The Peopling of New York City

As someone who has long been interested in religion, I found it fascinating to read about Christianity’s role in Fuzhou. Christianity, among the Chinese, is so much more than just spiritual enlightenment. Members of both Catholicism and Protestantism, since 1949, have often openly defied the state’s requirements for orthodox, religious activities. Involvement in religion has been a way to expand gender roles. It has been a way to fight the harsh social structure of Chinese society. It has also been a way to network and transcend regional boundaries.

Religion allows the Fuzhounese to take control over their lives in an otherwise heavily governmentally regulated society which does not offer them this freedom.

The times of suffering of Chinese during the Cultural Revolution in 1966 were times of tremendous spiritual and numerical growth. It is so encouraging and beautiful that faith was able to persevere, and even grow, in such unbelievably harsh and repressive times. Fuzhounese Christians refused to succumb to governmental pressures and were determined to hold onto the beliefs in which they found comfort and community.

Reverend Liu’s words in speaking about this time, “We were like roots of bamboo buried in the earth, not dead, but awaiting our time to spring back to life”, are so poignant and inspiring.

This past weekend, I played a concert commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day and the millions who lost their lives in the terrors of the Nazis during World War II. During this ceremony, we honored those who refused to succumb to the Nazis. We honored those who continued crying out to God with their last breaths and those who escaped and hid in woods and in basements.

While reading about the Fuzhounese and their religious affiliations, I was reminded of this ceremony. The Christians of Fuzhou, and leaders like Reverend Liu, used their faith to fight persecution. It was through faith that they were able to create a community that persevered and this faith, and the sense of community that it fostered, has made them a stronger group of individuals today.

Religion and state can never mix and never should. A prime example of this comes from the book God in Chinatown by Kenneth Guest. In China, especially in Fuzhou, the government strictly restricted religion in the 1950’s once the Communists took over the Nationalists. I believe that one reason as to why Communism fears religion and represses it, is because communist leaders don’t want the people to have a reason to go against them and the things they do. As Guest states, “Its growing networks transgress established kin, village, and regional boundaries and in many cases intentionally challenge the state’s authority to control mobility and communication…” (87).

It is amazing how strongly one is able to hold on to their faith even after all this repression and persecution. In fact it was even more surprising to read about stories in which certain individuals became even more devout afterwards. For example, when John Sung was told that he needed to be admitted to a sanitarium for psychopathic patients he went and even though he stayed there for six months this did not hinder his faith at all. In fact he recalls these months “as having profoundly shaped his religious beliefs and practices” (96). What was disturbing was the fact that the government felt the need to have people “reeducated” due to their beliefs. It was as if they were brainwashing them.

My parents both grew up in a communist country and I remember my mother telling me of how when they celebrated Easter they would have to burn the red egg shells in the oven instead of throwing them out because they were scared of being found out. This underground theme of religion also took place in Fuzhou and even more so with the smaller delegations, such as the Little Flock Christians, once the 3 bigger delegations joined together to form the TSPM. It was funny how the state established a rule such as “aiguo, aijiao” which means love the country, love the church, the state being first of course. As one senior leader in the US stated, “There is no way to compromise with the communists without losing our faith” further proving the point that the church and state simply cannot interfere with one another. This is also why the Little Flock refused to recognize the TSPM because they are public churches “approved” by the government whereas the TSPM doesn’t approve of Little Folk because “they just love their church [and] according to the Bible there should be mutual respect and love”(110). My question is, where was this mutual respect and love from the government when they were religiously prosecuting them? These people were just conditioned to love their country just so they could love their church but they should have had the choice to choose where they wanted to place their priorities.

The largest question I had after reading this chapter was: How was Christianity so threatening in comparison to other religions in China?

Well . . . I looked it up.  To my knowledge, the religions/philosophies that were prevalent in China earlier on were Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Confucianism is the set of philosophical beliefs developed by Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher.  It is not so much a religion as a set of ethics based upon Confucius’s moral thought and other philosophers who debated about his views and came up with their own variations.  The core idea of Confucianism is that people must work to improve themselves by learning all they can and observing certain moral values such as filial piety (the respect that a son must show his father, living or dead) that was extended into the five relationships: ruler to subjects, father to son, husband to wife, older brother to younger brother, friend to friend, and vice versa for each.  However, Confucianism did not pose a danger to China, seeing as it endorsed the idea of divine right wherein a ruler that comes to power has the mandate of heaven, and each subject owes him the utmost respect according to the relationship chart of filial piety.  The Chinese government would only benefit from supporting and enforcing Confucianism amongst its people.

