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For other uses, see Coolie (disambiguation).
Coolie labourer circa 1900 in Zhenjiang, China. The bamboo pole he leans upon was used to hoist and carry the bundle at his feet with the pole over his shoulder and the bundle leaning against his back. On the left side of the image, in the background, another man uses this same technique of bearing a heavy load.
Coolie labourer circa 1900 in Zhenjiang, China. Administration The Prefecture-level city of Zhenjiang administers 6 county-level divisions, including 3 districts and 3 county-level cities China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The bamboo pole he leans upon was used to hoist and carry the bundle at his feet with the pole over his shoulder and the bundle leaning against his back. Bamboo is a group of Woody perennial Evergreen Plants in the True grass family Poaceae, subfamily On the left side of the image, in the background, another man uses this same technique of bearing a heavy load.

Coolie (variously spelled Cooly, Kuli, Quli, Koelie etc. ) is:

Contents

Etymology

In 1727 Dr. Engelbert Kämpfer described "coolies" as dock laborers who would unload Dutch merchant ships at Nagasaki. Engelbert Kaempfer ( September 16, 1651 &ndash November 2, 1716) was a German naturalist traveller and Physician. ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. [2] [3] The word coolie can be traced back to the Hindi word qūlī (क़ूली), which means "(day-)labourer", and perhaps ultimately to Kulī, an aboriginal tribe in Gujarat[4][5] or to the Tamil word kuli கூலி ("wages") (Encyclopædia Britannica). Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Gujarat (ગુજરાત Gujǎrāt, pronounced) is a state in western India. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Another form closely related to the Hindi qūlī is the Bengali kuli.

The Chinese word 苦力 (Pinyin: kǔlì) literally means "bitterly hard (use of) strength. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use " The most commonly used cultural Chinese term is 咕喱 (Pinyin: gu1 li2).

Connotation

19th century United States illustration showing a harsh depiction of the Chinese now called "the coolie stereotype"
19th century United States illustration showing a harsh depiction of the Chinese now called "the coolie stereotype"

When it first entered the English language, "coolie" was a designative term describing a low-status class of workers rather than a pejorative term for them. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An illustration is a visualization such as a Drawing, Painting, Photograph or other work of Art that stresses subject more than Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression" is a generalized perception of first impressions behaviors presumed by a group English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States However, in the wake of centuries of colonialism and the social inequalities thereof, it has taken on not only the characteristics of a slur in the general sense but also that of a racial epithet. See Colony and Colonization for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism Economic inequality refers to disparities in the distribution of Economic Assets and Income. Terms of disparagement are Pejorative Words and Phrases which are either intended to be or are often regarded as insulting impolite or unkind The following is a list of ethnic slurs that are or have been used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given Ethnicity or to refer to them in a derogatory (critical In this last sense, it has been applied to Asian people regardless of their professions or socio-economic standing with obviously insulting intent. Asian or Asiatic is a Demonym for people from Asia. However the use of the term varies by country and person often referring to people from a particular

For example, by the 1850s in Trinidad, the annual Muharram or Hosay festival that came over from India was being called "the Coolie Carnival. Trinidad ( Spanish: " Trinity " is the largest and most populous of the two major islands and Muharram ( Arabic: ar محرم is the first month of the Islamic calendar. " Through the Caribbean, as well as in Sri Lanka, South Africa, and elsewhere, the word soon came to denote any person of Indian origin or descent. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa [6]

By the mid to late 19 century in the United States, the term "coolie" and other trappings of the "coolie stereotype" were already being used to mock (for example) Chinese-American launderers or restaurateurs who owned their own businesses. [7][8]

History

East Indian coolies on a Trinidad cacao estate, circa 1903.
East Indian coolies on a Trinidad cacao estate, circa 1903. This article refers to the region in the Indian subcontinent. Trinidad ( Spanish: " Trinity " is the largest and most populous of the two major islands and CACAO is a research Java Virtual Machine developed at Vienna University of Technology.

