Chinese Cuban
Encyclopedia
A Chinese Cuban is a Cuban
of Chinese
ancestry who was born in or has immigrated to Cuba
. They are part of the ethnic Chinese diaspora (or Overseas Chinese
).
to Cuba started in 1847 when Cantonese
contract workers were brought to work in the sugar fields, bringing the religion of Buddhism
with them. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers were brought in from Hong Kong
, Macau
, and Taiwan
during the following decades to replace and / or work alongside African slaves
. After completing 8-year contracts or otherwise obtaining their freedom, some Chinese immigrants settled permanently in Cuba, although most longed for repatriation to their homeland. Havana
's Chinatown
(known as Barrio Chino de La Habana) is one of the oldest and largest Chinatowns in Latin America
. Some 5,000 immigrants from the U.S. came to Cuba during the late 19th century to escape the discrimination present at the time. A small wave of Chinese immigrants also arrived during the early 20th century to escape the political chaos in China.
The Chinese tended to concentrate heavily in urban areas, especially in the Havana Chinatown. Many used the money they accumulated as indentured laborers to open small grocery stores or restaurants. Generations of Chinese-Cubans married into the larger Spanish, mulatto and Afro-Cuban populations. Today almost all Chinese-Cubans have African, Spanish, and Chinese ancestry.Chinese opened businesses such as market gardens and shops. The first Chinese owned businesses were opened in 1858 in Havana in Cuba, a fruit store and cafe. Few Chinese married due to lack of Chinese women. According to the Cuba Commission, two Chinese married Chinese women, two married white women, and a half dozen married mulattoes and Negro women. There was no legal protection for Chinese in Cuba
In the 1920s an additional 30,000 Cantonese arrived; immigrations were exclusively male, and there was rapid intermarriage with white especially black, mulatto populations.In 1980 there were more than four thousand Cantonese living and in 2002 only 300 pure chinese were left.
Some Chinese fought in Cuba's Ten Years' War
. Chinese Cubans, including some Chinese-Americans from California, joined the Spanish-American War
in 1898 to achieve independence from Spain
, but a few Chinese, who were loyal to Spain, left Cuba and went to Spain. Racial acceptance and assimilation would come much later.
When the new revolutionary government
led by Fidel Castro
came to power in 1959, the economic and political situation changed. Many Chinese grocery store owners, having had their properties expropriated by the new government, left Cuba. Most of these settled in the United States
, particularly nearby Florida
, where they and their U.S.-born children are called Chinese-Americans or Cuban-Americans of Chinese descent, while a relatively few to nearby Dominican Republic
and other Latin America
n countries, and also to U.S.-ruled territory of Puerto Rico
, where they are called Chinese Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Puerto Ricans of Chinese descent, or Cuban-Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese refugees to United States include people whose ancestors came to Cuba 10 years before the Cuban Revolution
and those from the United States. These Chinese American refugees, whose ancestors had come from California, were happy to be back in the United States. As a result of this exodus, the number of pure Chinese dropped sharply in Havana’s Barrio Chino. The places they migrated to had a unique Chinese culture and a popularity of Chinese Cuban restaurants.
The Chinese Cubans fought in the Cuban war of independence on the side of those seeking independence from Spain. A memorial consisting of a broken column memorializes Chinese participation in the war of independence at the corners of L and Linea in Havana.
The Barrio Chino de La Habana today is now not the largest Chinatown in Latin America
. Most Chinese Cubans live outside Barrio Chino. Some of the Chinese stayed after the start of Castro's rule. Younger generations are working in a larger variety of jobs. There are many song composers and entering show-business: actors, actresses, singers, and models.
Several community groups, especially Chinatown
Promotional Group (Spanish: Grupo Promotor del Barrio Chino), worked to revive Barrio Chino and the faded Chinese culture. Chinese Language and Arts School (Escuela de la Lengua y Artes China) opened in 1993 and has grown since then, helping Chinese Cubans to strengthen their knowledge of the Chinese language. Today, Chinese Cubans tend to speak Mandarin, Cantonese, and a mixture of Chinese and Spanish, in addition to Spanish and English. They also promoted small businesses, like beauty parlors, mechanical shops, restaurants, and small groceries, provided to them to create a view of Barrio Chino. Havana’s Barrio Chino also experienced buildings of Chinese architecture and museum with backgrounds about China. As a result, the Chinese Cuban community has gained visibility.
