Chinese Jamaicans
Total population | |
---|---|
50,228 (2011 census)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Saint Andrew, Saint James, Westmoreland, Manchester, Kingston Parish, Trelawny, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Saint Catherine | |
Languages | |
Jamaican English, Jamaican Patois, Hakka; recent immigrants and businesspeople also speak Mandarin | |
Religion | |
Christianity (primarily Catholicism and Anglicanism) with some elements of Chinese folk religion,[2] Buddhism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Hakka people, Ethnic Chinese in Panama, Jamaican Americans, Jamaican Canadians |
Chinese Jamaicans are Jamaicans of Chinese ancestry, which include descendants of migrants from China to Jamaica. Early migrants came in the 19th century; there was another moment of migration in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the descendants of early migrants have moved abroad, primarily to Canada and the United States.[3] Most Chinese Jamaicans are Hakka and many can trace their origin to the indentured Chinese laborers who came to Jamaica in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries.
According to one study, approximately 4% of Jamaican men have a direct Chinese paternal ancestor.[4]
Migration history
Despite an old census record stating a "Chinese Painter" named Isaak Lawson lived in
Early Chinese migrants, largely male, often entered into
When black and
The influx of Chinese indentured immigrants aimed to replace the outlawed system of black slavery. It entailed signing a five-year contract that bound the laborers physically to specific planters and their estates and subjected them to physical and financial penalties whenever any contractual conditions were broken.
From 1910, Chinese immigrants were required to pay a £30 deposit and pass a written test to demonstrate that they could write 50 words in three different languages. The restrictions on Chinese migrants were tightened even further in 1931, but relaxed again by 1947 due to lobbying by the Chinese consulate.
In the 1970s, thousands of Chinese Jamaicans fled a wave of inter-ethnic violence against them; at first, they went primarily to Canada, which was more open to immigration than the United States, with the U.S. becoming a major immigration destination later on. As a result, clusters of Chinese Jamaicans can be found outside Jamaica primarily in locales like
Community organizations
In comparison to
The first Chinese-language newspaper in Jamaica, the Zhonghua Shang Bao (中華商報), was founded in 1930 by Zheng Yongkang; five years later, it was taken over by the Chinese Benevolent Association, who renamed it Huaqiao Gongbao (華僑公報). It continued publication until 1956, and was revived in 1975.[24] The Chinese Freemasons also published their own handwritten weekly newspaper, the Minzhi Zhoukan (民治周刊) until 1956. The Pagoda, started in 1940, was the first English-language newspaper for the Chinese community. The local branch of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) also began publishing their own paper, The Chung San News (中山報) in 1953.[22]
Prior to Jamaican independence, there was an annual Miss Chinese Jamaica
There was also a Chinese Jamaican community school, the Chinese Public School. It was set up first by the Chinese Freemasons in 1920 (under the Chinese name 華僑公立學校), and operated until 1922; a Chinese drama club revived the school in 1924 (and gave it a new Chinese name 新民學校, literally "New People's School"), charging tuition fees of £6. The drama club continued to operate the school until 1928, when the CBA purchased it for £2,300 and gave it its present name, and moved it into a larger building.[29] The CBA promulgated a new constitution for the school in 1944, which stated that it would follow the curriculum of the Republic of China's Ministry of Education and that Chinese was the primary medium of instruction while "foreign languages" were secondary. In 1945, with enrollments booming to 300 students and competitor schools being established as well, the Republic of China consulate called for donations to renovate the school, eventually raising £10,000. In the 1950s, there was heated debate in the community over the medium of instruction, with some suggesting curriculum localisation in the name of practicality, while others saw abandonment of Chinese-medium instruction as tantamount to abandonment of Chinese identity.[30] Practical considerations won out; the curriculum was reorganised with English as the primary instructional medium in 1952 and by 1955, the school only had two teachers who could speak any Chinese.[31] After that, the school's fortunes fluctuated and it was finally closed down in the mid-1960s.[32][33]
The Chinese-Jamaican community remains prominent. In 1970, there were still 11,710 Chinese living in Jamaica. The community remains strong and they continue to celebrate traditional Chinese holidays, such as the Harvest Moon and Chinese New Year.[16]
Interethnic relations
The Chinese establishment of grocery shops throughout Jamaica had provoked concern amongst whites and blacks in Jamaica as early as 1911. It was widely believed that the Chinese were guilty of arson against their own property for insurance purposes, whereas previously they were only accused of sharp business practices.[34]
Along with other immigrant ethnic groups to Jamaica that had made significant entrepreneurial achievements such as
According to a newspaper report (31 March 1934) on "pernicious drugs" in Jamaica, the issue concerning opium became one of the early roots of xenophobic attitudes against the new Chinese immigrants of the early 1900s. The white elites became intolerable of this new wave of Chinese migrants coming in large numbers as shopkeepers. The newspaper editorial (10 June 1913) made the distinction between the earlier Chinese migrants and their present "poverty stricken, ignorant fellow countrymen", who were blamed for the 'opium scare' in Jamaica now that the "natives are succumbing to the vile and deadly habit". This first anti-Chinese thrust was rooted in the opium drug trade. The foundation was set for the first and a massive anti-Chinese riot in 1918.[36]
In his book, Howard Johnson (1982) argued that, when compared to other anti-Chinese events, the 1918 event was a massive expression of anti-Chinese sentiments in Jamaica. It began in Ewarton and spread quickly to other parts of St Catherine, and other parishes such as St Mary, St Ann and Clarendon. The events were incited by a story that a Chinese shopkeeper in Ewarton caught a Jamaican off-duty policeman in a romantic liaison with his Jamaican "paramour". The shopkeeper and several of his Chinese friends brutally thrashed the Jamaican man. It was then rumoured that the policeman was killed which led to violence breaking out against the Chinese shopkeepers.
