H-ASIA
Date: May 5, 1996
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Subj:Seeking advice regarding Chinese immigration to Hawaii
From: Jinbao Qian <jqian@husc.harvard.edu>
Greetings,
A friend asked me to post the following message on her behalf:
My name is Mimi Kao, and I am a first year student in the
Regional Studies-East Asia program at Harvard. I am seeking
advice about sources for a research paper on the Chinese
Christian community in Hawaii during the period from the
1870s-1920s. I am interested in learning about the Chinese
Christian migrants as well as Chinese immigrants who were
converted to Christianity by American and European missionaries
in the Hawaiian Islands. I am particularly interested in the
process by which Chinese Christians assimilated into mainstream
society while simultaneously maintaining their orientation t
China. I am hoping to compare this particular community with the
larger community of Chinese laborers, traders, artisans, etc.,
whose interactions with the Caucasian community were limited to
impersonal business contacts. I am trying to think about how the
Chinese Christians were an intermediate group--in what ways they
might be compared with the babas/peranakans in Southeast Asia or
with Chinese associations in the United States, such as the
benevolent associations.
I would be very grateful for any suggestions regarding possible
sources, scholarship, and insights regarding this subject matter.
My email address is mkao@fas.harvard.edu. Thank you for any
suggestions you might have.
Mimi Kao