Chinese Cubans

A Transnational History

Kathleen M. López

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781469607139, 9781469607122
• eBook ISBN: 9781469607146
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: History

In the mid-nineteenth century, Cuba’s infamous “coolie” trade brought well over 100,000 Chinese indentured laborers to its shores. Though subjected to abominable conditions, they were followed during subsequent decades by smaller numbers of merchants, craftsmen, and free migrants searching for better lives far from home. In a comprehensive, vibrant history that draws deeply on Chinese- and Spanish-language sources in both China and Cuba, Kathleen López explores the transition of the Chinese from indentured to free migrants, the formation of transnational communities, and the eventual incorporation of the Chinese into the Cuban citizenry during the first half of the twentieth century.
Chinese Cubans shows how Chinese migration, intermarriage, and assimilation are central to Cuban history and national identity during a key period of transition from slave to wage labor and from colony to nation. On a broader level, López draws out implications for issues of race, national identity, and transnational migration, especially along the Pacific rim.

Index

NOTE: “Chinese diaspora” refers to the general flow of Chinese from China; “Chinese migrants” refers to particular groups. The entries for Chinese in general actually refer to Chinese in Cuba: e.g., Chinese free laborers; Chinese immigrants, twentieth century; Chinese merchants; Chinese indentured laborers; and Chinese labor contractors, except when specified within the category. “Chinese Cubans” in this index refers to Chinese in Cuba today.

• Abakuá societies, 105
• Abdala Pupo, Oscar Luis, 34, 45
• Abreu, Marta, 130
• Abreus, 59, 84, 94, 98–99, 101, 107
• Achinado, 87
• Achón, Luis, 101
• Achón, Rufino, 101, 275 (n. 79)
• Achón surname, 72, 97
• Acuré, Alejandro, 69
• Afro-Chinese traditions, 105
• Afrocuba, 243
• Afro-Cubans: Asian cooperation and, 99–101, 113–14;
  • former slaves establishing lives, 83, 84, 85, 86;
  • free persons, 18, 19, 33–34, 89;
  • immigrant blacks and, 1930s, 201, 291 (n. 40);
  • immigrant blacks and, post-independence, 155, 191, 192, 195;
  • after independence, 136–38, 141–42, 148–49, 158;
  • independence movement and, 117–18, 119, 127, 128, 134;
  • religion and, 104–5;
  • today, 242, 243;
  • War for Independence (1895) and, 131, 132, 134, 282 (nn. 78–79). See also Marriage; Race; Racial classification; Slavery; Sugar plantations
• Agramonte, Ignacio, 126
• Agüero Fundora, Carlos, 123, 279 (n. 22)
• A...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Chinese Cubans
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustrations, Maps, and Tables
• Note on Names and Terminology
• Introduction: A Transnational History
• I From Indentured to Free
• II Migrants between Empires and Nations
• III Transnational and National Belonging
• Epilogue
• Chinese Character Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Series