Post by NZBC on Jun 12, 2007 20:39:01 GMT 12
gesswhoto.com/chinese.html
Leaving Canton
The news of the 1849 California Gold Rush, may well have rocked the great walled city of Canton, China long before waking the napping villages of it's own Eastern United States. This factor was due in part, to the early geography of the Western World. At that time, the "Celestial Empire" was nearer to the California ports than those of her far off sister states. Arriving with tales of riches and glittering gold, the white mans story of wealth was received with far greater enthusiasm than his cheap Western cargo, that was destroying the Chinese market.
19th century China was already a troubled land. Struggling in the aftermath of the Taiping rebellion, compounded with over population and famine, the "Land of Milk and Honey," quickly became starvations only attainable cure. Leaflets, maps, and other forms of enticing propaganda, was being widley spread among the Chinese communities by opportunistic sea captains, in their endeavors for collecting more passage. It was a common practice among the Chinese villagers to pool their meager earnings in an effort to send one young representative to the, great, "Gum Shan", or Mountain of Gold, as California was soon to become known.
The first to arrive in San Francisco formed themselves into Six Companies, so called for the Six Districts of China from which they came. Representatives from each district would meet their newly arriving compatriots at the docks - place them with living quarters, and assist in their search for employment.
Leaving Canton
The news of the 1849 California Gold Rush, may well have rocked the great walled city of Canton, China long before waking the napping villages of it's own Eastern United States. This factor was due in part, to the early geography of the Western World. At that time, the "Celestial Empire" was nearer to the California ports than those of her far off sister states. Arriving with tales of riches and glittering gold, the white mans story of wealth was received with far greater enthusiasm than his cheap Western cargo, that was destroying the Chinese market.
19th century China was already a troubled land. Struggling in the aftermath of the Taiping rebellion, compounded with over population and famine, the "Land of Milk and Honey," quickly became starvations only attainable cure. Leaflets, maps, and other forms of enticing propaganda, was being widley spread among the Chinese communities by opportunistic sea captains, in their endeavors for collecting more passage. It was a common practice among the Chinese villagers to pool their meager earnings in an effort to send one young representative to the, great, "Gum Shan", or Mountain of Gold, as California was soon to become known.
The first to arrive in San Francisco formed themselves into Six Companies, so called for the Six Districts of China from which they came. Representatives from each district would meet their newly arriving compatriots at the docks - place them with living quarters, and assist in their search for employment.