We’ve been helping one of our colleagues research all sorts of interesting historic stuff on the Chinese in Canada… the racist laws that were made, and the profiting by government over the Chinese head tax.
To capture the flavour of the day – on how the Chinese were so ‘warmly’ received here in British Columbia… we found this old Province newspaper headline dating back to February 8, 1910.
We’ve cleaned up the crappy scan for all of us in 2011, to view.
The headline reads:
“CHINESE NEW YEAR BEGINS TONIGHT”
Going clockwise from the top left corner, we see an old Chinese guy with a long queue (ponytail) giving an apple to a couple of young kids, the caption reads:
The children are great favorites during the holidays
note over the childrens’ shoulders is peering an elderly chinese gentlemen… with a long fu manchu beard!
Next, we find a mother holding onto the hand of a young one, dressed in fine Chinese clothing, the caption reads:
Frescoed for the occasion
note the stunned man smoking a cigar, looking back at the mother and child.
.
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… next, we find some Chinese men playing musical instruments, the caption reads,
They call this Music!
“Bang… Bang … Bang … Bang”
At the bottom right, we find a Beaver shaking hands (paws?… claws?) with a Dragon! and the artist’s signature.
Early Chinese + Canadian friendship, eh?
At the bottom of the image, we see a Chinese man sucking back a huge pot of Gin, the caption reads,
What a Cinch –– Ten days of This
His queue is morphed into a smiling dragon, with a tongue sticking out! Owch!
… And at the center, we find two Chinese men shaking hands.
Note the guns in their back pockets!
The caption reads,
The “Gunmen” always call off Hostile Ties during the New Year Festivities
: :
Ah… the old past.
What a crazy world we live in.
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Happy New Year of the Rabbit to you all!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii_x1toikG0
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To talk about Chinese New year is meaningless in this regime pf white people.
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@ExpatHKboy: the colour of your skin has nothing to do with the celebration of Chinese New Years, or any other celebration. We cannot blame all white people for the sins of our forefathers… and the same applies to Asians.
If you’re so unhappy about “white people”, try make an effort to reach out to some of them. You’ll see that they don’t bite. In fact you’d find just as many close minded Chinese as you would in any other race.
Anyways… my friends and I will celebrate the year of the Rabbit with great joy and great zest. And we’re a rainbow of colour – yellow, black, brown, white, red and even green… the colour of life.
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tUCC,
Did you read my piece about “what’sostrange, do you know what treason means? You do know why we speak English here and we have the English common law system and constitution and all the other European traditions? Should I report you to CSIS?”
You still don’t understand why we celebrate European traditions and festivals in Canada but not the other ones? (like Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas) I am talking about culture. I understand you banana people have an identity-crisis. What you said about is just about race, race and race … just like the white people I condemn everyday. Well, you people grew up in this regime after all.
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Explain to me why you should celebrate Chinese New year here. Even White people don’t celebrate Jewish traditions either. If you love Canada, shut up and fit in (with their European stuff) or you should stop your whining about being non-white bananas.
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Let me analyze this. Since you people are “white-inside”, you also glorify white culture. But since your outside is yellow-peril-chinese, so you have a problem. Therefore, What you are trying to do here is to raise the banana-status to a an equal footing comparable to authentic whites–by showcasing banana athletes in sports and other “white culture beloved” activities.
If you think white people will respect you, dream on. Without the money and power brought upon by the recent Asian immigrants, you people would still be living in chinatown just like it was in 1910.
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@ExpatHKboy… um… we think you have an anger problem.
Sorry, we can’t help you with it. But you’re welcome to vent here on this blog.
But please, heed a bit of advice – try not to lose anymore credibility with our readers.
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LOL@ExpatHKboy
dood why are you here? why are you in north america? you sound like your going through hell over here; your in the wrong side of the world buddy why don’t you go back to hong kong instead of crying 24/7 about these alleged “injustices” you always make comments on. You sound awfully miserable
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To HkExpatBoy:
Your a xenophobic asshole
Wots the matter? Haffnt eaten nuff dick?
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I’m surprised that Da Ge Ge’s post made it past moderation.
If we are trying to help contributor “HKExpatBoy” to reform his thinking, I don’t think that calling him names and asking about his diet is going to work.
I really enjoy this place and I’d hate to see it degenerate into something like Youtube comments or [shudder] ChinaDaily Forums!!
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Quoting Ronglimeng: “I’m surprised that Da Ge Ge’s post made it past moderation”
Actually, we let Da GeGe’s comment sit for a couple of days, laughed, then thought that our friend HKExpatBoy might enjoy a taste of what others were thinking of him.
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Dear all my loyal subjects,
Heaven appointed me the Ruler of all under Heaven so that I can ensure the maintenance of a harmonious society. Please behave.
The Son of Heaven,
Strange
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10,000 years ‘wen-sui’ to our beloved Emperor!
Good advice. Let’s all behave.
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It’s funny what this expathkboy is saying about Chinese Canadians….he’s saying they aren’t Chinese, they’re sellout bananas. And, since in his world you have grown in a ‘White regime’ you cannot possibly appreciate Chinese New Year for what it is.
I’ve got a question for expatboy, what about a whitey in a Chinese-based society? Can that person celebrate Chinese new year? Or are they too culturally inept to celebrate it?
How about the 10% of Hong Kong’s population that are Christian, can they celebrate Christmas?
I’ve another question, what is culture to you anyways? Is it tied directly to your skin color? Is it tied directly to your nationality? Ethnicity? What?
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Momo,
“I’ve got a question for expatboy, what about a whitey in a Chinese-based society? Can that person celebrate Chinese new year? Or are they too culturally inept to celebrate it?
How about the 10% of Hong Kong’s population that are Christian, can they celebrate Christmas?
I’ve another question, what is culture to you anyways? Is it tied directly to your skin color? Is it tied directly to your nationality? Ethnicity? What?
How about the 10% of Hong Kong’s population that are Christian, can they celebrate Christmas?”
You see, of course a whitey can celebrate chinese new year in Hong Kong. Because people in other countries don’t have this Nazi-supremacy mentality. Because the white dudes here think everything in terms of race, other people have to be the same like them? No!
I know it is very hard for to understand. But I have to tell you people in other countries don’t think about that. For example in HK, We know they don’t speak Chinese so we speak to English to them. We respect other people’s culture and way of life. No one forces anyone to do it. Besides, it is none of our business if it doesn’t bother us. Try doing that here, white people are up in arms with everything non-white.
“what is culture to you anyways? Is it tied directly to your skin color? Is it tied directly to your nationality? Ethnicity? What?”
What is the definition of culture? Do you understand what culture means?
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