Post by NZBC on Aug 11, 2007 19:24:37 GMT 12
burton.library.ubc.ca/hclmbc/
The names of Chinese migrants as a statement of their identity and ethnicity or an extension of the identity have ensured debate in Canada, a country of immigrants. How names were adapted, documented and coined in an adopted country reflect the changes of social status, living conditions and the collective personae of the migrants. In some ways, it also illustrates how the Canadian immigration policies impacted the image of the Chinese settlement in different eras in Canadian history.
In the meantime, major social, demographic and political changes are fuelling interest in genealogy studies and reshaping kinship and trans-Pacific ties. The dialects used by Chinese Canadians, the romanization of the names as well as the changes some family names had sustained pose considerable hurdles for the archivists and genealogists who work with individuals and families in search of their ancestry. This project tries to identify the historical background against which the name changes took place, establish the pattern of changes and chronicle the changes for the benefit of interested researchers and lay community.
The names of Chinese migrants as a statement of their identity and ethnicity or an extension of the identity have ensured debate in Canada, a country of immigrants. How names were adapted, documented and coined in an adopted country reflect the changes of social status, living conditions and the collective personae of the migrants. In some ways, it also illustrates how the Canadian immigration policies impacted the image of the Chinese settlement in different eras in Canadian history.
In the meantime, major social, demographic and political changes are fuelling interest in genealogy studies and reshaping kinship and trans-Pacific ties. The dialects used by Chinese Canadians, the romanization of the names as well as the changes some family names had sustained pose considerable hurdles for the archivists and genealogists who work with individuals and families in search of their ancestry. This project tries to identify the historical background against which the name changes took place, establish the pattern of changes and chronicle the changes for the benefit of interested researchers and lay community.