The Chinese in Toronto from 1878. Arlene Chan

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       When the house is set in order, the world is established on a firm course.

      — THE BOOK OF CHANGES, 9TH CENTURY BCE.

      The Chinese remained isolated socially and residentially from Canadian society and retreated into their own economic and social circles. Falling back on their own traditional systems, businesses and community organizations developed and flourished through a complex network of clan, regional, and political associations. The overseas Chinese were already accustomed to turning to such organizations for leadership and support.

      In China when rural farmers migrated to the cities in search of work, they were treated as outsiders. Accustomed to leaving their villages for extended periods of time, Chinese from the same village or district banded together into organizations for protection and mutual aid. These regional associations (hui guan) were dominated by wealthy merchants who took on a governing role, overseeing taxation, population registration, and political decision making.

      In Canada, merchant leaders organized similar associations. When the Chinese immigrants arrived, they knew where to turn for help. These associations were the lifelines for the bachelor phase of Toronto’s early community and havens in an alien and unwelcoming environment. Membership offered support, companionship, and a link with the cultural traditions of the homeland. The associations provided services, otherwise unavailable to the Chinese, in the way of settlement assistance, help with sending remittances to China, lodging, and employment.

      If they have any quarrels or conflict of interest, the family association will step in and try to solve their problems without going outside the big family association. One of our Chinese sayings is translated, “Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.” If you need help you can go to the family association.¹

      A critical function of the associations was the banking system. Since Chinese were denied loans from Canadian banks, the only way of securing funds for opening a business, purchasing land, or other financial needs was through their associations. Operating like a credit union, groups of people pooled their financial resources to help others borrow money.

      If you wanted to borrow some money for an emergency or to buy a piece of new equipment like a washing machine, you could go to the association … Each association would have groups of about twenty-five men. Approximately every two weeks, money would be available to the highest bidder. Generally it was on a Sunday when it would open up.²

      This money-lending system, called the “three benefits societies,” worked well in a small community where everyone was known and affiliated with a clan or district association. The three beneficiaries of the “three benefits societies” were the borrowers, the shareholders, and the association. Although defaults in payment were rare, a guarantor, usually a close kinsman, was required as a safeguard. This credit union system remained as a significant function of the associations until western bank services were made available to the Chinese in the 1960s.

      The period from 1900 to 1923 saw the rapid development of traditional associations. The four types were clan or surname associations (kung so or tong), district associations (hui guan), community organizations, and political associations.

      Clan and District Associations

      Surname and home territory were used as eligibility for membership in the clan and district associations. The early immigrants, who came to Canada in the 1880s, were predominantly (87 percent) from Si Yi, meaning Four Counties or Districts, and San Yi, meaning Three Counties or Districts, all southwest of the capital city of Guangzhou in the Guangdong province (see Table 7).³ The four counties in Si Yi are Taishan, Kaiping, Xinhua, and Enping, the homebase for 64 percent of the immigrants. Nearly one quarter of all Chinese immigrants came from the Taishan county alone, a mountainous coastal region where the agricultural output could only support its population of half a million people for four months out of the year.⁴ Twenty-three percent migrated from the San Yi district with its three counties of Panyu, Shunde, and Nanhai.

      With their roots in the Pearl River Delta of the Guangdong province, these immigrants constituted the most homogeneous of all the waves of Chinese immigration. Being mostly male and young in age, they shared similar socioeconomic status, levels of education, and employment prospects. They spoke a local dialect of Cantonese, each one distinct but readily understood for communication. Taishanese, the dialect of the Taishan county, was the language of the early Chinese community. A Taishanese person meeting a Xinhui person on the streets of Toronto could identify one’s hometown as soon as that person spoke.

      TABLE 7

      Origin of the Early Immigrants

      Source: Chinese Canadian Genealogy, “Geography of Chinese Emigration,” Vancouver Public Library, СКАЧАТЬ