During the late 1920s letters (22 September 1926) the colonial secretary L P Waison held meetings with the police. According to the letter, Waison accused the government for its failure to employ the law against Chinese immigrants: "such as the open exploitation of shop assistants; the breaking of the spirit and gambling laws" (peaka-pow). Waison's threats were drastic. He advocated extreme violence against Chinese, "that their shops will be burnt down".
Newspaper reports in January and March 1934 described this "pernicious" drug traffic by the Chinese and expressed concern that it was spreading among the lower class of that community who were becoming "chronic opium addicts".[37]
Religion
Early Chinese migrants to Jamaica brought elements of Chinese folk religion with them, most exemplified by the altar to Lord Guan which they erected in the old CBA building and which remains standing there, even as the CBA moved its headquarters.[38] However, with the passage of long decades since their ancestors first migrated from China, traditional Chinese religious practices have largely died out among Chinese Jamaicans.[39] Some traditional practices persisted well into the 20th century, most evident at the Chinese Cemetery, where families would go to clean their ancestors' graves during the Qingming Festival in what was often organised as a communal activity by the CBA (referred to in English as Gah San, after the Hakka word 掛山); however, with the emigration of much of the Chinese Jamaican community to the North American mainland, the public, communal aspect of this grave-cleaning died out and indeed it was not carried out for more than a decade before attempts by the CBA to revive it in 2004.[40]
Christianity has become the dominant religion among Chinese Jamaicans; they primarily adhere to the
The newest wave of Chinese migrants from Hong Kong and mainland China are mainly non-Christians, but they have not brought with them any widely visible Chinese religious practises. A few of them were already Protestants and have formed their own churches, which conduct worship services in Chinese; due to language barriers, they have little connection to the more assimilated segments of the Chinese Jamaican community.[43]
Cultural syncretism
Chinese Jamaicans have also affected the development of
Assimilation has taken place through generations and few Chinese Jamaicans can speak Chinese today; most of them speak English or Jamaican Patois as their first language. The vast majority have anglicized given names and many have Chinese surnames. The Chinese food culture has survived to a large degree among this group of people.[citation needed]
Common surnames among the Chinese population in Jamaica include Chai, Chan, Chang, Chen, Chin, Chong, Chung, Chow, Fong, Fung, Hugh, Kong, Leung, Li, Lim, Ling, Lowe, Lyn, Ng, Wan, Wang, Wong, Yap, Yapp, Young, Yuen, Yang, Zhang, Zheng and Zhu.[citation needed]
Notable people
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2021) |
- Supa Dups
- Tyson Beckford, model
- Naomi Campbell, model, actress and businesswoman
- Ashley Chin, actor
- Clive Chin, record producer
- Tessanne Chin, Singer
- Vincent Chin, record producer and VP Recordslabel founder and owner
- Cornel Chin-Sue, Football player
- Delroy Chuck, Cabinet Minister[18]
- Mark Chung, Footballer
- Patrick Chung, American football player[46]
- Mikey Chung, guitarist and percussionist for notable Jamaican music groups
- Sarah Cooper, comedian[47]
- Ayesha Curry, actress and author
- Vincent HoSang, Businessman
- Leslie Kong, music producer
- Robinne Lee, actress and author
- Michael Lee-Chin, billionaire businessman, philanthropist and the chairman and CEO of Portland Holdings Inc
- Rose Leon, Cabinet minister[18]
- Nicole Lyn, actress
- Paula Madison, journalist, writer, and businesswoman
- Sean Paul, recording artist, producer and actor
- Rachelle Smith, Football player
- Karin Taylor, model and actress
- Kreesha Turner, record artist and songwriter
- Tom Wong, creator of the Tom the Great Sebastian sound system
- Henry Vernon Wong, physicist
- Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, musician, record producer, and entrepreneur
- Josh Ho-Sang, ice hockey player
- Phil Chen, bass guitarist
See also
- Caribbean–China relations
- China–Jamaica relations
- Chinese Caribbeans
References
- ^ "2011 Census of Population & Housing, Population by sex and Ethnic Origin by Parish (P. 72)". issuu.com. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ Shibata 2006
- ^ a b c Hemlock, Doreen (17 April 2005), "Out of Many, One People: Chinese-Jamaicans Treasure Their Roots And Their Communities", Sun-Sentinel, retrieved 26 August 2010[permanent dead link]
- PMID 22576450.