Buddhism is also a self-improvement philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (a.k.a. the Buddha), although it does have elements of a Hinduism.  It is considered by some to be a religion, but it is also practiced by enthusiasts sometimes without the religious (god-related) components.  It is based on or arose in the same geographic location and cultural setting as Hinduism.  The eight-fold path outlines how to escape the cycle of life, death, and rebirth accepted as truth in Hinduism.  However, it is similar to Confucianism in that it does not preach loyalty to a separate existing entity that could threaten the Chinese government’s leadership.

Taoism is a religion that preaches observance of the laws of nature in human interactions.  It too does not pose a threat to the Chinese government for the same reasons.

However, both Catholicism and Protestantism preach loyalty to the Bible, Jesus, and the Church (or at least within Catholicism to the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestants not as much) that can compete with loyalty owed to the Chinese government.  Christianity played a significant role in the fight to abolish slavery and helped to spur rebellion against the system.  Even a few decades ago when JFK (a Catholic) was elected President, there was concern that he would have dual loyalties and act as a puppet of the Vatican.  I think primarily, Christianity also presents an alternative lifestyle and culture than the traditional Chinese culture which threatened the status quo of the East.  Even when China was going through turmoil during the Cultural Revolution and what-not, the culture was Eastern.  Christianity introduced Western theology and culture to the East.  As evident in the chapter, the Chinese government’s reaction was not pretty.  Governments are generally one of those kinds of people or institutions that hate new things =).

In retrospect it is somewhat easy to understand China’s dismal opinions toward foreigners and how it has manifested itself in the limitations of religious practices pre 1949. By studying the change and continuity of Chinese policies and observing China’s response toward current global sociopolitical issues, we can speculate that the dismissal of foreign ideas has had its history rooted prior to the religious atrophy and may have began at the start of Western imperialism. However, it is still shocking that the censorship and repression of foreign influence has advanced into technological affairs. In fact just yesterday the Chinese officials announced the creation of the State Internet Information Office, which will supervise internet content including tweets on twitter and statuses on facebook.

The introduction to chapter 4 discusses China’s wariness towards the Church and its potential for resistance and rebellion (86). Despite the resurgence of nationalism and the expulsion of all foreigners including missionaries, China’s religious situation has yet to be fully amended, as there exists discord between the Catholics and the Protestants (even within the strands of Protestantism). The following chapters examine the religious reorganization of Christian groups, putting more emphasis on Protestants.

Catholics in post-1949 Fuzhou were plagued with serious structural and religious problems. Chinese Catholics were forced to renounce allegiance to the pope and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association was to assume all responsibilities, i.e., the appointment of bishops. Catholics who refused to conform were imprisoned and considered to have allegiances outside China.

For Protestants in most of China, the reorganization imposed by the Chinese government demanded a merger of all Protestants under the TSPM (Three-Self Patriotic Movement) banner. This was difficult as there were close to one million Protestants in China, which were related to twenty-three major denominational groups, representing both indigenous factions and foreign mission boards. However, religious policies were not enforced evenly and churches in Fuzhou never merged—the launch of the Cultural Revolution eventually closed these churches by 1966. Even under the TSPM banner, many of the smaller denominations resisted even limited cooperation (91). For instance, a strand of Chinese Protestantism, the Home of Grace, has regularly conflicted with what the state considered orthodox practices. Since they refused to participate in the TSPM, the Home Of Grace was charged as counterrevolutionaries and were stopped during the 1950s (95). As Christianity grew, the government was soon unable to manage and monitor the churches. In the late 1980s and up until the early 1990s, the state implemented a series of policies, which required the approval of all religious organizations.

A bulk of the reading focuses on narratives, which elaborates on several ideas that were brought up. The story of Mrs. He for instance, reinforces the severity of Chinese regulation (Mrs. He died in prison and her student, Sister Jiang, was incarcerated in 1975 for similar charges, such as unauthorized religious practices).

The chapter itself raises several concerns on the role of religion in China. While Christianity continues to grow and spread, much of it is differs from the orthodox expressions of Christianity supported by the government. With this, Guest ends his chapter with the following question: What role will these Christians play in the future development of dynamic Chinese social and political situations?