The term coolie was applied to workers from Asia, especially those who were sent abroad to most of the Americas, to Oceania and the Pacific Islands, and to Africa (especially South Africa and islands like Mauritius and Réunion). The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America The Pacific Ocean contains an estimated 20000 to 30000 Islands (the exact number has yet to be precisely determined The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République Réunion ( French: Réunion or formally La Réunion; previously Île Bourbon) is an island located in the Indian Ocean, east of It was also applied within Asian areas under European control such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Shanghai ( 上[[wikt 海|海]] is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest urban areas in the world with over 20 million Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders

Slavery had been widespread in the British empire, but social and political pressure led to its being outlawed by the Slave Trade Act 1807; within a few decades, many other European nations had outlawed slavery. See also Atlantic slave trade, Abolitionism The Slave Trade Act (citation 47 Geo III Sess But the highly intensive colonial labour on sugar cane or cotton plantations, in mines or railways, required cheap manpower. Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation.

Experiments were carried with Malagasy, Japanese, Breton or Congolese laborers. The are the dominant Ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent of these approximately 127 million are residents of Japan The Bretons are a distinct Ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. The Bakongo or the Kongo people (meaning "hunter" also sometimes referred to as Congolese, live along the Atlantic coast of Africa Ultimately the "ideal coolies" were the Indians, shipped to many Indian Ocean islands, East and South Africa, Fiji, Guyana, Martinique, Trinidad, Jamaica, to name only some of the lands where taylorization was applied as a means of increasing productivity worldwide. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य Guyana (ɡaɪˈænə or /ɡiːˈɑːnə/ officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is the only Nation state Martinique is an Island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1128 km² Trinidad ( Spanish: " Trinity " is the largest and most populous of the two major islands and Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. Productivity in Economics refers to measures of output from production processes per unit of input

Chinese coolies were also sent to the New World. They worked in guano pits in Peru, in sugar cane fields in Cuba and built the railways in the United States and British Columbia. Guano (from the Quechua 'wanu' via Spanish) is the Feces of Seabirds Bats and seals Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Hugh Tinker called the coolie trade "a new form of slavery".

Recruitment and trade

After slavery was abolished, there was a severe lack of labour in many European colonies. Although labourers were supposed to be recruited by voluntary negotiation, it is evident that trickery and deceit were common and outright kidnapping occurred as well. [9]

Most Indian indentured labour was recruited for the British colonies through "Colonial Agents" who travelled to India. In India, they engaged the services of arkatias or recruiters who knew the places to find likely enlistees. A male/female ratio of 10:4 was sought, but women proved difficult to recruit for overseas and allegations of deception and kidnapping seem plausible. "Emigration Depots" were set up in Kolkata, Madras and Mumbai although the latter was closed rather quickly when abuses were made public in India. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial [10]

Many voluntary émigrées came from among the very poor people of Madras, Bengal, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life including food clothing shelter and safe Drinking water, and Etymology and ethnology The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang Orissa (ଓଡ଼ିଶା is a state located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. Bihar ( Hindi:बिहार Urdu: بہار bɪhaːr) is a state in eastern India. Once established, this system gained momentum as British policies destroyed domestic or cottage industry, crafts and family farms through taxation and the zamindar system. The putting-out system was a means of subcontracting work It was also known as the workshop system. Zamindar ( Devanagari: ज़मींदार zamīndār, Urdu: زمیندار zamīndār, Eastern Nagari: জমিদার Famines continued to flow out of India for decades. [11]

Around 1845, after the end of the first Opium War (1840-1842), a center for emigration at Shantou organised a network for transporting Chinese from Guangdong, Amoy, and Macau to the Americas, especially to the silver mines in Peru and the sugar plantations of Cuba and other West Indian islands. The Opium Wars ( also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860 the climax of a trade dispute between China under the Qing "Emigrant" redirects here For the Butterflies, see Catopsilia. History Shantou was a fishing village part of Tuojiang City (鮀江都 Jieyang District (揭陽縣 during the Song Dynasty. Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. Fundamentally a plantation is usually a large Farm or estate, especially in a tropical or semitropical country on which Cotton, Tobacco The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Most of them would have been kidnapped from Guangdong province[12]. Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the