- ^ a b Li 2004, p. 44
- ^ Lai 1998, p. 47
- ^ Li 2004, p. 43
- ^ Bouknight-Davis 2004, p. 83
- ^ a b Lai 1993, p. 50
- ISBN 9766401276. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-9231033582. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ISSN 0846-8869. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ISBN 0714633577. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ISBN 0802078990. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ a b Lai, Walton Look (2013). "Asian Indentured Immigration to the Caribbean". The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. pp. 595–599.
- ^ S2CID 160559961.
- .
- ^ a b c Tortello, Rebecca (1 September 2003), "The Arrival of the Chinese", The Jamaica Gleaner, retrieved 30 August 2010
- ^ Lai 1998, p. 287
- ^ Lacey 1977, p. 26
- ^ Li 2004, p. 53
- ^ a b Li 2004, p. 52
- ^ Li 2004, p. 47
- ^ Li 2004, p. 51
- ^ Barnes 1997, p. 297
- ^ Barnes 1997, p. 299
- ^ Barnes 1997, p. 300
- ^ Barnes 1997, pp. 301–302
- ^ Li 2004, p. 48
- ^ Li 2004, p. 49
- ^ Li 2004, pp. 49–50
- ^ Li 2004, p. 50
- ^ a b Shibata 2006, p. 58
- ^ Lacey 1977, p. 86
- ^ Lacey 1977, p. 14
- ^ Limited, Jamaica Observer (April 2014). "Conflicts with the Chinese revisited". Jamaica Observer.
- ^ Limited, Jamaica Observer. "Conflicts with the Chinese revisited – Columns".
- ^ Shibata 2006, pp. 55–56
- ^ Shibata 2006, p. 52
- ^ Shibata 2006, pp. 64–5
- ^ Shibata 2006, p. 57
- ^ Li 2004, p. 56
- ^ Shibata 2006, pp. 58–59
- ^ "Asian-American Heritage Week: Chinese Jamaicans Help Reggae Music Evolve", NY1.com, 15 May 2007, retrieved 30 August 2010
- ^ "Asian-American Heritage Week: Multi-Ethnic Family Works To Maintain Asian Heritage", NY1.com, 11 May 2007, retrieved 30 August 2010
- ^ "Patriots player Patrick Chung visits Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center – Sampan.org". Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ^ https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1378106433590460418.
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Bibliography
- Barnes, Natasha B. (1997), "Face of the Nation: Race, Nationalisms, and Identities in Jamaican Beauty Pageants", in López Springfield, Consuelo (ed.), Daughters of Caliban: Caribbean women in the twentieth century, Indiana University Press, pp. 285–306, ISBN 978-0-253-33249-3
- Bouknight-Davis, Gail. "Chinese Economic Development and Ethnic Identity Formation in Jamaica". In Wilson (2004), pp. 69–93.
- Lacey, Terry (1977), Violence and politics in Jamaica, 1960-70: internal security in a developing country, Manchester University Press, ISBN 978-0-7190-0633-3
- Lai, Walton Look (1993), "The people from Kwangtung", Trinidad and Tobago Review, 15 (8/9): 49–51, archived from the original on 12 May 2013
- Lai, Walton Look (1998), The Chinese in the West Indies, 1806-1995: a documentary history, University of the West Indies, ISBN 978-976-640-021-7
- Lai, Walton Look (2005), "Images of the Chinese in West Indian History", in Anderson, Wanni Wibulswasdi; Lee, Robert G. (eds.), Displacements and diasporas: Asians in the Americas, Rutgers University Press, pp. 54–77, ISBN 978-0-8135-3611-8
- Li, Anshan. "Survival, Adaptation, and Integration: Origins and Development of the Chinese Community in Jamaica". In Wilson (2004), pp. 41–68.
- Shibata, Yoshiko (2006), "Searching for a Niche, Creolizing Religious Tradition: Negotiation and Reconstruction of Ethnicity among Chinese in Jamaica", in Kumar, P. Pratap (ed.), Religious Pluralism in the Diaspora, Brill, pp. 51–72, ISBN 978-90-04-15250-2
- Wilson, Andrew R., ed. (2004), The Chinese in the Caribbean, Markus Wiener Publishers, ISBN 978-1-55876-315-9
Further reading
- Bryan, Patrick (1996), "The Creolization of the Chinese Community in Jamaica", in Reddock, Rhoda (ed.), Ethnic Minorities in Caribbean Society, University of the West Indies Press, pp. 173–272, ISBN 978-976-618-024-9
- Lee, Russell (1998), "The Chinese Retail Grocery Trade in Jamaica", in Wang, Ling-chi; Wang, Gungwu (eds.), The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays, vol. 2, Singapore: Times Academic Publisher, pp. 112–130, ISBN 978-981-210-093-1