The Early Chinese Canadians
1858-1947

Further Research

In this section:

• Web links
• Suggested readings

Web links

LAC websites

Research Guide to Early Chinese Canadian History at Library and Archives Canada

Canadian Genealogy Centre: Chinese Immigration Records

Chinese Immigration Records Series

Immigrants from China

The virtual exhibition Moving Here, Staying Here

A Chinese Canadian Story: The Yip Sang Family

External websites

Chinese Canadian 150 Years Online Project (CC150)
www.ccnc.ca/cc150/

Chinese-Canadian Genealogy
www.vpl.ca/ccg/index.html

Chinese-Canadians: Profiles from a Community
(A wiki from the Vancouver Public Library)
http://ccgwiki.vpl.ca/index.php/ccg_wiki

Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia
www.cchsbc.ca

The Chinese Canadian Military Museum
www.ccmms.ca

Chinese Canadian National Council / Conseil National des Canadiens Chinois
www.ccnc.ca

The Chung Collection
www.library.ubc.ca/chung/intro.html

Heroes Remember - Featured Chinese-Canadian Veterans
www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/hr_cdnchinese

Moving the Mountain (a documentary film)
www.pmm.qc.ca/english/spip.php?article10

"Not welcome anymore"
CBC Digital Archives
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/racism/clips/9242/

"Origines de la population chinoise canadienne"
Radio-Canada Archives
http://archives.radio-canada.ca/societe/immigration/dossiers/1591/

The Road Chosen: The Story of Lem Wong - Lem Wong's Café
www.whitepinepictures.com/seeds/i/3/sidebar.html

Suggested Readings

Anderson, Kay. Vancouver's Chinatown: Racial Discourse in Canada, 1875-1980. Montréal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991. ISBN 0773508449
AMICUS No. 10431491

A Century of the Chinese in Calgary. Calgary: United Calgary Chinese Association, 1993.
AMICUS No. 22159278

Chan, Anthony B. Gold Mountain: The Chinese in the New World. Vancouver: New Star Books, 1983. ISBN 0919573002
AMICUS No. 3401858

Chiang, Hung-Min (Jiang Hong Min). Chinese Islanders: Making a Home in the New World. Charlottetown, P.E.I.: Island Studies Press, 2006. ISBN 0919013465
AMICUS No. 32443181

Con, Harry et al. De la Chine au Canada: Histoire des communautés chinoises au Canada. Edgar Wickberg, ed. Ottawa: Multiculturalisme Canada, 1984. ISBN 0660912619
AMICUS No. 4537279

Con, Harry et al. From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada. Edgar Wickberg, ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982. ISBN 0771022417
AMICUS No. 3359187

Dawson, J. Brian. Moon Cakes in Gold Mountain: From China to the Canadian Plains. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises, 1991. ISBN 155059026X
AMICUS No. 10730514

Dyzenhaus, David and Mayo Moran, eds. Calling Power to Account: Law, Reparations and the Chinese Canadian Head Tax Case. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. ISBN 0802038085
AMICUS No. 30902619

Goutor, David. Guarding the Gates: The Canadian Labour Movement and Immigration, 1872-1934. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007. ISBN 9780774813648
AMICUS No. 33270577

Helly, Denise. Les Chinois à Montréal: 1877-1951. Québec: Institut québécois de recherche sur la culture, 1987. ISBN 2892240840
AMICUS No. 8436389

Hoe, Ban Seng. Au-delà de la montagne d'or: la culture traditionnelle des sino-canadiens. Hull, Québec: Musée canadien des civilisations, 1989. ISBN 0660902915
AMICUS No. 8837332

Hoe, Ban Seng. Beyond the Golden Mountain: Chinese Cultural Traditions in Canada. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1989. ISBN 0660107902
AMICUS No. 8837259

Hoe, Ban Seng. Enduring Hardship: The Chinese Laundry in Canada. Gatineau, Québec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2003. ISBN 0660190788
AMICUS No. 28375676

Huang, Evelyn. Chinese Canadians: Voices from a Community. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1992. ISBN 1550540343
AMICUS No. 11242419

Lai, David Chuenyan. Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988. ISBN 0774803096
AMICUS No. 8323816

Lai, David Chuenyan. The Forbidden City within Victoria. Victoria, B.C.: Orca Book Publishers, 1991. ISBN 092050163X
AMICUS No. 10673335

Lee, Wai-man (Li Huai-min p'ien hsüan), ed. Portraits of a Challenge: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Canadians (Chi'en yen wen ho ch'uang hsin lu : chia na ta hua jen li shih t'u p'ien chi). Toronto: Council of Chinese Canadian in Ontario (An sheng chia na ta hua jen lien huich'u pan), 1984. ISBN 0969210604
AMICUS No. 7937444

Li, Julia Ningyu (Li Ning Yü p'ien chu), ed. Canadian Steel, Chinese Grit: A Tribute to the Chinese who Worked on Canada's Railroads More than a Century Ago (Fêng ku Chung-hua hun : Chi nien pai nien chan). Toronto: Paxlink Communications Inc., 2000. ISBN 0968731902
AMICUS No. 23832251

Li, Peter S. The Chinese in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0195412710
AMICUS No. 17425643

McCardle, Bennett. The Records of Chinese Immigration at the National Archives of Canada, Canadian Ethnic Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1987, pp. 163-171.