Indentured labourers from Indochina were recruited primarily by France and sent to other French colonies. Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. France was a dominant empire in the world from the 1600s to the late 1960s possessing many colonies in various locations around the world

The coolie trade was criticised for unfairness to workers, and for being de facto slavery. Labourers would be transported aboard packed vessels to be sent to their destinations, and many would die on the way there due to malnutrition, disease, or other mistreatment. Mutinies were also known to occur during transportation[12]. The Dea del Mar which had set sail to Callao from Macao in 1865 with 550 Chinese on board, arrived in Tahiti with 162 of them still alive[12]. Callao in Perupng see image description page at http//enwikipedia Tahiti is the largest Island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the Archipelago of Society Islands in the

This movement of labour population, the first form of wages in the wake of slavery, was referred to as a trade as it reminded one of the status applied to the slave, who was considered as a piece of furniture, which one could inherit legally. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Though coolies were typically classified as indentured servants with a five-year contract, the remnants of slavery remained, and there was often a considerable gap between the law and its application. An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to

Many investigators of the coolie trade reported dire and inhumane conditions, with flogging, sexual abuse and restrictive confinement being commonplace. Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, "whip" the human body Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual acts by one person upon another Many workers were not able to regain their freedom after serving five years for a planter, as was stated in the contract. The same situation prevailed in the West Indies and Mauritius. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République

In the British Empire, coolies were indentured labourers who lived under conditions often resembling slavery. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another The system, inaugurated in 1834 in Mauritius, involved the use of licensed agents after slavery had been abolished in the British Empire. Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République Thus, indenture followed closely on the heels of slavery in order to replace the slaves. The labourers were however only slightly better off than the slaves had been. They were supposed to receive either minimal wages or some small form of payout (such as a small parcel of land, or the money for their return passage) upon completion of their indentures. Unlike slaves, these imported servants could not be bought or sold.

A massive number of Tamil coolies were shipped to Sri Lanka by the British for the coffee and tea plantations. It was also used to augment the minority populations of Sri Lanka. This was the second wave of settlement after the Tamils settled in Jaffna by the Dutch as laborers for tobacco cultivation. This tactic of demographic alteration was used by the British to suppress the native Sinhalese of Sri Lanka who had revolted numerous times against the British. A similar settlement also took place in Malaysia.

In India and South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi led a campaign against such indentured servitude. The majority of South Africa's Asian population is Indian in origin many of them descended from indentured workers brought to work on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area then known Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January Many of the servants who had gone to Africa remained there permanently, effectively becoming immigrants. Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term

Indian female "Coolie woolwashers" in 19th century South Africa
Indian female "Coolie woolwashers" in 19th century South Africa

The permanent settlement of formerly indentured Indians created problems, particularly in Africa. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Laundry can be items of Clothing and other Textiles that require Washing the act of washing clothing and textiles The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The Natal province of the Union of South Africa and Kenya amassed clusters of such immigrants. KwaZulu-Natal (kwɑːˌzuːluː nəˈtɑːl often referred to as " KZN " is a province of South Africa. } The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day state of the Republic of South Africa. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south In the Transvaal, after the conclusion of the Second Boer War, the deficiency of native African labor in the Rand mines led to the enactment of an ordinance in February 1904 that provided for the import of Chinese laborers. For the Russian theme park see Transvaal Park. The Transvaal (Afrikaans lit See also First Boer War,, South African Wars (1879-1915 The Second Boer War ( Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans:

The Boer element in the Transvaal was bitterly opposed to this ordinance, alleging it would introduce a new factor into the already serious racial tensions of South Africa. Boer (ˈbuːr in Dutch ˈbʊɚ/ /boʊɚ or /ˈbɔr/ in English is the Dutch word for Farmer which came to denote the descendants of the proto Afrikaans This issue was largely responsible for the Liberal triumph in the United Kingdom general election, 1906, by which time over 50,000 Asian labourers already had been imported. The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party The United Kingdom general election of 1906 was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906 Asian or Asiatic is a Demonym for people from Asia. However the use of the term varies by country and person often referring to people from a particular

The decision to put an end to indentured servitude first affected Natal and Mauritius in 1910. Other regions followed in 1917.

