Chinese diaries

I am writing a new book. Part of it is written from the perspective of a Chinese woman living in 19th century San Francisco. Could someone point me in the direction of diaries of Chinese women living in that era?
 
Do they have to be in San Francisco?

Anyways, there were very few Chinese women living in America at the time. IIRC by and large the only ones who came over were a few prostitutes to service male Chinese laborers.
 
I am writing a new book. Part of it is written from the perspective of a Chinese woman living in 19th century San Francisco. Could someone point me in the direction of diaries of Chinese women living in that era?

On the issue of mandarin, I think there are some of us who could help you on it.

However, the bigger issue would be the topic itself- what are you trying to write about?
 
On the issue of mandarin, I think there are some of us who could help you on it.

However, the bigger issue would be the topic itself- what are you trying to write about?

This woman immigrated to America when she was a small child in the 1860s. She starts the diary when she is about 5 in 1868 and keeps it until her death in her 80s. What I want to know is how to write it.
 
This woman immigrated to America when she was a small child in the 1860s. She starts the diary when she is about 5 in 1868 and keeps it until her death in her 80s. What I want to know is how to write it.

How did she managed to be literate in English at the age of five as a Chinese migrant? What's her family background?
 
I am writing a new book. Part of it is written from the perspective of a Chinese woman living in 19th century San Francisco. Could someone point me in the direction of diaries of Chinese women living in that era?

There were almost no Chinese female immigrants in the 19th century, partly due because immigration was due mainly to heavy labor demand, partly due to anti-female Chinese immigration policies such as the Page Act of 1875 (which de-facto banned most female Chinese immigration under the assumption that they were mostly prostitutes.) There was also a significant racial undertone to this - i.e., if you only allow Chinese men to enter the country and prevent them from marrying outside their race thanks to anti-miscegenation laws, it's quite obvious what the end result is going to be.
 
How did she managed to be literate in English at the age of five as a Chinese migrant? What's her family background?
Her father was a teacher. Her mother was a homemaker. They emigrated from Canton in 1865 when she was two. Her father managed to get her English language books on his salary. So she taught herself English while her parents taught her Cantonese.

There were almost no Chinese female immigrants in the 19th century, partly due because immigration was due mainly to heavy labor demand, partly due to anti-female Chinese immigration policies such as the Page Act of 1875 (which de-facto banned most female Chinese immigration under the assumption that they were mostly prostitutes.) There was also a significant racial undertone to this - i.e., if you only allow Chinese men to enter the country and prevent them from marrying outside their race thanks to anti-miscegenation laws, it's quite obvious what the end result is going to be.
What about teachers and their families?
 
Which decade of the 19th century are you talking about? Why did the family chose to migrate to the US as opposed to South East Asia? Or Hong Kong for that matter?

Unless the girl is the daughter of the Chinese ambassador or a student that was part of the Yung Wing's Chinese education mission, the chances of any young girl travelling to the US and being able to speak English is extremely low.

If you are interested in reading more about the first Chinese Educational Mission, wikipedia is a helpful link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Educational_Mission
 
Which decade of the 19th century are you talking about? Why did the family chose to migrate to the US as opposed to South East Asia? Or Hong Kong for that matter?

Unless the girl is the daughter of the Chinese ambassador or a student that was part of the Yung Wing's Chinese education mission, the chances of any young girl travelling to the US and being able to speak English is extremely low.

If you are interested in reading more about the first Chinese Educational Mission, wikipedia is a helpful link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Educational_Mission

This family migrated from China in the 1850s and chose America because the father worked the gold fields with his wife, then became a teacher when the gold fields started to empty. They started a family when things started to look up.
 
This family migrated from China in the 1850s and chose America because the father worked the gold fields with his wife, then became a teacher when the gold fields started to empty. They started a family when things started to look up.

There are some problems you need to deal with. Why would the guy want to stay in the US and NOT return to China? It is likely that the guy in question would already have married before he left China, and his wife would have stayed in China.

Most Chinese back then did not have astronaut families, and the primary reason why they left China in the first place is to earn income for his extended family back in China. This is especially true for Chinese who came to the US as gold miners.

Moreover, if the miner is already well educated, why would he want to work in the mines? There were a lot more lucrative jobs for a Chinese that is educated, especially in English. As a miner, he would be an indentured labourer who have his freedom restricted during the course of his contract. Why would a well educated Chinese be willingly to 'lower' his class status and be a miner? Also, why would this Chinese father want to stay in the US to raise his kids?