Morton, James. In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia. Vancouver: J.J. Douglas, 1974. ISBN 0888940521
AMICUS No. 75758

Roy, Patricia. The Oriental Question: Consolidating a White Man's Province, 1914-41. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2003. ISBN 0774810106
AMICUS No. 28375606

Roy, Patricia. The Triumph of Citizenship: The Japanese and Chinese in Canada, 1941-67. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007. ISBN 9780774813808
AMICUS No. 33090106

Roy, Patricia. A White Man's Province: British Columbia Politicians and Chinese and Japanese Immigrants, 1858-1914. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1989. ISBN 0774803304
AMICUS No. 12869404

Scheinberg, Ellen. Evidence of 'Past Injustices': Records Relating to the Chinese Head Tax, The Archivist, Vol. 20, No. 2, 1994, pp 26-30.

Seto, William. The Chinese Experience in New Brunswick: A Historical Perspective. Fredericton: Chinese Cultural Association of New Brunswick, 1985.
AMICUS No. 6786252

Soo, Wen Lee. Crossings: A Portrait of the Chinese Community of Moose Jaw. Heather Smith, ed. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan: Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery, 2005. ISBN 0968400876
AMICUS No. 32039103

Sugiman, Momoye. Chin kuo (Jin guo): Voices of Chinese Canadian Women. Toronto: Women's Press, 1992. ISBN 0889611475
AMICUS No. 11995722

Tan, Jin-Yan and Patricia E. Roy. The Chinese in Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Historical Association, 1985. ISBN 0887981100

Available online: [PDF 2,501 KB]
AMICUS No. 6117851

Tan, Jin-Yan et Patricia E. Roy. Les Chinois au Canada. Ottawa: Société historique du Canada, 1985. ISBN 0887981100
Available online: [PDF 2,501 KB]
AMICUS No. 6692905

To Commemorate Victoria's Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, 1884-1959. Victoria, B.C.: Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assoc., 196-?
AMICUS No. 25273539

Wang, Jiwu. "His Dominion" and the "Yellow Peril": Protestant Missions to the Chinese Immigrants in Canada, 1859-1967. Waterloo, Ont.: Published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion/Corporation canadienne des sciences religieus, 2006. ISBN 0889204853
AMICUS No. 32367275

Ward, W. Peter. White Canada Forever: Popular Attitudes and Public Policy toward Orientals in British Columbia. Montréal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990. ISBN 0773508244
AMICUS No. 9771865

Wright, Richard. In a Strange Land: A Pictorial Record of the Chinese in Canada, 1788-1923. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1988. ISBN 0888332696
AMICUS No. 7983278

Yee, Paul. Chinatown: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Communities of Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. Toronto: J. Lorimer, 2005. ISBN 1550288423
AMICUS No. 31190388

Yee, Paul. Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006. ISBN 155365174X
AMICUS No. 32266290

Selected early federal government reports and legislation

Canada. Chinese Immigration Act and Regulations. Ottawa: Dept. of Immigration and Colonization, 1920.
AMICUS No. 17326511

Canada. Chinese Immigration Act and Regulations. Ottawa: Dept. of Immigration and Colonization, 1922.
AMICUS No. 17233694

Canada. Chinese Immigration Act and Regulations, 1923, issued by the Minister of Immigration and Colonization. Ottawa: King's Printer, 1923.
AMICUS No. 4121921

Canada. Chinese Immigration Act: As Amended to Date with Regulations Authorized by Orders in Council Based Thereon. Ottawa: Dept. of Trade and Commerce, 1910.
AMICUS No. 17364037

Canada. Commission royale sur l'immigration chinoise. Rapport sur l'immigration chinoise: Rapport et témoignages. Ottawa: Imprimé par ordre de la Commission, 1885. ISBN 0665936508
AMICUS No. 14003412

Canada. Commission to Investigate Alleged Chinese Frauds and Opium Smuggling on the Pacific Coast: Report of Mr. Justice Murphy, Royal Commissioner Appointed to Investigate Alleged Chinese Frauds and Opium Smuggling on the Pacific Coast, 1910-11. Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1913.
AMICUS No. 12259328

