| Abstract | Much is known about the life experience of Ah Quin, who immigrated to the United States from China in 1863 at the age of 15 and eventually settled in San Diego as a railroad labor contractor, based on a ten-volume personal diary left by Quin documenting his daily activities and private thoughts. His descendants also actively maintain memories of his life. Quin's life history is thus a reflection of both his own words and the oral traditions of his descendants. This provides the author with the means to study how memories construct life history and its dialectic relationship with written sources. The author also discusses the ways in which the bearers of Quin's life history are impacted by the shared memory of his life.
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