In the Americas

Chinese immigration to the United States was almost entirely voluntary, but working and social conditions were still harsh:

In 1868, the Burlingame Treaty repealed the century old prohibition law of the Chinese government and opened a floodgate of Chinese immigration. Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term The Burlingame Treaty, between the United States and China, amended the Treaty of Tientsin and established formal friendly relations between the two countries But a mere decade later, the American economy was in a slump and Chinese laborers were hired as scabs when white workers went on strike. During these years of unemployment and depression, anti-Chinese sentiment built around the country, fueled by demagogues such as Denis Kearney of San Francisco, who would rail in front of crowds that "To an American, death is preferable to life on a par with the Chinese. "[13]

Although Chinese labor contributed to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States and of the Canadian Pacific Railway in western Canada, Chinese settlement was discouraged after completion of the construction. This article refers to a railroad built in the United States between Omaha and Sacramento completed in 1869 The Canadian Pacific Railway ( California's Anti-Coolie Act of 1862 and the federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 contributed to the oppression of Chinese laborers in the United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. California's Anti-Coolie Act of 1862 was an attempt by the State of California to tax the labor of Chinese workers as well as discourage Chinese immigration into The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law passed on May 6 1882 following revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868

Notwithstanding such attempts to restrict the influx of cheap labor from China, beginning in the 1870s Chinese workers played an indispensable role in the construction of a vast network of levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Dike (constructionEmbankmentA levee, levée, dike (or dyke) embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is an expansive inland River delta and Estuary in northern California in the United States. These levees opened up thousands of acres of fertile marshlands for agricultural production. In Geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of Wetland which is subject

According to the Constitution of the State of California (1879):

The presence of foreigners ineligible to become citizens of the United States is declared to be dangerous to the well-being of the State, and the Legislature shall discourage their immigration by all the means within its power. The Constitution of the State of California is the document that establishes and describes the duties powers structure and function of the Government of the U Article I section 8 clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization Asiatic coolieism is a form of human slavery, and is forever prohibited in this State, and all contracts for coolie labor shall be void. All companies or corporations, whether formed in this country or any foreign country, for the importation of such labor, shall be subject to such penalties as the Legislature may prescribe. [14]

Indentured Chinese servants also labored in the sugarcane fields of Cuba well after the 1884 abolition of slavery in that country. Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Many scholars debate whether the Chinese coolies of Cuba should be called "slaves," the authoritative scholars of Chinese labor in Cuba, Juan Pastrana and Juan Perez de la Riva, substantiated the horrific conditions of Chinese coolies in Cuba and unreservedly stated that coolies were slaves in all but name. Before the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Havana had Latin America's largest Chinatown. The Cuban Revolution refers to the revolution that led to the overthrow of the United States proxy ruler General Fulgencio Batista 's regime on January 1, Havana ( IPA: aˈβana officially Ciudad de La Habana, is the Capital city, major port and leading A Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of Chinese outside the majority-Chinese countries of Greater China.

Newly arrived Indian coolies in Trinidad.
Newly arrived Indian coolies in Trinidad.

