[BCMA] Lecture: Gold Mountain Dreaming and the History of the Cantonese Pacific

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Gold Mountain Dreaming and the History of the Cantonese Pacific

Lecture by Dr. Henry Yu and Sarah Ling


Saturday April 2nd, 2016 2:00pm
Chinese Cultural Centre Museum, 555 Columbia Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 4H5
(604) 658-8880
Please register at eventbrite.ca


Image: Fraser River Raft Expeditions



The lecture is co-organized by Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia and the Royal B.C. Museum, hosted by the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver. 

Chinese migrants have been coming to the traditional First Nations territories that are now known as British Columbia since the very first moments that European migrants did. “Gold Rushes” in the mid-19th century drew migrants from around the world to deposits of gold on the edges of the Pacific basin: California, Australia, New Zealand, and the colony of British Columbia. Known for creating businesses like cafés, laundries and general stores that provided important services to miners and others, the Chinese were able to make money in ways far beyond finding gold. They grew food and helped build roads and bridges, as well as import goods from their trans-Pacific trade networks. In the Cantonese language that these migrants spoke, all of these locations came to be known as Gum San (Gold Mountain). Because of the wealth that could be created by crossing the seas to work, Gum San became a mythic name that long outlasted the gold rushes.

Join us for a public talk delivered by Dr. Henry Yu, UBC historian, and Co-Chair of the Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council advising the Province of British Columbia on legacy projects following the May 15, 2015 apology in the B.C. Legislature for historical anti-Chinese legislation; and Sarah Ling, an Educational Developer at UBC, Producer of the documentary "All Our Father's Relations", and member of Dr. Yu's "Gold Mountain River" research team. They will explain the role of the Fraser River as the corridor along which Chinese migrants engaged with First Nations and with European migrants, and share how the history along this “Gold Mountain River” offers us lessons for today. Learn how British Columbia became a part of a “Cantonese Pacific” that connected with Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sydney, and other places around the world, and how we continue to be shaped by what happened 150 years ago.









Toni Zhang McAfee
Museum Manager
Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver
555 Columbia Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 4H5, Canada
604-658-8883, museum at cccvan.com
Office hours: Tue - Sat 9am-6pm
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