise Ing promoted the 2013 republication of Sia's cookbook[14] with public appearances and classes.[17]

References
  1. Solomon, Molly (August 23, 2013). "Mary Li Sia: A Celebration". Hawaii Public Radio. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  2. McCunn, Ruthanne Lum. "Profiles in Chinatown Courage", Chinese American Portraits (Chronicle Books 1988).
  3. Eulane, Edie (1959-02-19). "Mary Sia's Cookbook Tells Chinese Folklore". The Eugene Guard. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-11-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Namiki, Noriko (April 21, 2020). "A Moment in Our History: Mary Sia's Kitchen and MCBL". YWCA O‘ahu. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  5. Sia, Calvin C. J. (Winter 2003). "Gems by Mary Li Sia". Flavor and Fortune. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  6. "Former Isle Girl Returns for Visit". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1936-07-10. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-11-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Lo, May Day (1935-12-07). "Hawaii Folk in China". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Inness, S. (2005-12-22). Secret Ingredients: Race, Gender, and Class at the Dinner Table. Springer. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4039-8105-9.
  9. Paddleford, Clementine (1961-06-04). "East Meets West in the Kitchen". The Kansas City Star. p. 145. Retrieved 2020-11-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Balsley, Betsy (1969-07-16). "Teens Learn the Art of Chinese Cooking". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. 53. Retrieved 2020-11-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Laudan, Rachel (2012-08-27). "Cooking Across Cultures, Classes, and Sexes in the 1930s: The Extraordinary Career of Mary Sia". Rachel Laudan. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  12. Sia, Mary Li (1972). Mary Sia's Chinese Cookbook. University of Hawaii. ISBN 978-0-87022-760-8.
  13. Sia, Mary Li (1956). Mary Sia's Chinese Cookbook. University Press of Hawaii.
  14. Adams, Wanda A. (2013-02-06). "Fourth Edition of a Classic". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. pp. D1. Retrieved 2020-11-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Mary Li Sia, 72, Dies; Was Cooking Authority". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1971-11-20. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-11-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Calvin Chia Jung Sia Obituary". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. August 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  17. "Mary Sia's Chinese Cooking Legacy Lives On". News from University of Hawai‘i Press. 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
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