In South America, Chinese indentured laborers worked in Peru’s silver mines and coastal industries (i. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. e. , guano, sugar, and cotton) from the early 1850s to the mid-1870s; about 100,000 people immigrated as indentured workers. Guano (from the Quechua 'wanu' via Spanish) is the Feces of Seabirds Bats and seals An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to They infamously participated in the War of the Pacific, looting and burning down the haciendas where they worked, subsequent to the fall of Lima to the invading Chilean army in January 1880. The War of the Pacific, sometimes called the Saltpeter War in reference to its original cause was fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate usually but not always a vast Ranch. Lima is the Capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers on a coast overlooking

Between 1836 and 1917, at least "238,000 Indians were introduced into British Guiana, 145,000 into Trinidad, 21,500 into Jamaica, 39,000 into Guadeloupe, 34,000 into Surinam, 1,550 into St. Lucia, 1,820 into St. Vincent, 2,570 into Grenada. British Guiana was the name of the British Colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana. Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. Guadeloupe is an island group or Archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at, with a land area of 1628 square kilometres (629  sq Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by Saint Lucia (ˌseɪnt ˈluːʃɪə is an Island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles chain of the Caribbean Sea. Grenada (grɪˈneɪdə is an Island nation that includes the southern Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. In 1859, there were 6,748 Indians in Martinique. Martinique is an Island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1128 km² " Although these were incomplete statistics, Eric Williams (see references) believed they were "sufficient to show a total introduction of nearly half a million Indians into the Caribbean" (Williams 100).

Champions of the coolies

While Black slavery was abolished in 1848, coolies in Guadeloupe, the French West Indies, were brought from 1854 to 1889, but they were not to be recognised as French citizens until 1923, as a result of the 9-year court struggle of self-made Henri Sidambarom with the French Government.

Another man was to champion the cause of the coolies in Mauritius : Adolph von Plevitz, who denounced the inhuman treatments inflicted on those poorly educated labourers.

Gandhi also fought for them, and the coolie trade was abolished in the 1920s. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January Recently, poet and semiologist Khal Torabully has evolved a humanistic framework springing from coolitude. Khal Torabully is a Mauritian and French poet who has coined the concept of "coolitude

In Media

The Coolie DVD cover.
The Coolie DVD cover.

Film

In Stephen Chow’s 2004 action-comedy Kung Fu Hustle, former Shaolin monk Xing Yu plays a character named Coolie, who does hard labor in a multi-floored apartment-block village called “Pig Sty Alley”. Stephen Chow Sing-Chi, born June 22 1962 is a Hong Kong Scriptwriter, Film director, producer and actor Kung Fu Hustle ( is a 2004 Hong Kong martial arts Comedy film co-written co-produced directed by and starring Stephen Chow Xing Yu (行宇 aka Shi Xing Yu (釋行宇 gained his fame after playing the role of Coolie in the movie Kung Fu Hustle. These are the main characters of the film Kung Fu Hustle. Martial artists Sing Sing is the Protagonist of the movie a loser in life whose ambition However, when a petty thief (Stephen Chow) and his side-kick pose as members of the infamous “Axe Gang” and accidentally bring upon the wrath of actual members, Coolie is the first of three retired martial artists who come to the village’s aid. He is a master of the 12 Kicks of the Tam School (十二路潭腿), a leg-oriented boxing style. Tán Tuǐ is a very famous Northern wushu routine and has several versions due to its incorporation into various styles He is later beheaded by assassins hired by the Axe Gang to kill the village’s landlords.

Coolie is a 1983 Indian film about a coolie Amitabh Bachchan who works on a railway station. Coolie is a 1983 Bollywood film directed by Manmohan Desai and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri His lover's father is man who murdered a girl's father to force her to marry him, but she did not give in. After 10 years of imprisonment, he flooded her village (injuring her new husband) and causing her wake up with amnesia. It starred Amitabh Bachchan and Waheeda Rehman.

