Asian Studies Program
La Trobe University
Victoria 3086
AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 3 9479 1315 Fax: +61 3 9479 1880 Email:cha@latrobe.edu.au
Asian Studies Program
Chinese Australia
Political voices in the Chinese community in
the late 19th century
Unit title:
Political voices in the Chinese community in the late 19th
century
Year level:
Middle secondary
Key learning areas:
Studies of society and environment
Curriculum emphases:
From: Studies in Asia: A Statement for Australian Schools:
- developing concepts of Asia.
- challenging stereotypes
Duration:
Two to three 50-minute lessons
Description:
This unit focuses on a range of responses from members of
the Chinese community to concerns and developments in Australia
in the late 19th century. Much of the writing and imagery
of this time gives the impression of a passive Chinese community
silenced in the face of prevailing white views. This unit
focuses on a more pro-active side to the Chinese community
through selected primary sources.
Teacher background material:
The following links provide an introduction and overview of
the topics covered in this unit:
- Brief
History of the Chinese in Australia on the Chinese Heritage
of Australian Federation website.
- View cartoons showing attitudes to Chinese people in Australia.
A selection can be found on Ross Woodrow's (University of
Newcastle) 'Archive
of Chinese racial images' or a range from Chapter 1 of
Exploring Asian Histories (published by the history
Teachers Association of Victoria).
- The full text of documents 2, 3, and 4 in the handout are
available in the Digital
Historic Documents database on the Chinese Heritage of
Australian Federation website.
Student outcomes:
Students will:
- learn to search and use a database
- compare and analyse primary sources
- develop awareness of the nature and extent of political
activity in the Chinese community in the late 19th century
Materials required:
- Computer/s with internet access. Alternatively could use
a cached version of the site or print the relevant pages and
copy onto overheads or handouts.
Procedure: 1. Introduction:
Show the class some of the cartoons of the time from the Bulletin
and other sources (described above). Discuss in class the
images presented and the attitudes the artists showed towards
the Chinese in Australia.
2. Explain the task to students:
Students use the materials below to gather information about
the relationships between Chinese and non-Chinese in Australia.
Read all the primary sources above carefully to develop an
understanding of the concerns and how they were expressed.
3. Discussion:
Follow with class or group discussion of the sources using
the following as a guide:
- What were the concerns of politicians?
- What were the concerns of the Chinese?
- Were all the Chinese concerns similar?
- What steps did they take to make these concerns known, and
how did they express them?
- Were these concerns being expressed by particular groups
in the Chinese community? If so, why would they have special
interests?
- Consider carefully the speech of Mr J. Woods in the Victorian
Parliament in 1881 (Handout, Document 1). What is his view?
What might have influenced it?
4. Activity:
Students imagine they are a colonial resident of the time
with some knowledge of the Chinese community and they have
decided to respond to Mr Woods' view in a letter to the editor
of a major newspaper. The purpose of the letter is
to challenge his view by drawing attention to Chinese awareness
of and involvement in concerns of the day. The letter can
consist of the following sections:
- describe briefly who they are and their own background
- outline what they are responding to and their own view
- provide arguments and evidence in support of Chinese position
- conclude with some advice for the Parliament.
5. Concluding activity:
- Look carefully at G. Oddie's view (Handout, Document 6).
- Does it support Mr Woods' view or challenge it?
- How can you account for similarities or differences?
- In view of your reading and discussion, how accurate do
you think Mr Oddie's view is?
Extension activities: 1. Letter
Student to read the story 'Kwong
Sue Duk and His Family' in the 'Stories' section of the
Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website. Students
are to imagine they are Kwong Sue Duk reading, in the late
1880s, a report of Mr. Woods' speech (Handout, Document 1).
Students to write a response to Mr Woods as Kwong Sue Duk.
Acknowlegements:
Mary Hoban & Robert Lewis (eds), Exploring Asian Histories:
classroom units for years 10-12, History Teachers' Association
of Victoria, Collingwood, Vic., 1993.
Terry Buggy & John Cates (eds), Race relations in
colonial Australia: an enquiry approach, Nelson, Melbourne,
1982.
G. Oddie, 'The lower class Chinese and the merchant elite
in Victoria, 1870-1890', Historical Studies, 10, 1961.
Summary of websites used in this lesson:
Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website - http - Brief History of the Chinese in Australia
- education/history.htm
- Digitised Historic Documents database - docs_home.htm
- Stories - stories.htm
