Women and the Chinese
For many years there were virtually no Chinese women on the goldfields. According to the Handbook to Australasia in 1858, only 4 of the 18,109 Chinese on the goldfields in 1856 were women. In 1857 only 2 of the 26,321 Chinese were women.
Chinese men were accused of stealing white women. In actual fact some women preferred a Chinese miner as he washed more regularly and treated them well. It was difficult for the Chinese men as many had wives in China and it could be many years before they were reunited, if ever.
The number of women in general in Australia had always been low during the first half of the nineteenth century. With the huge influx of European men trying to find gold this inbalance increased. Various schemes were considered to encourage women to come and live in Australia.
European Australians views about the Chinese were often tainted by prejudice. You may recall from reading notes in the previous section that the evidence of the European wife of Ah Leen, who had been badly beaten by the mob, was not believed on the grounds that any white woman who would marry a Chinese showed a character of poor morals and people would not place any confidence in her or her evidence.
Activities
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James Ah Oun was found guilty of larceny and vagrancy. What did he do?
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Why do you think that a person like James Ah Oun would have been in and out of prison during the 1880s and 1890s? Why might he have found it difficult to find work? Think about the things that made life difficult for the Chinese in nineteenth century Victoria. If you had to prepare a set of rules for the See Yup Society to help new arrivals, what would you include in your set of rules? Note: You could find further ideas to include by reading the text, The Chinese on the goldfields.
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People can fear other people because they know very little about them, their customs, traditions and way of life. If you had to prepare a booklet about Chinese people to help other Australians to better understand them, what might you include in your booklet and why?
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What would you include in a booklet to help people coming from China to adjust to living in Australia. Compare your suggestions with those of other class members. Use this list to prepare a master list. Prepare the booklet and present a copy to your local member of parliament.
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Search through the text that accompanies each of the photographs (including the text about Wah Lim) at this exhibition and online for evidence to prove or disprove the following statement: ‘Sometimes the court would take more notice of the evidence of a European rather than that of the Chinese person.’
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On a blank map of Australia (or Victoria and South Australia) mark in the places mentioned in the text.
List any unfamiliar words and terms and make a glossary of these.
Make a timeline of the early actions taken to restrict Chinese migration to Victoria. Later you can extend this timeline.
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Use books from your school and local library and the internet to find out what happened at Buckland (1857), Lambing Flat (1861) or the Palmer Goldields (1877). Use this information to prepare a frieze or story map to explain one or more of these events.
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