Guiana 1838 is a 2004 docu-drama that explores the unknown world of indentureship and slavery in the British Colonies of the West Indies. It reveals the trials and tribulation of both the resilent African slaves and the unsuspecting Indians from Calcutta who were sold on the golden dreams of "El Dorado" only to find themselves on a slave ship to hard labor in an unforgiving land. [8]

Television

In Donnie Yen’s 1994 martial arts mini-series "Hung Hei-Gun: Decisive Battle With Praying Mantis Fists" (洪熙官: 决战螳螂拳 , a. Donnie Yen Chi-Tan ( born July 27, 1963) is a Martial artist and Actor, Film director, fight choreographer, and A miniseries (also mini-series) in a serial Storytelling medium is a production which tells a story in a pre-planned limited number of episodes k. a. "The Kung Fu Master"), a flood causes a large section of a heavily traveled bridge to collapse. A supernaturally strong coolie named Tung Chin-gun builds a make shift section and charges people to cross it while he holds it above his head. At one point, he supports the combined 1,000 lb (450 kg) weight of a merchant’s retinue and live stock.

He later sets up a sign that reads “power for sale” and charges people to lift them to the top floor of a famous restaurant on a chair strapped to a long bamboo ladder. A rackish Manchu prince has two of his men ride the chair to the top, but as it nears the edge, they dig their feet into the ledge and push back with their legs, making it harder for Tung. A rake is defined as a man habituated to immoral conduct Rakes are frequently Stock characters in novels The Manchu people ( Manchu: Manju;, Mongolian: Манж Russian: Маньчжуры are a Tungusic people who originated in Then the prince punches a heavy food cart at the coolie. He stops the cart with one hand and then pushes on the ladder with the other, over powering the two men and sending them and the ladder flying into the restaurant.

When the prince challenges a fellow suitor to fight Tung over the right to marry a girl, legendary martial arts hero Hung Hei-Gun (Donnie Yen) opts to fight in the suitor's stead. Courtship is the traditional dating period before engagement and marriage Hung Hei-Kwun (洪熙官 Hung Hei-Gun was the founder of Hung Gar Kung Fu. (Hung later visits Tung at home and discovers he is competing in the fight in order to save up enough money to support his elderly blind mother). The battle takes place on a three-sided lei tai draped with a red cloth that reads "The Supreme Master in the world of martial arts". The Lèi tái ( Traditional: 擂臺 Simplified: 擂台 – “Beat (a drum Platform” is a raised fighting platform without railings where often fatal Despite the coolie's inhuman abilities, he lacks the Kung Fu training of which Hung is a master. Hung aims for a vital spot under Tung's arm and then unleashes a series of kicks that sends him flying from the fighting stage.

The coolie later befriends Hung and they escape to the Shaolin Monastery to hide from Qing Dynasty forces and to learn Shaolin Kung Fu. The Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple ( is a Chan Buddhist temple at Song Shan in Zhengzhou City Henan Province Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China Shaolin Kung Fu refers to a collection of Chinese martial arts that claim affiliation with the Shaolin Monastery. [15]

Literature

Literature and culture reflected the dereliction of the indentured, who created baitkas or village centres to learn or uphold their tales, religions, sacred texts and start a nucleus of political awareness. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to Yet the 1930s négritude movement, focussing on the plight of the Blacks, failed to chart the cultural suffering of the coolies. Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, for instance, spoke of the "Hindu man from Calcutta" in his Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, reflecting the perception he had of the coolie, as still exterior to the West Indian community. Aimé Fernand David Césaire (26 June 1913 &ndash 17 April 2008 was a Afro-[[Martinique Martinican]] Francophone Poet, Author and Politician

Gilbert Gratiant was among the first writers of this region to give some presence to this citizen in limbo. A new awareness was expressed byMarcel Cabon, Loys Masson andMalcolm de Chazal in Mauritius. Malcolm de Chazal ( 12 September 1902 - 1 October 1981) was a Mauritian writer painter and visionary known especially for his Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République

Most recently, poet Khal Torabully's Cale d'étoiles-Coolitude (Azalées éditions, 1992) introduces the neologism, "coolitude. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Khal Torabully is a Mauritian and French poet who has coined the concept of "coolitude A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been " Torabully defines coolitude as a postcolonial and postmodern aesthetics, anchored in otherness, that goes beyond the specific condition of Asian migrant labor. Postcolonialism ( postcolonial theory, post-colonial theory) is an intellectual discourse that holds together a set of theories found among the texts and Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called

