Chinese Presence In Cuba

Che Guevara and Chairman Mao during the Cuban-Argentine revolutionary's visit to China in 1964. High-level delegations from the Communist Party of China have met with the Cuban Communist Party in 2007 and 2012., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

CHINESE PRESENCE IN CUBA

Renewing the heritage

Yenia Silva Correa

FOR a millenary culture like the Chinese one, 165 years might well sound little. However, for Cuba, it has been more than enough to assimilate the contributions of a nation which has left its imprint since the arrival of the first immigrants from China, contract laborers known as "coolies."

Culinary customs, modified and enriched by Cuban ingredients, traditions, musical instruments and dances such as those of the Lunar New Year, the Chinese cornet, and the Lion Dance came from that distant country to stay.

The large stores full of products brought from the mother country, the green vegetables and ice creams which they sold, the theaters they founded in Havana now remain only in the memories of our grandparents.

The initial immigrants, almost all men of few resources and little formal education, interrelated and married Cuban women without concerns about their racial or social origins, given that very few of them were in any position to afford the cost of bringing a female compatriot to the island for the purpose of marriage.

Over the years, families were created with one or various Asian forbears, and included members of African-Chinese descent. Hence the last names Chang, Lee, Wong among the population, as well as those Cubans with Chinese features who lost their last name through some diverging branch of genealogy or by twist of fate.

A BARRIO WITH HISTORY

The history of Havana’s Barrio Chino is far older than the buildings which currently house the different restaurants in this part of the city.

Although the first group of indentured laborers from Southern Asia arrived in Havana on June 3, 1847, with eight-year contracts mostly in the agricultural and domestic sectors, they very soon discovered the deception.

They suffered the same exploitation and discrimination as African slaves, a determining factor in the decision of many Chinese to join the Cuban War of Independence at the end of the 19th century.

It is known that they never deserted from or betrayed the Liberation Army and inscribed pages of history as soldiers or military officers. Their contribution is recalled by the monument on Línea and Calle L in the capital, built to honor the Chinese who died in the War of Independence.

When the supposed contracts expired, more than a few decided to remain in Cuba. They selected areas outside Havana’s city walls to work in small vegetable plots, sold fruit, opened modest establishments and restaurants, and when their income permitted it, began to establish pharmacies, stores, barbers, theaters and associations.

It is recorded that, at the end of the 19th century, there was a small restaurant and a fried food stand at the current entrance to the Barrio Chino. Although these businesses were the first of their kind in the city, similar establishments soon opened in Jesús del Monte and the Plaza de Marte (now Parque de la Fraternidad).

Shortly afterward, the arrival of Chinese previously resident in California brought economic and cultural prosperity and established Havana’s Barrio Chino, the largest in the Americas in the 1940’s.

CASA CHINA

The Casa of Chinese Traditions and Arts was inaugurated in 1995, headquartered in an old colonial mansion in Central Havana municipality.

Under the aegis of the Cultural Heritage Department attached to the City Historian’s Office, this institution ensures that the traditions of the Chinese descendant community are preserved and its culture disseminated.

María Antonia Arozarena Muñiz, a specialist at the center, stated that its community activities include language classes for children and adults, craft workshops which incorporate children in special education, and the practice of traditional Chinese sports and games.

Arozarena adds that, in conjunction with the Barrio Chino medical group, they give lectures on Chinese medicine including acupuncture techniques, exercises and medicinal plants.

The Casa does not confine its socio-cultural revival work to exchanges with members of the community and the various societies which exist in the city. It also has a library, an archive and photographic library containing information on culture and the Chinese presence in Cuba.

Apart from its permanent works, the Casa organizes temporary exhibitions by artists of Asian descent or with links to Chinese culture; and pieces donated to the Heritage Department in the 1980’s by members of the Chinese community.

SOCIETIES OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY

Maintaining customs and traditions when there are no more than 100 Chinese citizens living in the country, is the undertaking of the city’s Chinese societies. The majority of them emerged in the early 20th century, became established in Havana, and are now run by persons of Chinese descent. The Chang Weng Cheng Tong Society, the Kow Kong Association, the Lung Kong Society, the Chung Wah Casino, which directs all these groups; the Kwong Wah Po newspaper office (currently under restoration); and the Cuban School of Wushu, well-known for its work in promoting this martial art and Chinese culture.

All of these groups attend to their membership, especially Chinese-born citizens, but also dedicate themselves to preserving the language, playing games such as Chinese dominoes, relating to the new generations and, in conjunction with the Casa of Chinese Traditions and Arts, celebrating the Lunar New Year, the Cuba-China October Historic Event, and festivities marking the anniversary of the arrival of the first Chinese immigrants in Cuba.

In spite of the dramatic decline in Chinese immigration since the end of the 1960’s, traditions have been maintained in this community. The undertakings of its descendants have succeeded in rescuing from oblivion those who once came to Cuba in search of work, without knowing that that they would become, along with their customs, an integral part of Cuban society.