by May Q. Wong
Author with her mother, portrait taken to commemorate the centenary of the Victoria Chinese Presbyterian Church, 1992.
PHOTOGRAPHER STUDIO, VICTORIA
Glossary
May’s Phonetic Hoyping
English
Pinyin
aie foo
underwear
nei yi ku
aiyahh or aiya
an expression of surprise, frustration or pain
ai ya
chan taw
to weed
chu cao
choot tae
a type of tae with a soft pouch made from sticky rice flour with a sugar filling
tian de nuo mi dian xin
choot ngiet gat how
one month haircutting ceremony
ti man yue ying er qu ming, ti tou de yi shi
daaw
cooking hearth
zao tai
day moy
sisters, sworn sisters, girl friend
jie mei
dim sum
small savoury and/or sweet cakes
dian xin
donge
a type of dim sum wrapped in bamboo leaves, tied with twine and boiled
zong zi
faan
cooked rice
mi fan
fa haang
flowered hair dressing
hua de tou shi
fat gaw
delicately sweetened steamed cake
tian de gao dian
foo
bitter suffering
ku
ga hieng
a family and a home
jia xiang
gai fong
liberation, referring to the communist revolution
lin ju
gai longe
a type of tae with a crunchy pouch made from sticky rice flour filled with savoury stuffing
hua sheng xian de nuo mi dian xin
giew see
olden times
yi qian
gim ja toy
dried lily stalks
jin zhen cai
gim san
gold Mountain, referring to Canada or United States
jin shan
gim san law
gold mountain man
qu jin shan de ren
gong goo-doy
speaking stories (literally) or telling stories
jiang gu shi
guey law
devil or ghost men or hooligans—also an uncomplimentary phrase for
white men
lao wai
gwoh nien
new year’s festival
xin nian
haam ha
fermented shrimp paste
xian xia jiang
haam nguey
dried salted fish
xian yu
haam toy
pickled vegetables
xian cai
hai ngow nui
cowherd girl
kan niu de nu hai
haw taw
gather or rake hay
ba cao
hiang aie or hiang
common room or living room
ke ting
hiang wa
to listen to being told or to be obedient
ting hua
hiem wa
sweet words
tian yan mi yu
hong ngange
Chinese people
zhong guo ren
hong ngange gai
Chinatown
tang ren jie
hoo mien
saving face
yao mian zi
how doo
head Tax
ren tou shui
jake
straight (literally) or honest
cheng shi/zheng zhi
jat giek
bound feet
guo jiao
jook
savoury rice porridge
xi fan/zhou
kai ma
god-mother
gan ma
kange nang woo joit
study hard, avoid stupidity
jiang qin bu zhuo
kien lake
strength
qin lao
kong jien
war of resistance against Japan
kang zhan
kowtow
performing low bows of respect
ke tou
lai gim
bride price
pin li/li jin
lap ap
cured duck
na ya
lap cheong
cured Chinese sausage
na chang
lap ngoke
cured pork belly
na rou
law nai
coils of caked dirt and old skin
zhi wu gou
law nui
old maid
nian ji da de dan shen nü ren
liak
intelligent or clever
cong min de ling li
lieng giew
sedan chair
jiao zi
lie see
money wrapped in red paper
li shi/ya sui qian
lok aye
touching the ground
zhan zai di shang
man how
steamed bread rolls
man tou
maange foon
blind wedding
mang hun ya jia
mak see
writing out from memory
mo shu
m’loy, m’heuy
weren’t coming or going
bu lai bu qu
mai
raw rice
mi
moi ngange
matchmaker
mei po
moin how
front door
men kou/qian men
nat gok
pre-wedding gathering like a bridal shower
ni ge
ngai
ants
ma yi
ngang giang
stiff necked (literally) or stubborn
jue jiang, wan gu
nguey chee gaang
shark fin soup
yu chi geng
niem see
memorize text
bei shu
nonge toon
rural hamlet
nong cun
nui ngange
female person or woman
nü ren
nui oak
girls’ house
nü hai de jia
oo deah
many thanks or thank you
xie xie
sui thlem
gift to host
shou xin
tange fong
living conditions
qing kuang
thlai ngange
Western people or white people
xin fang ren
thlange foo gonge
hard manual labour
xin ku de gong zuo
thlange saang
teacher
lao shi
thlay
four or dead
si
thlem goyn
heart-liver or core or dearest
xin gan bao bei
thlem tiek
with a hurting heart
xin teng
thliew jiang
folding privacy screen
ping zhang
thloo muun
sophisticated
si wen
thlonge
any accompaniment for rice
fan cai
tien
cash or coins or money
qian
via aie
a cloth baby sling
ying er bei dai
wa kiew
overseas Chinese
hai wai hua ren
war siew guy
stuffed crispy chicken
shao quan ji
yen waw gaang
&nb
sp; bird’s nest soup
yan wo geng
yuon
round or a type of dumpling
yuan
Bibliography
Books and Articles
Aiken, Rebecca B. Montreal Chinese Property Ownership and Occupational Change, 1881–1981. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1989.