It is possible to write a story of a young Chinese girl growing up in the US, but if you want to make her a character that could read and write from a young age, she needs to be from a relatively wealthy and very very unique Chinese family.
 
I think your character should be a Chinese migrant in Southeast Asia, preferrably Malaysia and Singapore:
A Hokkien/Teochew woman arrived in Nanyang (Southeast Asia) as a bride for a Peranakan family. She have a diary that chronicled her life as part of the said household.

Nevertheless, that's my honest opinion.
 
There are some problems you need to deal with. Why would the guy want to stay in the US and NOT return to China? It is likely that the guy in question would already have married before he left China, and his wife would have stayed in China.

Most Chinese back then did not have astronaut families, and the primary reason why they left China in the first place is to earn income for his extended family back in China. This is especially true for Chinese who came to the US as gold miners.

Moreover, if the miner is already well educated, why would he want to work in the mines? There were a lot more lucrative jobs for a Chinese that is educated, especially in English. As a miner, he would be an indentured labourer who have his freedom restricted during the course of his contract. Why would a well educated Chinese be willingly to 'lower' his class status and be a miner? Also, why would this Chinese father want to stay in the US to raise his kids?

It is possible to write a story of a young Chinese girl growing up in the US, but if you want to make her a character that could read and write from a young age, she needs to be from a relatively wealthy and very very unique Chinese family.

Well I have him working as a teacher in the local community. And to your point about a well educated Chinese 'lowering' himself to work in the gold fields, why did anyone else 'lower' themselves? Gold does strange things to people. Besides he wanted to take his family away from the various rebellions that were happening in China at the time. The reason he stayed was his daughter was born in America. Also the San Francisco Chinatown was pretty well established by this point.

I think your character should be a Chinese migrant in Southeast Asia, preferrably Malaysia and Singapore:
A Hokkien/Teochew woman arrived in Nanyang (Southeast Asia) as a bride for a Peranakan family. She have a diary that chronicled her life as part of the said household.

Nevertheless, that's my honest opinion.

Sadly Asian history is not my strong suit. Thank you though.
 
Well, this is possible, but it would obviously be much easier if you were working with a mixed-race couple or an older child. Five is young for a diary today, doubly so then, and for a child where it isn't the primary language of the household....

Best bet? I'd recommend that the family be coming out of Hongkong, Shanghai, or even Malaya, but Guangzhou (Canton) is probably close enough. Just so that they already have functional English coming in. Then I'd recommend starting the diary closer to the age of ten, unless you want to include an intense education or a rare intelligence/gift for languages as plot points. That could work fine, but we definitely aren't talking about the average person's perspective.

I'll actually disagree with those saying that immigration law is a problem. The only laws passed would have followed long, long after you say the people would be coming in.

There seems to be a dearth of equivalent sources. Realistically speaking, most people in her position would write their diary in Chinese, so she and her parents both would have to be unusual sorts. To be honest, I think you'll find that this is a project for which access to a university library would be a tremendous help. But here are some decent places to start:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/about.html
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/chineseinca/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/ChineseAmericans/4ItemsByIndex/!ItemsByIndexTopPage.htm
http://eslibrary.berkeley.edu/asian-american-studies-collection

Are you going to be writing it as an alternate history, or just historical fiction. Either way, I hope you'll share with us - especially any interesting or useful sources you come across!
 
Well I have him working as a teacher in the local community. And to your point about a well educated Chinese 'lowering' himself to work in the gold fields, why did anyone else 'lower' themselves? Gold does strange things to people. Besides he wanted to take his family away from the various rebellions that were happening in China at the time. The reason he stayed was his daughter was born in America. Also the San Francisco Chinatown was pretty well established by this point.

Sadly Asian history is not my strong suit. Thank you though.

Well, because he's not a miner or prospector by trade. People do do weird things, but I'd suggest it made more sense for him to be coming in to attempt to set up a business catering to the miners rather than to be one himself. But as you like it.

As for Asian history, if you have any questions, feel free.
 
Well, this is possible, but it would obviously be much easier if you were working with a mixed-race couple or an older child. Five is young for a diary today, doubly so then, and for a child where it isn't the primary language of the household....

