At the time these Chinese people arrived in Victoria, people of European descent believed in their racial superiority. Therefore everyone else had to be inferior.

They came to this conclusion because people from other cultures appeared to be different to them. They were strange people with strange customs that the European Australians did not understand and did not always want to understand. Often it was easier to see them as being different or strange, as inferior, as a danger to their society, as people they could blame when things went wrong. By taking this attitude, many people did not have to take the time and make the effort to understand them.

Appearance

Wing Shin Yook

Study the range of prison photos on this website. What are some of the things you notice about the appearance and clothing of this set of Chinese prisoners? List these observations. Compare your list with the lists made by other class members. Suggest reasons for similarities and differences with the clothing worn by Europeans at that time.

Did you notice that:

• Many of the Chinese are quite different in appearance to one another. This is because they came from different parts of China.
• Some are wearing their traditional clothes (Mandarin jackets). Others are wearing regulation prison clothes-shirt, waist coat and jacket with a neck scarf.
• Many have their queue or long, pigtail plait. The queue was very important to them as their emperor wore a queue. Cutting off the pigtail meant that those people would never be able to return home to China and that they would be outcasts in their community.
• Some prisoners’ photos show that they suffered from small pox. Small pox was a highly infectious disease and often resulted in death especially among the young. Europeans thought Chinese spread the disease. It was another source of tension between the races.

Did you know that:

• In China protestors cut their pigtails in defiance of the government. Also some prisoners would have their pigtails removed by authorities to mark them as outsiders for life!
• Prison regulations in Victoria stated that people who were in prison for more than 3 months were to have their heads shaved. The Chinese greatly resented this rule. However it was relaxed by the prisons and they were allowed to keep their queue or plait. (Source: Diaries of J B Castieau, Governor Melbourne Gaol, 1874)

Language

Chinese languages created many difficulties for government officials and others in nineteenth century Victoria. Few if any would have been able to speak any of the many Chinese languages of which Mandarin and Cantonese are the main ones spoken. The sounds and pronunciation are totally different to European languages. Like English there are core sounds but the language is monosyllabic (using words of one syllable), and is tonal. That is, to indicate difference in meaning between words similar in sound, they either use a high or low pitch or give the word a pitch that rises or falls.

Officials and the Chinese themselves soon realized the need for interpreters. If a miner was a member of a society such as the See Yup Society he would have access to a translator. It was important to have someone who could speak for him and act as a scribe. A scribe was someone who could write letters in English or Chinese for him. It was also important to have someone you could trust as an interpreter, especially in business and when dealing with the law.

Opium smoking

Another significant problem between the Europeans and Chinese was the Chinese habit of opium smoking. Opium dens were considered terrible places where only the desperate and criminals went. Many of the surviving records of the Chinese are their prison records for drug-related crimes. Joe Byrne, one of the four members of the Kelly Gang developed a close association with the Chinese community in Beechworth. He was reported to be an opium user.

Names

Names say a lot about a person’s identity. In the case of the Chinese who came to Victoria, the fact that their family name always came before their individual name said a lot about their identification with family lineage. To the Europeans who recorded or used them, however, it just seemed strange and unfamiliar. The pronunciation of Chinese names and their translation into Roman script (our way of writing) presented an even greater challenge to Europeans and Chinese alike.

At one time or another, all Chinese entering and living in Victoria would have been required to have their names officially recorded. This process required the person whose name was being recorded or a headman to say their name in Chinese and for the European writing it down to record the name according to the sounds that he or she heard. Unless either person spoke the other’s language, it would have been virtually impossible for the name to be checked for any degree of accuracy, assuming that Roman letters could be used to represent the Chinese name. In this fashion, affected by the hearing ability and interpretation of the recorder, names were often misrecorded or anglicized, so that Yeung might become Young. As time went by, some Chinese changed their names in order to minimize discrimination. In this way, a name like Wah was changed to Waugh.

Chinese names caused many problems for the officials and others trying to record the details of Chinese people. This was especially so if the official could not speak Chinese or the Chinese person did not speak English.

Often the officials misspelt names or recorded totally incorrect names. The officials would write down the sound or in some cases just make up a name. Some officials gave the Chinese quite rude names.

These wrong names and mistakes can cause difficulties when trying to trace Chinese people and their history.

There were interpreters but there were not enough and they were not always well trained.

Writing

This notice describes a ritual of swearing on a rooster's head to ensure the truth was told. It was produced in the trial of Charlie Fun Chung. VPRS 30/P0, unit 30 case 32/1895.

Chinese writing, like the different Chinese languages, appeared rather strange to Europeans. In many ways it was confusing and complex because it was based on over 1700 characters. Our alphabet uses 26 letters. The different appearance alone meant that to understand what each other was writing both European Australians and the Chinese had to learn to write and read using a new system of writing.

It should also be remembered that it was only in 1872 that the first Education Act in Victoria became law, making education, ‘free, secular and compulsory’. Before that, only those who could afford to send their children to school did so. As a result, not everyone could read and write. If you look at old records such as marriage certificates and other documents that needed a personal signature, you would often see an ‘X’ (cross) written in the signature space followed by someone else writing the words, ‘His/her mark’. These people had to rely upon others to be told about important information such as mining regulations which affected their daily lives.

In part these problems were overcome by using scribes and translators. Illiterate people could employ a scribe to write letters on their behalf. Some Chinese also used translators to read letters written in English. Officials in the prison system used scribes to translate for prisoners and to write letters on their behalf. While this was very useful, it also placed the Chinese person at the mercy of the scribe or translator. Scribes and translators had to be trustworthy people who could be relied upon to carry out their tasks accurately and honestly.

Burial

Burial, like many other aspects of Chinese life, is based on customs and traditions. The burial of the dead is very important to the Chinese people. It depends upon many things such as:

• How the person died
• Their age
• Whether or not they were married
• Their status and position in society.

Chinese cemeteries are often found on hillsides. The Chinese believe this affects their feng shui. The further up a hillside a grave site is, the better this is thought to be. If you visit the Chinese section of a cemetery you will often see funerary burners which stand over 2 metres tall. They are safe places for the burning of spiritual tributes. The paper and cardboard tributes represent money, clothing, possessions and houses to serve the deceased person in the afterlife.

Some Chinese people, especially Taoists, are buried. Other Chinese people, particularly Buddhists, are cremated. When a person was buried, it was important that they be buried whole so they could travel to the afterlife whole. An ancient Chinese punishment included the cutting up of the dead body of the guilty person so they could not return whole to this world. It is also important that a person’s body be placed so their face turns heavenwards.

It is important to remember that like so many other aspects of Chinese daily life and customs there is no one way to do things. Like people of European descent, Chinese people come from many different belief or value systems and these affect the way people are buried and remembered.

If a person died while in prison it was usual to cremate and bury the person. If a person was hanged, it was usual practice to remove the head and make a death mask.