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Hartford's Chinese Community
Trinity College sophomore Stephen Brown submits this 1998 paper on Hartford's
connections to China, which date back to the 19th century:
The year is 1847. Imagine yourself on a boat coming to the United States.
The ride is bumpy and the water is rough. As each minute goes by, you
find yourself moving farther and farther from the comfort of home. Your
native homeland of China is the highest populated country on earth. You
will be moving to the United States, where there have been only forty
immigrants from your country in the past three decades. Welcome to America.
The growth of the Chinese population in Hartford cannot be characterized
as a mass migration. Rather, it was a gradual one. While others came to
Connecticut to escape political turmoil and persecution, the Chinese migration
began on the basis of education.
The foundation of the Chinese movement to Connecticut was laid in 1847.
A young Chinese student named Jung Hung (pronounced Rong Hong) and two
other students left China to enroll at the Monson Academy in Massachusetts.
Previously, Hung studied the English language at a Christian educational
society in Macao (located near southeast China) and received the equivalent
of an elementary school education. In 1850, Hung graduated from the academy
and entered Yale University in Connecticut. Aside from minimal financial
aid provided by community organizations, Hung paid for his college education
by working two jobs while enrolled at school. Four years later (1854),
Jung Hung became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American
university. He then returned to China to serve in the government. Hung
became one of the strong proponents of Western learning for Chinese students.
In 1872, following Hung's recommendation, the Ching government of China
created the Chinese Educational Mission in Hartford. China, which badly
needed an infusion of technological and scientific knowledge, agreed to
send thirty students every year as part of the educational pact. Hung
convinced government officials that it would be beneficial for China to
study advanced industrial techniques in order to update the Republic's
methods of production. The Ching government had a vision that it could
utilize the education learned by its students in America and translate
it into increased industrial productivity in their country. Therefore,
as a result of the ratification of the Burlingame Treaty (which gave Chinese
students educational privileges), 120 students ranging from age 10 to
16 were sent to Hartford between 1872 and 1874.
Beginning in the early 19th century, China created partnerships with
various schools in the New England area, with the approval of the American
government. These partnerships have led to a strong link between China
and Connecticut. Yale has become one of the top centers for Chinese education
in the entire nation. It offers thirty-three Chinese classes, outdistancing
almost all other colleges in that language.
Word of the plan to send Chinese students to America spread throughout
Mainland China in the 19th century. Chinese families were generally not
receptive to the idea of sending their children across the ocean to a
foreign world. The students themselves were also not excited about the
prospect of leaving home and travelling to a new culture with foreign
values, languages, and food. Most of the students were male, and in China,
the son was the child expected to work for the family. (This cultural
trait has changed somewhat since.) Therefore, families who sent a child
received stipends from the government. Since Chinese women were not given
an equal education in their homeland, some female students were grateful
for the chance to learn in Connecticut.
Currently, there are just over 11,000 Chinese people living in Connecticut.
The growth rate of the Chinese in Connecticut has fluctuated over the
last century due to various different factors. In 1882, the U.S. Congress
passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited Chinese workers from
entering the U.S. for ten years. The act also denied the Chinese the right
to become citizens in America. Therefore, from 1882 until 1943, the Exclusion
Act made a strong impact on the immigration of Chinese to America. The
nation's Chinese population dwindled from 107,488 in 1890 to 77,504 in
1940. This trend was true for Connecticut as well.
Ultimately, the Chinese concluded that the U.S. had reneged on its promise,
made by way of the, to give Chinese access to educational facilities.
The Chinese wanted their students to attend military institutions, such
as the Naval Academy and West Point. This was too much for the American
government. It was willing to let the Chinese study here, but not willing
to let them learn military tactics.
Today, the Chinese Cultural Center of Hartford (CCC) is a thriving organization
that is built on the enthusiasm of its members. The CCC, established in
1980, is a nonprofit, non-political group that provides essential services
for the Chinese community. One of the Center's most exciting components
is its involvement with the education of its youth. The Chinese Language
School of Hartford, led by energetic principal Tzoumin Hsiung, shows the
dedication that the CCC has toward its future generations. The school,
established in 1982, serves two main purposes.
First, it instructs primarily elementary students in the fundamentals
of the Chinese language. Second, it provides a chance for the students
to experience their heritage through Chinese dance, martial arts, and
other Chinese culture- related activities. By instilling the importance
of Chinese traditions through language and culture, the CCC is setting
an essential foundation for the next generation of Chinese-Americans in
Hartford.
The CCC of Hartford is unique compared to similar Chinese organizations
in larger cities, such as Boston and New York. In those cities, the groups
are divided, and politics plays a large role within the organizations.
The CCC of Hartford is a close-knit organization that prides itself on
being community-oriented, rather than a collection of individuals. Also,
the CCC does not focus its attention solely on the Chinese community.
The Center has actively donated books to local schools and libraries in
the Hartford area. The CCC also conducts presentations pertaining to Chinese
dance and martial arts to give the community an idea of traditional Chinese
culture. Hartford has experienced immigration of the Chinese from three
main places. There have been immigrants from Mainland China, Taiwan, and
Hong Kong. Professor Taikang Ning, chairman of the CCC, says the center
has seen its membership demographics change over the years. In the early
1980s, most of the families were coming from Taiwan. Now, however, Ning
estimates that 50 percent of the CCC's 300 member families have come from
Mainland China. Ning also asserted that unlike big cities, where clusters
of Chinese have gathered to live in one place, often called Chinatown,
the Connecticut Chinese are more spread out.
The educational groundwork that Jung Hung laid nearly 150 years ago remains
today in Hartford. Through the work of Professor Ning, Ms. Shyling Lee,
Principal Tzoumin Hsiung, and many more prominent members of the Chinese
community, the Chinese have a cultural organization of which they can be
proud.
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