The story of Chinatown is the culmination of individual stories within a small community that had made their home in downtown Manhattan, that intertwined and weaved together to form a truly unique neighborhood. The story represents a truly one of a kind group of people that immigrated to America in the hopes of a more promising future for themselves and future generations. The wave of immigration from China to the United States ultimately created a significant impact on the neighborhoods of New York City. Immigration is what sets the United States apart from other nations, as seen in a quote by Emma Lazarus, an American poet from New York City “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” the United States was founded by immigrants, they are the backbone of our nation and communities such as the ones spoken about in the story helped develop the US.
Chinese immigrants came to America for economic and social reasons, like many other immigrant communities. They have contributed immensely to the development of United States infrastructure, economically, politically and socially. When the Chinese immigrated here in the 1850’s they predominantly worked in gold mines, farms, and largely in the garment industry. With the rise of the Chinese as a large part of the American workforce, anti-immigrant sentiments increased as well, leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act which, when it was repealed in 1943, sent in place a precedent to stop immigration ceilings for the most part.
The California gold rush was a significant factor in the rise of immigration from China, that coupled with the ongoing opium war and sociopolitical issues in the country were also huge factors. The First Opium War, from 1839 to 1842, created violence and uproar like no other. According to The Beginnings of China’s Emigration to America banning the trade of opium, an extremely dangerous and addictive drug, created problems for Great Britain, who had great financial profit from this trade with China and they were going to do whatever it took to make sure they did not lose this important financial partner. Thus, the start of the First Opium War. However, the Qing navy lacked in resources, army size, training, and weaponry in comparison to Great Britain’s army, leading to Great Britain keeping the trade of opium for their economy. After losing the first Opium War against the British, during the 1840s, China faced “a series of natural catastrophes . . . resulting in famine, peasant uprisings and rebellions” (Chinatown Resource). Thus, when talk of gold and an opportunity for a better life elsewhere essentially started rising, the Chinese jumped at the opportunity.
The Gold Rush of 1849 brought a new wave of immigrants into the United States of America and essentially opened the doors to further immigration to other parts of the country. The promise of gold and a new life created a fantasy in the minds of many immigrants, who during the Gold Rush of 1849, were known as “the forty-niners.” According to Cindy Grigg, a writer for the web platform Edhelper, “at that time, war, famine, and a poor economy in southeastern China caused many Chinese men to come to America.” (Chinese Immigrants and the California Gold Rush). Such a large flow of immigration created a pathway for the Chinese to make a place for themselves in the United States. Though the flow of immigration was beneficial for the Chinese, there were a lot of negative attitudes waiting for them once they finally did immigrate to the United States.
This flow of immigrants may have opened doors for assimilation, but the Chinese had a lot of anti-Chinese feelings to face once they finally did make their way into the United States of America. Cindy Grigg also discusses how, “Chinese immigrants soon found that many Americans did not welcome them. In 1852, California placed a high monthly tax on all foreign miners. Chinese miners had no choice but to pay this tax if they wanted to mine for gold in California.” This opposition and racism that the Chinese immigrants were receiving were all the more reason to desire a place to call their own. Thus, the birth of Chinatown began.
The gold mines were eventually giving less and less gold and the surplus of Chinese labor in industries such as “cigar-rolling and textiles” (The History of New York City’s Chinatown) soon led to white laborers accusing the Chinese of stealing their jobs and “threatening their livelihood” (The History of New York City’s Chinatown). The racism stemming from these accusations and opposition led to violence and extreme discrimination in the west coast. This ultimately “drove the Chinese east into larger cities, where job opportunities were more open and they could more easily blend into the already diverse population. By 1880, the burgeoning enclave in the Five Points slums on the southeast side of New York was home to between 200 and 1,100 Chinese” (The History of New York City’s Chinatown).
Though there is a Chinatown in California, immigrants also had come to New York in search of gold and avoidance of West Coast racism, which was far more violent than on the East Coast, and ultimately ended up creating the largest Chinatown in the United States of America. According to The History of New York City’s Chinatown, “New York City’s Chinatown, the largest Chinatown in the United States and the site of the largest concentration of Chinese in the western hemisphere, is located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Its two square miles are loosely bounded by Kenmore and Delancey Streets on the north, East and Worth Streets on the south, Allen Street on the east, and Broadway on the west. With a population estimated between 70,000 and 150,000, Chinatown is the favored destination point for Chinese immigrants,” (The History of New York City’s Chinatown). Chinese immigrants came a long way from where they began.
Chinese immigrants have contributed immensely to the development of United States infrastructure, economically, politically and socially. When the Chinese immigrated here in the 1850’s they predominantly worked in gold mines, farms and largely in the garment industry. With the rise of the Chinese as a large part of the American workforce, anti-immigrant sentiments increased as well, leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act. Because communities such as these are such an integral part of our history, there have been numerous works of art that try to represent the trials and tribulations of individuals that immigrated to this country, such as “The Wedding Banquet.”
“The Wedding Banquet” is a 1993 film that depicts the social beliefs of a young man’s family from Taiwan. He is a gay man that lives in the comfort of the United States of America while his traditional parents continue to send him “marriage applications.” In order to put an end to the nuisance of the very expensive applications that his family constantly sent him, he lied about deciding to marry. One of his tenants, a Chinese woman, worked out an agreement with him and they decided to marry each other. Throughout the film, the hoax of the marriage grows and grows into a bigger problem when the Chinese woman becomes pregnant on their fake wedding night. This is a problem because the couple is not really in love with each other and the “husband” is actually gay. Not only was this a problem for the the gay lovers, it also created another hindrance in the plan to fool the parents. By the end of the movie, however, the truth comes out that the marriage was all a hoax. The traditional Chinese parents accepted their son for who he was and the gay couple decided to raise the child together with the Chinese woman. It was ultimately a happy ending.
The film appears to be a comedy with quite a bit of humor but there is more to it than that. The story behind the story is something that is more than just a man trying to hide the fact that he is gay from his family. It is also a story of how a Chinese family overcame their traditional beliefs. The family had to accept the new culture or risk losing their son. This connects back to the Chinese immigrants and people living in Chinatown because it puts the trials and tribulations of not only Chinese immigrants into perspective, but also the trials of Chinese people as a whole. Assimilating into the United States as well as finding a place for themselves in this country was a struggle that was ultimately conquered.
It can be said now that Chinatown is a lively and colorful place filled with the scent of diversity. New York City’s Chinatown is the largest population of Chinese people, and this is not including the rest of the boroughs. The addition of not only the Chinese population, but also other immigrant groups such as Indians and Dominicans, together culminates into the largest and most diverse immigrant population in the entire United States. The already crowded streets still continue to grow at a very quick speed. “Both a tourist attraction and the home of the majority of Chinese New Yorkers, Chinatown offers visitor and resident alike hundreds of restaurants, booming fruit and fish markets and shops of knickknacks and sweets on torturously winding and overcrowded streets” (The History of New York City’s Chinatown). New York City would not be New York City without this magnificent immigrant neighborhood.
Works Cited
“Chinatown Resource Guide.” PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017.
Grigg, Cindy. “Chinese Immigrants and the California Gold Rush.” EdHelper. N.p., 2011. Web. 01 May 2017.
“The Beginning of China’s Emigration to America.” Poetic Waves. Angel Island, 16 March 2010. Web. 01 May 2017.
Waxman, Sarah. “The History of New York City’s Chinatown.” NY.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 01 May 2017.