Bray, Francesca. The Rice Economies: Technology and Development in Asian Societies. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1986.
Buchanan, Keith McPherson, et al. China. New York: Crown, 1980.
Chan, Kwok Bun. Smoke and Fire: The Chinese in Montreal. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1991.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Information China: The Comprehensive and Authoritative Reference Source of New China, Volume 1. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1989.
Con, Harry, Ronald J. Con, Graham Johnson, Edgar Wickberg, and William E. Willmott, edited by Edgar Wickberg. “From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada.” In Generations: A History of Canada’s Peoples. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. in association with Multiculturalism Directorate, Department of the Secretary of State and Supply and Services Canada, 1982.
Eastman, Lloyd E. Family Fields and Ancestors: Constancy and Change in China’s Social and Economic History, 1550–1949. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Cambridge Illustrated History of China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Economic Research Bureau of City of Montreal. Abridged History of Montreal. Montreal: Economic Research Bureau of City of Montreal, 1970.
Fairbank, John King. The Great Chinese Revolution, 1800–1985. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1986.
———. China: A New History. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992.
Fenby, Jonathan. The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850-2008. London: Allen Lane, 2008.
Fields, Adele. “The First Days of Marriage.” In Chinese Women: A Thousand Pieces of Gold: An Anthology, selected and edited by Barbara-Sue White. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Foreign Languages Press. Peking: A Tourist Guide. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1960.
Gubbay, Aline. Montreal: The Mountain and the River. Translated by Rachel Levy. Montreal: Trillium Books, 1981.
Helly, Denise. Les Chinois a Montreal (1877–1951). Quebec: Institut quebecois de recherché sur la culture, 1987.
Hillel, Edward. The Main: Portrait of a Neighbourhood. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1987.
Hoe, Ban Seng. Beyond the Golden Mountain. Hull, PQ: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1989.
Hsia, H. J. “Marriage Through Six Rituals.” In The Fair Sex in China: They Lift Up Half the Sky, edited by H.J. Hsia. Albuquerque, NM: American Association Publishers, 1992.
Jaschok, Maria, and Suzanne Miers, editors. Women and Chinese Patriarchy: Submission, Servitude, and Escape. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1994.
Lai, David Chuenyan. Chinatown: Towns Within Cities in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988.
Li, Peter S. Chinese in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998.
MacFarquhar, Roderick, and John K. Fairbank, editors. The People’s Republic, Part 2: Revolutions Within the Chinese Revolution, 1966–1982, Volume 15. The Cambridge History of China. Fairbank, John K., and Denis Twitchett, general editors. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992
Ng, Wing Chung. The Chinese in Vancouver (1945–80): The Pursuit of Identity and Power. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2000.
Ni, Hua-Ching. Tao: The Subtle Universal Law and the Integral Way of Life, second edition. Santa Monica, CA: Seven Star Communications, 1979.
Pomelo, Walter Keoki Quan. “Leaving China: A Brief History of Emigration.” In Being Chinese: Voices from the Diaspora, edited by Wei Djao. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2003.
Prevost, Robert. Montreal: A History. Translated by Elizabeth Meuller and Robert Chodos. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1993.
Shifeng, Zheng. China: All Provinces and Autonomous Regions. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980.
Sievers, Sharon. “Women in China, Japan and Korea.” In Women in Asia: Restoring Women to History, edited by Barbara N. Remusack and Sharon Sievers. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1999.
Skeldon, Ronald. “The Chinese Diaspora or the Migration of Chinese Peoples?” In The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility and Identity, edited by Laurence J.C. Ma and Carolyn Cartier. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003.
Tan, Thomas su-wee. Your Chinese Roots: The Overseas Chinese Story. Union City, CA: Heian International, Inc., 1987.
Taylor, Charles. “The Chinese Never Kiss.” In Chinese Women: A Thousand Pieces of Gold: An Anthology, selected and edited by Barbara-Sue White. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Turner, Robert D. The Pacific Empresses: An Illustrated History of Canadian Pacific Railway’s Empress Liners on the Pacific Ocean. Victoria: Sono Nis Press, 1981.
Wallace, W. Stewart, general editor. Encyclopaedia of Canada. Toronto: University Associates of Canada, Ltd., 1948.
