Chinese Jamaican
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (30,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|
Jamaica: Kingston Overseas: Toronto, New York City, South Florida, England |
|
| Languages | |
| Jamaican English, Jamaican Patois, Hakka; recent immigrants and businesspeople also speak Mandarin | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (primarily Catholicism and Anglicanism) with some elements of Chinese folk religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Indian Jamaican, Hakka people, ethnic Chinese in Panama, Jamaican Americans, Jamaican Canadians |
Chinese Jamaicans are Jamaican people of Chinese ancestry, which include descendants of migrants from China to Jamaica. Early migrants came in the 19th century; there was another wave of migration in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the descendants of early migrants have moved abroad, primarily to Canada and the United States. Most Chinese Jamaicans are Hakka and can trace their origin to the coolies and labourers who came to Jamaica in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries.
Most Chinese Jamaicans are Hakka and can trace their origin to the indentured labourers who came to Jamaica in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. The British parliament made a study of prospects for Chinese migration to the West Indies in 1811, and in 1843 made an attempt to recruit Chinese workers to come to Jamaica, British Guiana, and Trinidad, but nothing came of it. The two earliest ships of Chinese migrant workers to Jamaica arrived in 1854, the first directly from China, the second composed of onward migrants from Panama who were contracted for plantation work. A further 200 would arrive in the years up until 1870, mostly from other Caribbean islands. Later, in 1884, a third wave of 680 Chinese migrants would arrive. With the exception of a few from Sze Yup, most of these migrants were Hakka people from Dongguan, Huiyang, and Bao'an. This third wave of migrants would go on to bring more of their relatives over from China.
The influx of Chinese indentured immigrants aimed to replace the outlawed system of black slavery. It entailed signing a five-year contract that bound the labors physically to specific planters and their estates, and subjected them to physical and financial penalties whenever any contractural conditions were broken. The contracts consisted of a $4 wage for a 12 hour work day, also including food, clothing, medical care, and housing, although these contracts were regularly violated. Chinese immigrants could also arrive independent of the indentured system. These independent immigrants could come by paying their own way as an individual free migrant, or they could come sponsored and have their passage paid for reimbursement later. In 1917, the entire indentured immigration system was outlawed, largely due to pressure from Gandhi, who was then leading the nationalist movement in India.
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Wikipedia