Chinese Contribution

¶ … Chinese immigrants living in the San Joaquin Valley, California. It has 4 sources. The San Joaquin Valley, California acquired its name in an interesting manner. Spanish history has documented this incident and attributed its name to a Spanish Army Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga who accidentally ventured to this unknown land while looking for new land for potential Spanish missions. During this journey, he came across a small creek, which he named 'Saint Joachim', referring to Saint Joachim, who was the father of Mary, the Virgin mother of Jesus Christ.

In Spanish, Saint Joachim became 'San Joaquin' and hence, the river near the creek came to be known as the 'San Joaquin River'. Soon enough, the entire central valley came to be known as the 'San Joaquin Valley'. (How the Valle Got Its Name, 2000) The Chinese immigrants who chose the United States as a place to live did so for more or less the same reasons as had the Europe immigrants. China was undergoing rough times in those days (about the middle of the 19th century).

Famine and poverty-struck people needed employment and a decent living. America seemed to be a land of opportunities where they could work and send money back home to their impoverished families. This was mainly due to the California Gold rush. (Angel Island) The San Joaquin Valley in particular was rich in gold depositories. "The Mojave gold deposit in Kern County was one of the only major gold depositories in the San Joaquin Valley...

All of the mines in the Mojave-Rosamond area had more than $5,000 of gold each; some having more than $1,000,000 of gold." All this led to a great number of treasure seekers, of which quite a few were Chinese. Due to the bad conditions back home, they decided to stay in the San Joaquin Valley and farm, rather than return.

"The United States was known as "Gum San" or Gold Mountain." (A History of the Chinese-Americans in California) When the Chinese became a permanent entity in the United States, they were welcomed with open arms. However, this did not mean that they did not face discrimination or segregation. They were welcomed enthusiastically only because labor was in great demand and cheap labor was the desperate need of the day. This was the time when the economic conditions were looking down and this just meant even more discrimination for the Chinese.

(Angel Island) Examples of discrimination against the Chinese are many and rampant in Chinese-American history. As early as 1862 (the influx of Chinese immigrants had just began a few years earlier), the Congress passed a law in which American vessels were restricted from bringing Chinese immigrants to the U.S. Twenty years later, another discriminatory bill was passed. This was the Chinese Exclusion Act: Forty-Seventh Congress, Session I.

1882, Chapter 126, Preamble: "Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof:" (Angel Island) Basically, this law forbade any Chinese people from coming to the United States, unless they had proven family connections. The icing on the cake, and the most shocking aspect of all this, was the fact that at this time, no other groups or minorities were being lawfully discriminated against.

(Angel Island) All discrimination issues aside, the early Chinese immigrants still managed to carve a decent life for themselves in America. The bulk of these immigrants had entered through the San Francisco Port and settled in California. Stockton was a town which attracted many Chinese immigrants. As Wong (2003) writes in an account of his trip: "the Chinese in Northern California called San Francisco the "First Port," Sacramento the "Second Port" and Stockton the "Third Port." Hence, these were the three main areas where the Chinese immigrants were heavily concentrated.

Not to be left behind, they eagerly participated in all kinds of events and activities, be it political, social or religious. A Chinese-American community was established. Taoism was the chief religion which they practiced and religious meetings were held regularly. When President Zachary Taylor died, the Chinese immigrants actively led and participated in his funeral procession. When California was allowed entry into the Union, they celebrated and the 1952 Fourth of July Parade in San Francisco comprised a great number of prominent members of the Chinese-American community.

(A History of Chinese-Americans in California) The cultural contributions of the Chinese-Americans are expansive due to the fact that while living in a strange country, they incorporated their own traditions in their life style, thus giving rise to a unique culture. The Chinese have a different concept of the New Year and their unique 'lunar New Year' was celebrated all across California, wherever Chinese immigrants were found in large numbers. Chinese culture is also saturated with opera performance, musicals, scriptures etc.

Hence, the immigrants made sure that their customs found place in the American society. Sansome Street's American Theatre boasted the first performance of Cantonese opera in 1852 and in a matter of a few months, the first Chinese theatre building was completed. Religion was not left behind as Chinese temples started being built. The King Chow Temple was the first temple and is believed to have been built around 1853.

The next step was the incorporation of Chinese writings: "two Chinese-language newspapers began publishing in 1854 and 1855." (A History of Chinese-Americans in California) The Chinese immigrants were responsible not only for their religious and social contributions, but also for technological ones. The Chinese herbs, which today possess cures for the most profound of illnesses, were brought to America by the Chinese immigrants. The "Tree of Heaven' is found in abundance throughout California and the San Joaquin Valley in particular and is known to be very favorable for curing arthritis.

Herbal remedies aside, the Chinese also introduced a very useful construction technique which involved building using rammed earth. This was an inexpensive technique which is practiced today by construction workers across America. (A History of Chinese-Americans in California) The history of Chinese-Americans in America is a troubled one. Many Chinese-Americans left America once a republic was established in China in 1911. Some were part of the World War I. Discrimination however, continued. This happened until 1930, when the.