Modern use

See also

Reference notes

  1. ^ Most current dictionaries don't record any offensive meaning ("an unskilled laborer or porter usually in or from the Far East hired for low or subsistence wages" Merriam-Webster) or make a distinction between an offensive meaning in referring to "a person from the Indian subcontinent or of Indian descent" and an at least originally inoffensive, old-fashioned meaning, for example "dated an unskilled native labourer in India, China, and some other Asian countries" (Compact Oxford English Dictionary). An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to Blackbirding refers to the recruitment of people through trickery and Kidnappings to work on plantations particularly the Sugar cane Plantations of As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Navvy is a shorter form of navigational engineer ( USA) or navigator ( UK) and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working A non-resident Indian (NRI is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country a person of Indian origin who is born outside India or a person of A Chinese Peruvian, also known as tusán, a loanword from 土生 ( Pinyin: tǔ shēng Jyutping: tou2 saang1 "local born" is a person This is the history of Chinese immigration to Canada. Early history The first recorded visits by the Chinese to North America can be dated to 1788 American immigration ( emigration to the United States of America) refers to the movement of non-residents to the United States. The following is a list of ethnic slurs that are or have been used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given Ethnicity or to refer to them in a derogatory (critical However, some dictionaries indicate that the word may be considered offensive in all contexts today. For example, Longman's 1995 edition had "old-fashioned an unskilled worker who is paid very low wages, especially in parts of Asia", but the current version adds "taboo old-fashioned a very offensive word . . . Do not use this word. "
  2. ^ Kämpfer, Engelbert (1727). The History of Japan.  
  3. ^ (1891) Encyclopædia Britannica, Dictionary, Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, 9th, American Reprint, Maxwell Sommerville (Philadelphia), p. 296. Volume VI.  
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000
  5. ^ Ask oxford
  6. ^ SookDeo, Neil A. (2000). Freedom, Festivals and Caste in Trinidad After Slavery A Society in Transition. . Xlibris, Philadelphia. ISBN 1-4010-5209-6. Specifically, Trinidad Sentinel 6 August 1857. Also, Original Correspondence of the British Colonial Office in London (C. O. 884/4, Hamilton Report into the Carnival Riots, p. 18).  
  7. ^ McClellan, Robert. "Heathen Chinee: A Study of American Attitudes Toward China, 1890–1905". Columbus: Ohio State University Press. 1971. 272 pp.
  8. ^ a b [1] Los Angeles Times April 19, 2002
  9. ^ [2] Journal of Asian American Studies 2004
  10. ^ SookDeo, Neil A. The Los Angeles Times (also known as the LA Times) is a daily Newspaper published in Los Angeles California and distributed (2000). Freedom, Festivals and Caste in Trinidad After Slavery. . Xlibris, Philadelphia. ISBN 1-4010-5209-6.  
  11. ^ Ibid.
  12. ^ a b c Macao, Illustrations of China and Its People, John Thomson 1837-1921, (London,1873-1874)
  13. ^ University of Arkansas
  14. ^ [3] The Chinese in California, 1850-1879
  15. ^ The Kung Fu Master movie review
  16. ^ Humanitarian Movement Against Child Oppression & Others Living in Exploitation
  17. ^ Straattaal Straatwoordenboek: Definitie
  18. ^ [4] Coolie Dictionary 2006
  19. ^ [5] African-Guyanese and Election Rigging
  20. ^ [6] "Dis place is not for coolie people"
  21. ^ [7] Trinidad & Tobago Newsday Saturday, October 14 2006

Bibliography

External links

Dictionary

coolie

-noun

  1. An unskilled Asian worker, usually of Chinese or Indian descent; a labourer; a porter. Coolies were frequently transported to other countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries as indentured labourers.
  2. In Trinidad, West Indies, Guyana, and parts of Africa slang for a person of Indian descent. Nowadays often considered derogatory.
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