China in America / A study in the social life of the Chinese in the eastern cities of the United States

by Stewart Culin

The immigrants are nearly all agriculturists, with a small sprinkling of artisans and shopkeepers, some of whom have served an apprenticeship in Canton or Hong Kong after leaving their native villages. They are nearly all single men, who left their homes at an early age before the usual time among them for contracting marriages.[ 2] Some have wives and children in China, and many of the more successful go home to marry and then return again to America; but wives and children are never brought with them, and there are few native women among them, except in San Francisco and the cities of the western coast.

The first considerable emigration of Chinese to America occurred at the time of the discovery of gold in California in 1849. Many then sought their fortunes there, and the stream of emigration, once started, was much increased by the disturbed condition of the southern provinces during the next decade. The Triad Society, a secret order opposed to the present Manchu dynasty, seized upon the time when the government was engaged in combating the Tai Ping rebellion in the north and raised an insurrection. This was subdued, but with much bloodshed, and thousands of the rebels sought refuge in America, with many others who were ruined by the outbreak.

The first appearance of the Chinese in any numbers in our Eastern cities dates from about the year 1870. Before that time an occasional Chinaman found his way here as cook or steward on some incoming vessel, and a little colony of such waifs had already established itself in the city of New York.

Upon the completion of the Union Pacific Railway, thousands of Chinese were thrown out of employment. In the absence of women in the mining camps they found a remunerative occupation in the laundry business, and before 1869 they had obtained almost a monopoly of that occupation in the West. Shortly before this time, a Mr. Thomas engaged fifty San Francisco Chinese to work in his laundry at Belleville, New Jersey. They quickly discovered, upon their arrival, the field presented by the neighboring cities for their work, and the news spread rapidly to California and even to China itself.[ 3] Thousands of Chinese came to the East, until at present there is scarcely a town throughout the whole extent of country where one or more may not be found, while in the large cities colonies have been formed, in which much of their primitive life has been re-established, and an opportunity presented for the observation and study of these interesting people at our very doors.

Little capital is required to start a laundry, one hundred dollars being usually sufficient, and several men frequently associate themselves together and share the profits between them. The owners should each clear from twenty-five to seventy dollars per month, while the hired laborers are paid from twenty-five to thirty dollars per month, with their board and lodging. They rise at daybreak and work until their task is finished, often until far into the night. Two meals a day are provided for them, one at about nine in the morning and another between four and five in the afternoon. These consist of rice, fish and pork, and certain vegetables, and are abundant and palatable. One of the men in the laundry acts as cook, an avocation for which all the immigrants seem to show much aptitude. Sunday and Monday are generally observed as holidays, work being resumed on Monday night. The Chinese New Year is the season for a holiday lasting for nearly a week, and at this time, as upon the occasion of several other principal Chinese festivals, employers are expected to provide a special dinner for their laborers.

The occupation of the laundrymen, both as owner and employee, is a profitable one, but their incessant toil, with their aptitude for combination and freedom from many of the expenses which the family relation entails upon all other classes, may be regarded as the secrets of this success.

The store is the centre around which life in a Chinese colony revolves. As soon as several men have collected in a town or city, one of them will send to the nearest place of supply and purchase such Chinese groceries and other wares as may be needed by the colony. These he will sell to his comrades, without at first discontinuing his usual avocation. If the colony increases in numbers he may rent a small store and with the assistance of some of his friends form a store company. Several men are usually associated in such enterprises, one of whom will be placed in charge as manager. A general assortment of Chinese merchandise is obtained, either from New York or San Francisco or direct from China itself, and an auspicious name is selected for the company and prominently displayed without the store door.

In a short time this place becomes the resort of all the Chinese in the colony, many of whom may have a small money interest in the concern. They have provisions and clothes to buy; news of the outside world and of their own homes may be learned here; and, besides, there is a couch provided for opium smoking, which the immigrant, with newly acquired money to spend, readily practices as the first dissipation at hand. In time the shop-keeper, knowing the advantage of increasing the attractions of his place, may procure a tolerably skillful cook and open a restaurant in an upper story of his building; but at first this will only be kept open on Sundays and holidays.

Other opportunities for making money will not be lost sight of. The cellar will be fitted up with bunks for opium smoking, and tables covered with matting for the convenience of those who desire to play dominoes; and the profit on the opium consumed and the portion of the winnings set aside for the use of the tables soon constitute a more important source of revenue than the store itself.

Thus many interests besides those of the dealer in clothes and provisions grow up under the roof of the little shop. Often a doctor, some poor and broken-down student, dispenses medicines from a supply of drugs ranged along one side of the store; the itinerant barber, an indispensable personage, makes it a place of call; letters for the colony are directed in care of the store; public notices are written on tablets of red paper and pasted beside the door; Chinese newspapers, both of San Francisco and the native ports, are received; and here, too, interpreters are to be found, who conduct negotiations and adjust differences with the outside world.