Today we met with Benny Ko from the Indiana Association of Chinese Americans (IACA) and he gave us a quick, hour-long lecture over the history of Chinese immigration. It was our first-time meeting Benny, so it was nice to get a brief explanation of his background. Benny was born in Hong Kong. Like many others, and like Kwan, Benny immigrated to the United States in his later teenage years to pursue an education. He attended Indiana State University where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree before attending the medical school at Indiana University, and later becoming a physician. He is a first generation Chinese American, and has now lived in the state of Indiana for fifty-five years. Thinking about Benny moving to the United States got me thinking about The Woman From New York, a short-story by Ha Jin. The main character of the story, Jinli, left China to pursue a better life for herself in the United States, while leaving behind a husband and child. When she returned from New York, she was shunned by her community and family. People judged her for the way she dressed and claimed that she abandoned her family, although Jinli states that she left to pursue a better life for her family. Although I don’t have an answer, and I don’t believe it is courteous to ask, I wonder how Benny’s family and community felt about him leaving Hong Kong to pursue an education and life in the United States. Because he was still a young adult and didn’t have a family of his own (and because he is a male), I have to believe that those around him were excited and encouraging of him to pursue a better life.
In terms of immigration, Benny states that it is a trait of Homo sapiens to “roam” or move from area to area. When a drought or flood destroyed the agriculture and crops of a nomadic herd, people would historically move to a new location in hopes of better land and new opportunities. In Benny’s words, immigration is the move from a country of origin to another country or region or state in search of opportunities. Immigration is natural among all peoples/cultures and the entire animal kingdom. Historically, people tended to live in another country only when they were exiled or banned from their own states. During the Age of Discovery, however, immigration became popular amongst Chinese citizens. The Age of Explanation, or the Age of Discovery, was a time period when nations became fascinated with exploring the world.
As Benny explained, many of the earliest Chinese immigrants came to the United States in search of a better living. Although their living standards tended to be bad and they were typically treated poorly in the U.S., they were compensated much better than they were in China. There were two main reasons why Chinese citizens started to come to the United States – the California Gold Rush and the transcontinental railroad. People who were of Chinese descent were typically frowned upon in the gold mines, so much of their work consisted of doing laundry, cooking meals, and cleaning dishes. They were allowed to work on the railroad construction, same as other men, but they were typically only paid half of what U.S. citizens were making. Still, Chinese citizens immigrated to the United States in search of better wages and living.