Canada. Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration: Report and Evidence. Toronto: Micromedia Ltd., n.d. ISBN 0665145632
AMICUS No. 10781423

Canada. Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Methods by which Oriental Labourers have been induced to come to Canada. Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Methods by which Oriental Labourers have been induced to Come to Canada. W.L. Mackenzie King, c.m.g., Commissioner. Ottawa, Government Printing Bureau, 1908.
AMICUS No. 2260182

Canada. Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate Methods by which Oriental Labourers have been Induced to come to Canada: Report of W.L. Mackenzie King, Commissioner Appointed to Enquire into the Methods by which Oriental Labourers have been induced to come to Canada. Ottawa: The Commission, 1908.
AMICUS No. 12261938

Canada. Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration: Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration. Ottawa: S.E. Dawson, 1902.
AMICUS No. 12772289

Canada. Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration: Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration. New York: Arno Press, 1978. ISBN 040511267X
AMICUS No. 467373

Canada. Royal Commission to Investigate Losses by the Chinese Population of Vancouver, British Columbia, on the Occasion of the Riots in That City in September, 1907: Report by W.L. Mackenzie King...Commissioner Appointed to Investigate into the Losses Sustained by the Chinese Population of Vancouver, B.C. on the Occasion of the Riots in That City in September, 1907. Ottawa: S.E. Dawson, 1908.
AMICUS No. 12779378

Early Chinese Canadian newspapers on microfilm in Library and Archives Canada's collection and available on interlibrary loan:

Vancouver
The Chinese Daily News (Ta han jih pao)
NJ.FM.1793 Aug.1, 1914 - Oct.23, 1915

AMICUS No. 7705281

The Chinese Times (Ta han kung pao)
NJ.FM.1793. Nov.6, 1915 - Dec.1970

AMICUS No. 7705506

Selection of theses in Library and Archives Canada's collection and available on interlibrary loan:

Chen, Ying-ying. In the colonies of Tang: Historical Archaeology of Chinese Communities in the North Cariboo District, British Columbia (1860s-1940s). Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 2004. ISBN 0612816362
AMICUS No. 29965091

Chu, Sandra Ka Hon. Reparation as Narrative Resistanc: Displacing Orientalism and Recoding Harm for Chinese Women of the Exclusion Era. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada, 2006. ISBN 9780494117682
AMICUS No. 33060931

Cui, Xiang. The Occupational Changes of Chinese Immigrants in Canada with Specific Reference to Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1885-1923. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 2004. ISBN 0612865703
AMICUS No. 30719677

Harel, Nathalie. La peur de l'étranger: les Chinois à Montréal de 1885 à 1947. Montréal: Service des archives, Université de Montréal, Section Microfilm, 1996.
AMICUS No. 15165201

Huang, Belinda. Gender, Race, and Power: The Chinese in Canada, 1920-1950. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 2000. ISBN 0612438856 Available online: [PDF 8,578 KB]
AMICUS No. 24735049

Lim, Andrea Rae. Kingston's Chinese: The Formation of an Enclave, 1891-1980. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada, 2005. ISBN 0494010487
AMICUS No. 32227676

Mah, Hilda. A History of the Education of Chinese Canadians in Alberta, 1885-1947. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1988. ISBN 0315410906
AMICUS No. 8612602

Mar, Lisa Rose. From Diaspora to North American Civil Rights: Chinese Canadian Ideas, Identities and Brokers in Vancouver, British Columbia, 1924 to 1960. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 2003. ISBN 0612746690
AMICUS No. 28577667

Moy, Frank Kunyin. The Political Economy of Chinese Labour in Canada, 1858-1923. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1995. ISBN 0315966769
AMICUS No. 15029263

Ng, Chee Chiu Clement. The Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver: 1885-1923, A response to Local Conditions. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1987. ISBN 0315338156
AMICUS No. 7738984

Poy, Vivienne. Calling Canada Home: Canadian Law and Immigrant Chinese Women from South China and Hong Kong, 1860-1990. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 2004. ISBN 0612847446
AMICUS No. 30487303

Rowe, Allan. The Surveillance of the Chinese in Canada during the Great War. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 2002. ISBN 0612614905
Available online: [PDF 5,086 KB]
AMICUS No. 27303642

Stanley, Timothy John. Defining the Chinese Other: White Supremacy, Schooling and Social Structure in British Columbia before 1923. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1992. ISBN 0315726482
AMICUS No. 12770737

Yee, Paul. Chinese Business in Vancouver, 1886-1914. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1986. ISBN 0315279818
AMICUS No. 6812207

Zhang, Yunqiu. Canada's Chinese Immigration Act of 1885. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1991. ISBN 0315594659
AMICUS No. 12215597