Yee, Paul. Struggle and Hope: The Story of Chinese Canadians. Toronto: Umbrella Press, 1996.
———. Chinatown: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Communities of Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Toronto: James Lorimer, 2005.
Government Documents
Naturalization file for Guey Dang Wong, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, including:
Confidential Report of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, S/Cst E.H. Desaulniers, July 28, 1949.
Petition for Citizenship, Certificate of the Clerk of the Court, August 8, 1950.
Letter to New Citizens, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, Office of The Governor General of Canada, 2007.
Statement by Judge J. Brown, Citizenship Judge, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2007.
Other Sources
Annuaires Lovell de Montréal/Montreal Directory—1954. At Bibliotèque et Archives nationals. http://bibnum2.bnquebec.ca/bna/lovell/index.html.
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Rice is Life exhibit, organized by the Vancouver Museum in partnership with the Canadian Society for Asian Arts, September 19–November 23, 2008.
Cho, Karen, director. In the Shadow of Gold Mountain. Produced by Tamara Lynch, National Film Board of Canada, Montreal, September 2004.
Hong, Len Jung. Interviewed by Theresa Low, Vancouver, 1980. Audio Cassette T3720-0001, Royal British Columbia Museum Archives, Victoria.
Interviews and Personal Correspondence
Guan, Binghui. Eulogy for Grandma. Letter to author, December 16, 2002.
Wing, James. Interview with author, May 26, 2004, in Montreal, PQ.
Wong, Choi Yee. Interview with author, May 27, 2004, in Montreal, PQ.
Wong, King Fong. Interview with author, April 16, 2004, in Vancouver, BC.
Wong, Lai Quen. Interviews with author, various dates 2004–2009, in Victoria, BC.
Index
Ah Aie, 71, 222, 223, 224
Ah Chiang Hoo, 91, 92, 93, 104, 105, 126
Ah Gay Sieng, Wong, 9, 10, 12, 30, 37, 71, 72, 165
Ah Gim Yoke, Jiang, 78, 79, 86
Ah Kange, 45, 46, 47, 48, 57, 58, 59, 60
Ah Lien, 71, 222, 223
Ah Moydoy, 9, 63, 69, 78, 86, 94
Ah Ngay Gonge (Wong Oy Lan), 6, 26, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 91, 92, 95, 104, 152, 154, 223
Ah Ngien Choo, Jiang, 17, 53, 169, 170, 172, 173, 178, 199, 219
Ah Ngan Jean, 129, 130, 131, 133, 142, 168, 188, 222, 223
Ah Ngange (Ah Thloo’s paternal grandmother), 22, 39–44, 46, 47, 50, 51, 67, 68, 69
Ah Ngange (Ah Lai’s paternal grandmother), 93, 100, 101, 104, 107, 108, 110, 112, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 155, 174, 175, 178, 179, 187, 199
Ah Ngao, 19, 20, 22, 23
&
nbsp; Ah Poy Lim, Jiang, 14, 40, 51, 53, 78, 141, 170
Ah Shee, Loo (Ah Hoo), 16, 17, 53, 57, 89, 93, 94, 141
Ah Tew May, Jiang, 16, 219
Ah Tew May, Lee, 7, 8, 9, 30, 54, 62, 63, 71, 78, 85, 86, 87, 105, 121, 141, 167
Ah Thlam Day (Ah Tew Ngoke, Jiang), 16, 18, 19
Canadian Pacific Railway, 32, 73, 214
China Garden Café, 134, 135, 150–152, 195
Chinatown, 32, 34, 35, 54, 72, 75, 76, 97, 98, 114, 134, 139, 146, 147, 153, 154, 209, 216
Communist (CCP), 35, 36, 71, 76, 77, 87, 91, 96, 99, 100, 114, 115, 164, 182, 184, 185, 197
Cultural Revolution, 167–168, 173, 181–182, 183, 186, 191, 197, 204, 205
Depression, The Great, 72, 73, 77, 85
Empress of Japan, 25–26, 111, 214
Gim San, 9, 10, 54, 58, 60, 62, 67, 122, 222
Hai Ngao Nui, 13, 19
Head Tax, 10, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 33–34, 113, 207, 214, 227, 228, 232
Jiang Jieshi, General, 36, 51, 76, 91, 114, 115
Kuomintang (KMT), 36, 48, 51, 75, 77, 91, 94, 96, 114–115, 118, 196
Long March, 78, 179
Maange Foon, 49, 52
Moi Ngange, 50, 54, 55, 56, 57, 61
Nationalist, 35, 36, 51, 75, 91, 99
Nui oak, 20, 23, 44–47, 48, 50, 52, 56, 68, 71, 131