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
of Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
ancestry who was born in or has immigrated to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. They are part of the ethnic Chinese diaspora (or Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
).
History
Chinese immigrationImmigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
to Cuba started in 1847 when Cantonese
Cantonese people
The Cantonese people are Han people whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, China. The term "Cantonese people" would then be synonymous with the Bun Dei sub-ethnic group, and is sometimes known as Gwong Fu Jan for this narrower definition...
contract workers were brought to work in the sugar fields, bringing the religion of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
with them. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers were brought in from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
during the following decades to replace and / or work alongside African slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. After completing 8-year contracts or otherwise obtaining their freedom, some Chinese immigrants settled permanently in Cuba, although most longed for repatriation to their homeland. Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
's Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
(known as Barrio Chino de La Habana) is one of the oldest and largest Chinatowns in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. Some 5,000 immigrants from the U.S. came to Cuba during the late 19th century to escape the discrimination present at the time. A small wave of Chinese immigrants also arrived during the early 20th century to escape the political chaos in China.
The Chinese tended to concentrate heavily in urban areas, especially in the Havana Chinatown. Many used the money they accumulated as indentured laborers to open small grocery stores or restaurants. Generations of Chinese-Cubans married into the larger Spanish, mulatto and Afro-Cuban populations. Today almost all Chinese-Cubans have African, Spanish, and Chinese ancestry.Chinese opened businesses such as market gardens and shops. The first Chinese owned businesses were opened in 1858 in Havana in Cuba, a fruit store and cafe. Few Chinese married due to lack of Chinese women. According to the Cuba Commission, two Chinese married Chinese women, two married white women, and a half dozen married mulattoes and Negro women. There was no legal protection for Chinese in Cuba
In the 1920s an additional 30,000 Cantonese arrived; immigrations were exclusively male, and there was rapid intermarriage with white especially black, mulatto populations.In 1980 there were more than four thousand Cantonese living and in 2002 only 300 pure chinese were left.
Some Chinese fought in Cuba's Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
. Chinese Cubans, including some Chinese-Americans from California, joined the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
in 1898 to achieve independence from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, but a few Chinese, who were loyal to Spain, left Cuba and went to Spain. Racial acceptance and assimilation would come much later.
When the new revolutionary government
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
led by Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
came to power in 1959, the economic and political situation changed. Many Chinese grocery store owners, having had their properties expropriated by the new government, left Cuba. Most of these settled in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, particularly nearby Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where they and their U.S.-born children are called Chinese-Americans or Cuban-Americans of Chinese descent, while a relatively few to nearby Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
and other Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n countries, and also to U.S.-ruled territory of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, where they are called Chinese Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Puerto Ricans of Chinese descent, or Cuban-Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese refugees to United States include people whose ancestors came to Cuba 10 years before the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
and those from the United States. These Chinese American refugees, whose ancestors had come from California, were happy to be back in the United States. As a result of this exodus, the number of pure Chinese dropped sharply in Havana’s Barrio Chino. The places they migrated to had a unique Chinese culture and a popularity of Chinese Cuban restaurants.
Current distribution
The Barrio Chino de La Habana today is now not the largest Chinatown in Latin America
Chinatowns in Latin America
Chinatowns in Latin America developed with the rise of Chinese immigration in the 19th century to various countries in Latin America as contract laborers in agricultural and fishing industries. Most came from Guangdong Province. Since the 1970s, the new arrivals have typically hailed from Hong...
. Most Chinese Cubans live outside Barrio Chino. Some of the Chinese stayed after the start of Castro's rule. Younger generations are working in a larger variety of jobs. There are many song composers and entering show-business: actors, actresses, singers, and models.
