The Transnational History of a Chinese Family: Immigrant Letters, Family Business and Reverse Migration. Family and home are one word - jia - in the Chinese language. Family can be separated and home may be relocated, but jia remains intact. It signifies a system of mutual obligation, lasting responsibility, and cultural values. This strong yet flexible sense of kinship has enabled many Chinese immigrant families to endure long physical separation and accommodate continuities and discontinuities in the process of social mobility. Based on an analysis of over 3000 family letters and other primary sources, Haiming Liu presents a remarkable transnational history of a Chinese family from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s. This well-documented and illustrated family history makes it clear that, for many Chinese immigrant families, migration does not mean a break from the past but the beginning of a new life that incorporates and transcends dual national boundaries. It convincingly shows how transnationalism has become a way of life for Chinese American families.