5th Lap - Digging the Gold Digging Past (Chinese Diggers) Part 3

THE FIFTH LAP

Digging the Gold Digging Past (iii)

Previous: Digging the Gold Digging Past (ii)

Photo Album: Digging the Gold Digging Past (iii)

First it was San Francisco ( "Old Golden Mountain" ), and then there was Bendigo ("Big Golden Mountain") as far as "Golden Mountains" are concerned, that's what we learned in our childhood folklores in Hong Kong about the "Golden Mountain Uncles" who had found wealth overseas. At least we thought they all struck it rich ! Did they?!

Not far from the center of Bendigo, we found the Chinese Association of Bendigo, which has a museum next to a Chinese Garden, could it be the place to provide some insights to the history of Chinese gold diggers?

Chinese, mainly peasants, like many other nationalities, poured into Bendigo, as well as other major gold rush regions ( Victorian Highlands, Ballarat etc. and as far as Far North Queensland ). They left a remarkable and positive heritage, in spite of the numerous race riots and the discriminatory immigration policy that lasted until the early 1970s.

In his book "OF PIONEERS & PERSEVERANCE", the Victorian High Country historian Ian Stapleton, in the opening of Chapter Two on "The High Country Chinese", he wrote...

QUOTE

Of all the different ethnic groups that poured into Victoria during the rough and tumble years of the gold rush, few displayed more raw courage or dogged determinations than the Chinese, and none were subjected to more prejudice or maltreatment either, from the very day they left home, they were being used up and exploited, even by their own countryman.

UNQUOTE

During my last twenty years of leisure travels in Australia, I have been slowly building a vague profile of the life of these Chinese gold rush diggers all around Australia. A vast majority of them were from the rural "Sze Yup" region ( the "Four Counties") in southern province of Guangdong, where my ancestral village is in. Therefore I am always interested to learn more, though there weren't any direct family links.

I also learned the story of a half Chinese Aussie Digger (soldier), when I traced my roots back to my Great Grand Father's village in Taishan. There is a photo of the story written ( in Chinese ) by one of his descendants in Australia in the photo album of this post.

The Golden Dragon Museum in Bendigo, provides just that extra perspective to the story of the Chinese gold diggers and their descendants, above all, Bendigo was one of the centers of a major gold field region.

The collection in the museum amazes me in its richness in representing the cultural practices of the time, which stands out remarkably, in comparisons to the other Chinese heritage museums ( in Australia ) that I have visited so far.

Some cultural ceremonial artefacts...

A birthday party for a patriarch.

Various head gears and shoes ( tiny binded-feet shoes), probably were for cultural performances.

A gracious lady tunic.

A ceremonial man's tunic.

Most interestingly, are the human dimensions, the stories of their descendants, their lives ( good, bad and the ugly ), and how they were integrating into mainstream Australia.

Here are some of the stories on record.

A Chinese Aussie digger with a military medal and a

letter of commendation from King George VI..

A long serving member of the Bendigo Volunteers Fire Brigade...

A Bendigo all round sportsman....

A family portrait....

In Ian Stapleton's book, there were also plenty of stories of the Gold Digging Chinese of the era and their descendants. Some remained lonely if not in a desperate state, and in relative poverty due to a combination of the discriminatory government policy of the time and/or their own misfortune in their gold digging venture, either of their own doings or circumstance. Most notably, there were also a number of them who rose to prominence in the Australian society, in commerce as well as career professionals.

The stereotyping of these "Golden Mountain Uncles" of being just chop suey restaurant and laundry owners are not quite what it seemed.

Then again, I am also mindful of the absence of any stories of poverty and discriminatory treatments, it is probably a case of lacking of any meaningful records,. However, from anecdotal evidences in the way of general descriptions gleaned from different museums, they were quite prevalent.

For example....this exhibit in the botanical garden of Cooktown in Far North Queensland, mentioned about the actions that were taken to exclude the "encroachment" of Chinese market gardens around the intended site of the garden, with quite inflammatory words.

However, these are the records of a bygone era, all history, in the context of today's harmonious multicultural Australia.

Another point-of-interest is always the cemetery, which can provide some insight to the gold diggers remains after their passing.

The Chinese Masonic (Hung-mun) Society dated back through the Qin Dynasty as a secret brotherhood, which had figured prominently amongst the gold diggers history, providing self aids and sometimes, protection rackets.

The desolated Chinese section in the Bendigo Cemetery....similarly on the Victorian High Country, with many untended tombstones of the gold rush era.

Although unrelated to the Bendigo region, but there were probably parallel undocumented arrangement here, is evidenced by this mass tomb in Cooktown....which the poor gold diggers were buried together, awaiting the ones who had struck gold returning to China, to take their remains with them back to the old villages. This could be just one of those organised activities by the secret Chinese Masonic brotherhood.

A few kilometers away, is the the Chinese Joss House of Bendigo, unfortunately it only opens during the weekend, we were luckless.

But the Chinese Garden, with a joss house, next to the Golden Dragon Museum is opened to the public, a place of harmony. But this is not from the gold rush days.

AND of course, the famous Golden Dragon of Bendigo, which is paraded by the gold digger descendants and enthusiasts alike during various local cultural events, in particular, the Lunar New Year festivities.

After two days in Bendigo, it is time to continue our journey, but where?....so another stick was thrown into the air.....

.....read more

Notes: This book "Of Pioneers & Perseverance" documents the gold fields of the Victorian High Country, by Ian Stapleton whom I met 12 years ago in Hotham is well worth reading. He devoted 40 pages of a 300 pages book on "The High Country Chinese"