Best bet? I'd recommend that the family be coming out of Hongkong, Shanghai, or even Malaya, but Guangzhou (Canton) is probably close enough. Just so that they already have functional English coming in. Then I'd recommend starting the diary closer to the age of ten, unless you want to include an intense education or a rare intelligence/gift for languages as plot points. That could work fine, but we definitely aren't talking about the average person's perspective.

I'll actually disagree with those saying that immigration law is a problem. The only laws passed would have followed long, long after you say the people would be coming in.

There seems to be a dearth of equivalent sources. Realistically speaking, most people in her position would write their diary in Chinese, so she and her parents both would have to be unusual sorts. To be honest, I think you'll find that this is a project for which access to a university library would be a tremendous help. But here are some decent places to start:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/about.html
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/chineseinca/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/ChineseAmericans/4ItemsByIndex/!ItemsByIndexTopPage.htm
http://eslibrary.berkeley.edu/asian-american-studies-collection

Are you going to be writing it as an alternate history, or just historical fiction. Either way, I hope you'll share with us - especially any interesting or useful sources you come across!

Thank you for the sources. As it happens I do live near a university, I should visit. It will be alternate history. And I do plan on publishing this hopefully.

Well, because he's not a miner or prospector by trade. People do do weird things, but I'd suggest it made more sense for him to be coming in to attempt to set up a business catering to the miners rather than to be one himself. But as you like it.

As for Asian history, if you have any questions, feel free.

Fair enough.

After the Meiji Restoration when exactly did Japan start to create her empire?
 
Thank you for the sources. As it happens I do live near a university, I should visit. It will be alternate history. And I do plan on publishing this hopefully.

Fair enough.

After the Meiji Restoration when exactly did Japan start to create her empire?

Well economically there's no real answer to that. After the restoration Japan began attempting to exert its influence in its surroundings. Korea, the islands around Japan, and becoming one of the major powers trading in China were almost immediately state goals.

Economic links with Korea were followed by political ones. Once Japan's policy started to visibly bear fruit, and with China lurching from crisis to crisis, (minority) groups in the Korean court began to look to Japan for inspiration. Everyone else in Asia was, after all.

The Japanese viewed controlling (the southern two-thirds of) Korea as absolutely essential for national security. Theoretically they might have been satisfied by "securing" the place rather than controlling it, but in practice equitable relations were little-considered. Even as early as 1873 Seikanron ("subdue Korea") was government policy. By the time there was a faint political excuse in the 1890s, there was a very good economic excuse, and the Japanese got military forces into Korea. The Chinese couldn't very well let their main vassal slip away and so war broke out.

In the usual sense of the words, the Japanese imperial project began with this, the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Japan won big, but had its gains dramatically pruned back by a cooperative effort between Germany, France, and Russia. If you want to know about that, I recommend Wikipedia for the fundamentals. If you need details after that, there's plenty to know. Just ask.
 
Well I have him working as a teacher in the local community. And to your point about a well educated Chinese 'lowering' himself to work in the gold fields, why did anyone else 'lower' themselves? Gold does strange things to people. Besides he wanted to take his family away from the various rebellions that were happening in China at the time. The reason he stayed was his daughter was born in America. Also the San Francisco Chinatown was pretty well established by this point.

Sure, gold will do strange things to people. However, the amount one can earn as a Chinese miner is relatively low and not as high as you imagine it to be. Any educated Chinese who chose to be a miner would be seen by his peers and the other miners as an odd person.

Moreover, Chinatown during this era is not idea for raising a child. It was an area that has very unequal gender ratio, with males heavily outnumbering the females, and notorious for opium use and gambling. If someone is rich enough to educate his daughter, that person would move his family away from Chinatown.

You can still write a story based on your settings, but you need to be aware that 19th century Chinese migrants is very different from the Chinese migrants that came in the 20th century.
 
Sure, gold will do strange things to people. However, the amount one can earn as a Chinese miner is relatively low and not as high as you imagine it to be. Any educated Chinese who chose to be a miner would be seen by his peers and the other miners as an odd person.

Moreover, Chinatown during this era is not idea for raising a child. It was an area that has very unequal gender ratio, with males heavily outnumbering the females, and notorious for opium use and gambling. If someone is rich enough to educate his daughter, that person would move his family away from Chinatown.

You can still write a story based on your settings, but you need to be aware that 19th century Chinese migrants is very different from the Chinese migrants that came in the 20th century.

Yes I will keep that in mind thank you.
 
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