Yeong-Tsuey Uang was born and raised in Kao Shiung, Taiwan. She moved to the United States in 1980. When she was growing up, her family worshiped their ancestors on two holidays: Chinese New Year and Grave Sweeping Day (Qingming jie). In 1990, Yeong-Tsuey went back to Taiwan and attended her grandmother's funeral. Her grandmother was a Christian, so the funeral was a mixture of traditional Chinese and Christian procedures. She notes:

"In Chinese tradition, when a person who is over eighty years old passes away, the decorations at the funeral are different. The colors red or pink are used instead of white. Because my grandmother was ninety-eight, we used pink decorations at the funeral. Actually, the details about the funeral are unimportant to me. What really matters are the family relationship and morals, which are the core of Chinese tradition. This is what I will pass on to my children."

Yeong-Tsuey Uang, April 2001
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