Descendants of the Dragon
Descendants of the Dragon
Kim Johnson's Descendants of the Dragon The Chinese in Trinidad 1806-2006 is a blessing to historians and history fans like myself. The Chinese came to the Caribbean as indentured labourers. Statistically, they were insignificant forming only relatively small communities when compared to the general population and the larger amount of persons of other ethnic groups.
The book's title comes from an ancient belief that the first Chinese emperors descended from dragons and from them all of the Chinese were born. Hence, "Chinese everywhere call themselves, Lung Tik Chuan Ren, Descendants of the Dragon" (Johnson 1).
Descendants of Dragon is a major milestone since it starts from the beginning of the indentureship experiment which sought to test the feasibility of the Chinese working on Caribbean plantations and follows to contemporary history.
Johnson focuses on the business prowess of the Chinese and how it contributed to the Trinidadian economy. However, her perspective is more panoramic since she dedicates entire chapters to how they built the nation of Trinidad and Tobago through the areas of Politics, Culture, Drama, Dance, Art, Recreation and Food.
Additionally, Johnson is able to zoom in on more microscopic sociological and historical aspects of the family and the home. This shows how Chinese-Trinidadians maintained some of their traditional family values. However, the effects of hybridization and creolization created a different set of values and traditions in the children and their children as time moved on.
This book fills an amazing gap which exists in the study of history and makes the experiences of our Chinese ancestors a living phenomena.
Kim Johnson's Descendants of the Dragon The Chinese in Trinidad 1806-2006 is a blessing to historians and history fans like myself. The Chinese came to the Caribbean as indentured labourers. Statistically, they were insignificant forming only relatively small communities when compared to the general population and the larger amount of persons of other ethnic groups.
The book's title comes from an ancient belief that the first Chinese emperors descended from dragons and from them all of the Chinese were born. Hence, "Chinese everywhere call themselves, Lung Tik Chuan Ren, Descendants of the Dragon" (Johnson 1).
Descendants of Dragon is a major milestone since it starts from the beginning of the indentureship experiment which sought to test the feasibility of the Chinese working on Caribbean plantations and follows to contemporary history.
Johnson focuses on the business prowess of the Chinese and how it contributed to the Trinidadian economy. However, her perspective is more panoramic since she dedicates entire chapters to how they built the nation of Trinidad and Tobago through the areas of Politics, Culture, Drama, Dance, Art, Recreation and Food.
Additionally, Johnson is able to zoom in on more microscopic sociological and historical aspects of the family and the home. This shows how Chinese-Trinidadians maintained some of their traditional family values. However, the effects of hybridization and creolization created a different set of values and traditions in the children and their children as time moved on.
This book fills an amazing gap which exists in the study of history and makes the experiences of our Chinese ancestors a living phenomena.
Comments
Post a Comment