Several community groups, especially Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
Promotional Group (Spanish: Grupo Promotor del Barrio Chino), worked to revive Barrio Chino and the faded Chinese culture. Chinese Language and Arts School (Escuela de la Lengua y Artes China) opened in 1993 and has grown since then, helping Chinese Cubans to strengthen their knowledge of the Chinese language. Today, Chinese Cubans tend to speak Mandarin, Cantonese, and a mixture of Chinese and Spanish, in addition to Spanish and English. They also promoted small businesses, like beauty parlors, mechanical shops, restaurants, and small groceries, provided to them to create a view of Barrio Chino. Havana’s Barrio Chino also experienced buildings of Chinese architecture and museum with backgrounds about China. As a result, the Chinese Cuban community has gained visibility.
In literature
- The influence of the Chinese migration to Cuba is thoroughly reflected in the novel The Island of Eternal LoveThe Island of Eternal LoveThe Island of Eternal Love is a novel by Cuban author Daína Chaviano.The plot is a family saga that takes place along two parallel lines: one during our time and another that begins in the 1850s....
(Riverhead Books, June 2008), by Cuban-American author Daína ChavianoDaína ChavianoDaina Chaviano is a Cuban writer.She is considered one of the three most important female fantasy and science fiction writers in the Spanish language, along with Angélica Gorodischer and Elia Barceló , forming the so-called “feminine trinity of science fiction in Latin America.”In Cuba, she...
. Originally published in Spain as La isla de los amores infinitos (Grijalbo-Random House 2006), it has been sold to 25 languages. The plot covers 150 years of history, beginning in the 1840s through the 1990s. - A Cuban-Chinese family engaged in international intrigue appears in William GibsonWilliam GibsonWilliam Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's Spook CountrySpook CountrySpook Country is a 2007 novel by speculative fiction author William Gibson. A political thriller set in contemporary North America, it followed on from the author's previous novel, Pattern Recognition , and was succeeded in 2010 by Zero History, which featured much of its core cast of characters...
(2007).
Prominent Chinese Cubans
- Fulgencio BatistaFulgencio BatistaFulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
, president and dictator, had some Chinese ancestry - Wifredo LamWifredo LamWifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla , better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture...
, a painter of the Surrealist school - Yat-Sen ChangYat-Sen ChangYat-Sen Chang Oliva is a Cuban principal dancer in the English National Ballet.Yat-Sen Chang is a Chinese Cuban born in Matanzas, Cuba. Yat-Sen Chang studied dance at the Cuban National Ballet School, beginning his studies at the age of nine...
, ballet dancer - Armando Choy Rodríguez, General in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces
- Gustavo Chui Beltrán, General in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces
- Moisés Sio Wong, General in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces
- Alfredo Abon LeeAlfredo Abon LeeCaptain Alfredo Abon Lee is a retired Cuban army officer. He was the commander of the garrison at Yaguajay, where he fought the Communist rebel forces in December 1958 in one of the final engagements of the Cuban Revolution....
, commander of the pro-government forces in the Battle of YaguajayBattle of YaguajayThe Battle of Yaguajay was a decisive victory for the Cuban Revolutionaries over the soldiers of the Batista government near the city of Santa Clara in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution.-Background:...
Further reading
- López-Calvo, Ignacio. “Chinesism and the commodification of Chinese Cuban culture.” Alternative Orientalisms in Latin America and Beyond. Ed. Ignacio López-Calvo. Newcastle, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007. 95-112
See also
- Overseas ChineseOverseas ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
- Chinatowns in Latin AmericaChinatowns in Latin AmericaChinatowns in Latin America developed with the rise of Chinese immigration in the 19th century to various countries in Latin America as contract laborers in agricultural and fishing industries. Most came from Guangdong Province. Since the 1970s, the new arrivals have typically hailed from Hong...
- Cuba-People's Republic of China relations
- CubansCubansCubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
- Chinese CaribbeanChinese CaribbeanChinese Caribbeans are people of Chinese ethnic origin living in the Caribbean. There are small but significant populations of Chinese and their descendants in all countries of the Greater Antilles...
- Asian Latin American