The Chinese in Toronto from 1878. Arlene Chan

      Ants can move even a mighty mountain.

      —CHINESE PROVERB.

      Chinatown in Toronto owes its humble beginnings not to nineteenth-century Ontario but rather to the places that the early Chinese left behind. The first was China; the second was British Columbia. Unsettling conditions pushed Chinese immigrants to make the difficult decision to leave and seek their fortunes elsewhere.

      China is the third largest country in the world, with 9.3 million square kilometres that would handily cover the entire continent of Europe. Boasting five thousand years of civilization, this landmass is home to over one billion people, or one in five of the total world population. The Han people make up 93 percent of the population, with no less than 55 minority groups in the balance.¹ Waves of Chinese immigration became known as the Chinese diaspora, second in number only to the descendants of African slaves.² Commonly referred to as overseas Chinese (huaqiao), an estimated 37 million Chinese live in 136 countries worldwide, three-fifths in the neighbouring countries of Southeast Asia.³ China’s national language is guoyu, literally translated as “national language” and commonly referred to as Mandarin. From 1949 onwards, it was called putonghua, meaning “generally understood language.”

      Control of the nation was once held in the hands of dynastic leaders, whose reigns were characterized by periods of unrest and turmoil. China was ruled by the Han ethnic group, with the exception of a few dynasties that include the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) and, most notably, the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The Qing, or Manchu, dynasty, whose last ruler was infamously known as the Last Emperor, was established by the Manchurians with the overthrow of the Han in 1644. The dynasty flourished in the early years, bolstering China’s claim to having a civilization. and culture vastly superior to other nations. In the Chinese language, Zhongguo means “middle kingdom,” a reference to being the centre of the world. However, by the mid-nineteenth century, the power and influence of the Manchu dynasty declined and faced a crisis both on its home soil and internationally. By this time, the imperial government did not function effectively and internal and external disturbances threatened China’s sovereignty.

      By the mid-1800s, the population had more than doubled, and overcrowding caused shortages of land, impairing China’s ability to feed its 420 million people. Crushing poverty and starvation were rampant among the people, most of whom were peasants living the relentless cycles of the planting season. Hard-working and ingenious in their methods of making do with so little, the peasants eked out a meagre living.

      Additionally, mismanagement of funds and the corruption and extravagance of the Qing ruling class emptied the imperial coffers. China’s international status as a powerful civilization fell as the Industrial Revolution catapulted many European countries forward in technological development. The failure to modernize and keep pace contributed to the country’s downfall and eventual humiliation by foreign powers. China succumbed to Western expansionism, which resulted in the Opium Wars — the first from 1840 to 1842, and the second from 1850 to 1860. Previously closed to foreigners for several hundred years, China was forced to open its ports to trade with Britain, pay hefty indemnities, hand over Hong Kong as a British colony, and enter into emigration treaties. France and other European countries soon followed suit with demands for their own concessions and jurisdictions in the port cities. The Chinese became second-class citizens in their own country. Another external influence, to their detriment, was Japan as it expanded its empire in Asia. China’s loss in the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894 culminated in the cessation of Taiwan to Japan.

      Those living in the southern-most province, Guangdong, were the hardest hit. Between 1787 and 1850, Guangdong’s population doubled from 16 million to 28 million.⁴ At the best of times, there was only enough food to feed one-third of its inhabitants. In the Pearl River Delta, the 13 counties of the region occupied 10 percent of the province, yet the 18 million inhabitants represented 50 percent of its population.⁵

      Unrest led to peasant rebellions, which claimed the lives of over 20 million people — the most renowned such uprising being the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) against the Qing government.⁶ Additionally, between 1852 and 1908, the Pearl River Delta was assailed by 14 floods, seven typhoons, four earthquakes, two droughts, four plagues, and five famines.⁷ These disasters, along with widespread banditry, aggravated the food shortage. When the Qing government imposed the burden of the British indemnities on the backs of the peasants, in the form of higher taxes, the consequences were dire. With tax collectors in pursuit, many sank deeper into debt. The urgency to leave Guangdong province was never greater.

      In 1672 the Qing government had banned Chinese emigration overseas, and this edict was not rescinded until 1859.⁸ Despite this, large-scale migration to other parts of the world, particularly Southeast Asia, began in earnest during these troubling times. When news about a faraway place glittering with gold began to circulate, hope for the future was ignited in Guangdong. Stories spread wildly about this land that came to be known as Gum Shan, or Gold Mountain.

      The Gold Rush

      Gold was discovered on the Fraser River of British Columbia in April 1858. Thousands of prospectors, whose gold hunting in the California gold rush was nearing an end, sailed or travelled overland to Victoria, British Columbia, to continue their hunt for dazzling riches, first in the Fraser River gold rush (1858–1860), then the Cariboo gold rush (1860–1863). The first wave of emigration from China began with a group of 300 in 1858.⁹ These settlers navigated many dangers before even reaching Canada, beginning with the trek from their villages to Guangdong’s port of Guangzhou and ending with the crossing of the Pacific Ocean, which tossed them at sea for four to eight weeks.

      These pioneer immigrants were not the earliest to arrive. Legends about a Buddhist monk landing on the western shores of what is now known as North America date to 400 BCE.¹⁰ And the first documented Chinese was recorded in 1788 by Captain John Meares, who left from the Portuguese colony of Macau with 50 Chinese labourers, carpenters, and shipwrights aboard the ship Felice.