This thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion of modern Chinese identity by pro-viding a case study of Cheok Hong CHEONG. It necessarily considers Australian atti-tudes towards the Chinese during the 19th century, not least the White Australia Pol-icy. The emergence of that discriminatory immigration policy over the second half of the 19th century until its national implementation in 1901 provides the background to the thesis. Cheong was the leading figure among Chinese-Australian Christians and a prominent figure in the Australian Chinese community and the thesis seeks to iden-tify a man whose contribution has largely been shadowy in other studies or, more commonly, overlooked by the parochialism of colony/state emphasis in many histo-ries of Australia. His role in the Christian church fills a space in Victorian religious history.
Although Cheong accumulated great wealth he was not part of the Chinese mer-chant class of the huagong/huaquiao traditions of the overseas Chinese diaspora of the 19th and 20th centuries. His wealth was accumulated through property investments following the spectacular collapse of the Victorian banking system during the 1890s. His community leadership role arose through his position in the Christian Church rather than, as was generally the case, through business. His English language skills, resulting from his church association, were the key to his role as a Chinese community spokesman.¶
Cheok Hong Cheong left an archive of some 800 documents in the English lan-guage covering the major people, incidents and concerns of his life and times. His Let-terbooks, together with the archives of the various Christian missions to the Chinese in Australia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, shed light on one person’s life and more broadly, through his involvements on the complex relationships of Chinese emigrants, with the often unsympathetic majority of Australians.¶
This is a case study of a Chinese identity formed outside China and influenced by a wider set of cultural influences than any other Chinese-Australian of his time —an identity that justifies the description of him as an ‘Alien Son’. Cheong’s story is a con-tribution to the urban and family history of an important ethnic sub-group within the wider immigrant history of Australia.¶
While Cheong remained a Chinese subject his identification with Australia cannot be questioned. All his children were born in Australia and he left just twice after his arrival in 1863. He visited England in 1891-2 and in 1906 he briefly visited China. Identity and culture issues are growing in importance as part of the revived relation-ship between the Chinese of the diaspora and the economic renewal of the People’s Republic of China and this thesis is offers a contribution to that discussion.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/216829 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Welch, Ian, iwe97581@bigpond.net.au |
| Publisher | The Australian National University. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.anu.edu.au/legal/copyrit.html), Copyright Ian Welch |
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