When I began reading this chapter, I was a little confused. The title of the book is God in Chinatown but this specific chapter is in regards to China. Either way, the focus of the chapter is clearly religion, in specific Christianity. This chapter moves to discuss the different sects of Christianity practiced within China as well as the issues which many of them faced. I somewhat shocked me how even before the coming of the communist party, that the Chinese faced so much repression especially with religion. Most practitioners of Christianity seemed to be underground, and many weren’t even legal at all. I don’t really know how the Vatican functions but this didn’t make sense to me. If it is not supported by the major church than what is the religion. I also found it weird how the church accepted the bishops as being administered, but didn’t really accept them. It is very contradictory and confused me a little. Moreover, missionaries were outlawed but Christianity still flourished. It seemed that these secret organizations did better than those supported by the Church like the Little Flock.

With the cultural revolution though, all religion was outlawed whether official or not. This seems to fit in well with communism, especially the communism in China that aims to control everything.  However, just like in any other repression the religion went underground. It is really a testament to the power of religion that people risk their lives to support their gods and that is the case in China at this time. After this cultural revolution the policies calmed down a bit. Again official churches began to open up. However, there were strict rules in order to register the sites. All of this makes sense in regards to communism. Yet, most of these rules are completely ridiculous and or obvious to someone who is trying to start an organization.

My first question to everybody is did anyone else notice the shout out to CUNY on page 31? =D  Okay, now to get serious.

The reading this week gave an overview of the history of Chinese immigration to the United States as well as the effects of this history on the traditions and way of life of the immigrants.  The chapter also contained personal accounts of a few people’s lives in China, journeys to, and lives in the United States.

The thing that I found most interesting about the reading was the personal accounts.  The stories were sad, and a few of them reflected similar hardships as the Mexican immigrants in Guadalupe of New York.  They lived in fear of being discovered, and many were separated from their families.  They had to undergo backbreaking labor for long hours to be able to afford living, and some like Liu Zhu’en (Pg.17-18) could not receive proper medical treatment because of the undocumented status and fear of being turned in.  Language was a huge barrier that could either open many doors if it as overcome, or it could trap people “in this Chinese environment . . . like being in jail” (Pg.43).  It seems that the language barrier that limited possible earnings and mobility along with the tremendous amount of money many immigrants owed to snakeheads once they got into the United States severely limited the extent of the immigrants’ American dreams.

Guest said that most of the Fouzhounese that now inhabit Chinatown have come in the last 20 years in six different simultaneous waves of immigration.  Some of the people he described in each wave of immigration sounded quite different from the earlier Chinese immigrants in their level of financial endowment.  Each wave of immigration was differently effected by the laws of time.  Some could reunite with their families and gain legal recognition by law, and others could not.  The laws have changed more than once in the last 20 years.

I found it curious that Chen Quiang (Pg.28-29) was so looking forward to paying off her debts and eventually being able to own her own restaurant as opposed to bigger dreams.  I would have thought that Chinese immigrants would have larger dreams and be more equipped to fulfill them in our current society than they used to.  However, Chen Quiang’s statement that a lot of Chinese immigrants now also have dreams of opening their own restaurants as opposed to going to school and having some kind of grand career makes me wonder if that’s really the case.

After reading two books about the hardships that immigrants face when they move to America, I would think it wouldn’t horrify me as much anymore. However, that isn’t true. Much like the stories from the Guadalupe book, the Fuzhounese immigrants had an immensely difficult journey to get here, and an even tougher battle to repay everything they had borrowed to pay their way to be here. Being beaten by snakeheads, not having enough food to eat, not knowing if you’re going to be alive tomorrow, the constant fear of being captured, and the uncertainty of the future are all so overwhelming. I’m not a fan of undocumented immigrants, but their stories inspires sympathy among people. I cannot imagine having to work all day and night just to make enough money to survive and pay back what you’ve borrowed or sending away my child for any period of time especially when she’s only a baby. It’s completely heartbreaking to read about these people’s lives and the hardest part is that this is all real.

Another interesting thing about their stories was the difference between them and the Italian and Mexican immigrants. They came with their belief of the Virgin, but these Fuzhounese immigrants “found” God in the midst of the hardships. The church helped them to pay medical bills or allowed them to have a place to sleep at night. Those acts of kindness led them to faith in God that probably did not exist before their journey. It’s very interesting that they couldn’t turn to anyone else, not their family and obviously not strangers, but they placed their trust in God. As far as I know, China isn’t really big on Christianity, so I can’t imagine that they have had much exposure prior to their trip.

