Chinese Heritage Foundation founder Ming Tchou with The Minneapolis Foundation President Emmett D. Carson.

Ming Tchou creates Chinese Heritage Foundation

The Chinese Heritage Foundation is now established to preserve and promote the understanding of Chinese history, culture and heritage. The Chinese Heritage Foundation (CHF) is an endowed fund at The Minneapolis Foundation and will issue grants on the recommendation of an elected group of advisors.

MCF was created by Ms. Ming Tchou, a long-time Minneapolis resident active in Chinese community, provided her own resources to launch the Fund, and also created the Dr. M. F. Tchou Memorial Fund – in honor of her late husband, Dr. Jim Tchou.

"As I look back on my 40 years in Minnesota, I know that I have been blessed with a wonderful life here and that it is time to give back to our community," said Tchou. "All of us are put on this Earth for a purpose - for me it is to take that first step to provide for a means to preserve and promote our Chinese heritage to all Minnesotans and create mutual understanding and lasting friendship between cultures."

Individual contributions of any amount may be directed to the CHF general fund, or ear marked to specific programs under the CHF "umbrella."

Emmett D. Carson, president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation, expressed his confidence that the values of the Chinese Heritage Foundation would enrich the community for generations to come: "The Chinese community in Minnesota has made important contributions to our cultural, intellectual and economic life. Ming Tchou continues this tradition of generosity by ensuring that the heritage of China and its people will flourish in our community in perpetuity."

The family of Ming Tchou comes from Guangzhou, China. Her grandfather was a judge and Dean of the Law School at Zhongshan Daxue. Her father and his brothers were all attorneys. They were all graduates of the Sorbonne University, France. Ming’s father was also a traditional Chinese scholar, accomplished in Chinese arts and letters. Thus Ming grew up in an extended family full of scholars and poets. She fondly recalled that her mother and father used to carry on their discussions by writing poems to each other. Her mother is now 102 and currently residing in California.

In the 1930s, Ming went to Shanghai to study law, and met Dr. M. F. Tchou, who had come from Vietnam to attend medical school. The War interrupted her studies and Ming lived with family in Hong Kong and Macao. Dr. Tchou stayed behind in the Shanghai French quarter to finish medical school. The two were married in 1946 in Shanghai, and then lived in Kunming and then Vietnam in 1947. They settled in Haiphong where Dr. Tchou practiced for several years.

The two continued study in Paris and the United States in the 1950s, and eventually resided in East Texas, before returning to teach in China. They lived in Canada, and in 1961 returned to the U.S. and lived in Minnesota.

In 1971 Ming opened a Chinese gift shop, called Ming’s Import Gallery, at the Kahler Hotel in Rochester, and even dabbled in the restaurant business, until founding the Chinese Senior Citizens Society (CSCS).

Between 1984-1996 Ming led more than ten group tours to China, including the first one from the Midwest organized by the U.S. China People Friendship Association (USCPFA), another organization of which she was a founding member. Ming was also very involved with the Minnesota International Center (MIC), the Chinese American Association of Minnesota (CAAM), the National Association of Chinese Americans (NACA), the International Committee of the Minneapolis Women’s Club, and the Hennepin Medical Auxiliary.

Reflecting on her 40 years in Minnesota, Ming said, “We should learn how to share ideas with each other and to do it often.” Through the Chinese Heritage Foundation that she has established at the Minneapolis Foundation she plans to devote the coming years to promoting this important function within the Chinese community and with the wider community in Minnesota.

CHF funding will focus on Education (to promote the understanding of Chinese history and literature); Arts and Culture; Chinese heritage (to include lineage); Chinese seniors' well being (to promote and to initiate programs tending to the well being of Chinese senior citizens in Minnesota, such as providing Chinese meals, facilitating coming together, and senior daycare programs); and Communication (to promote mutual understanding between the Chinese community and the Minnesota community at large.

Patrons may also contribute to CHF for the purpose of creating they’re own fund.

For more information about The Chinese Heritage Foundation and funds, contact Dan Berg at The Minneapolis Foundation, 612.672.3828, dberg@mplsfoundation.org.