One point that stuck out to me was when Guest quotes Chen Qiang saying that living in Chinatown is like living in China. Everyone speaks Mandarin or Cantonese or whatever other dialect is spoken. I’ve always felt that I could never live like that, being in a completely new country, I’d like to take advantage of that and learn about different things. Step out of my comfort zone and just explore. I guess growing up in Hong Kong made me really different because I’ve always been in a city and never really had to work or worry about food. Everything was always taken care of for me. I took no part in the immigration process, and was pretty hesitant about moving while there were people to struggled so much just for the chance of living the “American Dream”.

Before picking up this book, I had very little, if any, knowledge about Chinese immigrants to the United States.  I would not have been able to distinguish between immigrants from the Guangzhou region as opposed to those from any other region in China; I was completely unaware of the most recent influx of Chinese from Fuzhou province. Additionally, I was ignorant about the Chinese Exclusion Act, signed into law in 1882 by President Chester A. Arthur.  The Act called for a 10 year complete stoppage of Chinese labor immigration, specifically “skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining.”  Other provisions of this law placed restrictions on Chinese who were already in the United States (they had to receive a reentry certificate if they left the country) and denied State and Federal courts “the right to grant citizenship to Chinese resident aliens,” leaving them no way of becoming US citizens.

In the mid 1800’s, staggering numbers of Chinese laborers migrated to California, beginning during the time of the California Gold Rush; they came also to help build the First Transcontinental Railroad.  Animosity toward the Chinese laborers existed during this time, but escalated dramatically as more and more laborers arrived and economic conditions declined following the Civil War.  Many Americans believed that the abundance of cheap Chinese labor flooded the job market and the willingness of Chinese workers to accept lower wages, depressed wage levels.

The Exclusion Act was extended for ten additional years and in 1902 it became a permanent law, with even more restrictions, including the requirement that all Chinese register and obtain a certificate of residence.

As Guest mentions, this finally repealed in 1943, as a result of Chinese collaboration with the United States during the Second World War.

The Chinese Exclusion Act significantly restricted Chinese immigration to the United States for more than 60 years. In addition to this legislation, Chinese residents in the US were discriminated against, were mistreated and abused.

The most amazing fact is that during this same period, immigration restrictions were not in place for any other race.  That is a very powerful fact that astonishes me.  It seems hard to believe that the government could get a way with such a racially discriminatory law.

Reading through the first part of “God In Chinatown” made it easier to relate to my own experiences and encounters as compared to the other works we read in class. I was able to relate more to the topic and area described in this book because I have always described Chinatown as my second home. Ever since I can remember, I have visited this neighborhood at least twice a week, regardless of where I was living; Bensonhurst, Brooklyn or Medford, Long Island.

What struck me the most in this chapter were the immigrants’ accounts of their journey coming here. Some parts of the stories seem too extreme to believe; yet I believe them, because I have personally encountered people who experienced similar situations. The majority of Chinese immigrants spend loads of money to come to this country along with taking up many dangerous risks. As we have discussed in class, many immigrants struggle a lot to come here and we see a widespread theme among the immigrants’ willingness to come regardless of the expenses or risks. The question is why. Guest answers this question like many other authors have with the fact that America is a place for grand opportunities.

Guest discusses the huge influx of Fuzhounese Chinese immigrants into the country, especially New York City. In the Chinese community, it was very well known that most of the Fuzhounese population in this country is illegal. The Chinese people are split up into many different types because there is so many different regions that Chinese people can come from and each group has their own “reputation”. The Fuzhounese community is known for possessing the most illegal citizenship and for owning restaurants. This little fact comes from my experience in a Chinese community. This has also caused tighter the government to put greater control on the immigration of Chinese immigrants who come from the region of Fuzhou, which has recently caused many Fuzhounese immigrants greater difficulty to actually come here legally.

I found it very interesting that Chinatown became their source of employment and I agreed that Chinatown was not an enclave, unlike other ethnic neighborhoods. Speaking from personal experiences, I know that Chinese immigrants specifically come to America with the purpose of building a better life for their families and being able to obtain a reasonable job that allows a stable salary. It is rare for Chinese immigrants, unless they come at a young age, to want to strive to fit into the American economic society and wish for social mobility. However, these immigrants do expect their American-born children to carry out this mission, which explains partly the stereotype of strict Asian parents.

It is also mentioned in the chapter that Chinese laborers, especially women, work for substandard wages to sacrifice in short term in order to receive benefits in the future. The role of the mother is extremely important in immigrant families, especially Chinese, which reminds me of the domus structure in Italian families. Women play a key role in upholding the family because in Chinese culture, it is not rare for women to sacrifice for the greater good of the community.