The letter above, dated 1973, was sent from Macau to Canada. At the end of the letter, Christine told the recipient that: “Since my Amah left after 15 years services – we decide the housework between the two of use – so by 10 pm we make a [bedding] for our warm beds.” An amah …
At the back of the photo above was written “Frank Arthur & servants. 3 years old!” Have you ever wondered who these Indians were? To answer this question, we have to go back to 17th century India. Founded in 1600, the English East India Company (EIC) had its private armies and dominated over the economy …
In the last article chin-chin joss, it has been mentioned that joss (or josh) was a form derived from Portuguese deus meaning ‘God’. In the pidgin spoken in China, joss was used quite productively as it appeared in different compound words. For example, a joss house was a temple. Chinese people also used the term …
Compiled by Henry Yule and Arthur Coke Burnell, the Hobson-Jobson Being a Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms (first edition, 1886) was an important collection of words mainly of Asian origin which entered the English language through the Eastern trade routes. In explaining the expression chin-chin, the glossary pointed out …
Yang-king-pang 洋涇浜 (Yangjingbang in Chinese Pinyin) used to be a tributary of the Huangppu River in Shanghai. It was a narrow creek that separated the British Concession and later the International Settlement and the French Concession. The Shanghai: A Handbook for Travellers and Residents, written by Rev. C.E. Darwent, described the creek as follows. “Beyond …
This advertisement for a porcelain shop was printed in a travel guide A Pictorial Handbook to Canton (1905). The “Factory” was an interesting place back in 19th century Canton. Factory may have come from the Portuguese word feitoria meaning ‘trading post’ historically.Expansion of the Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries led to establishment of …
The image above is a poster of the film Tai-pan, adapted from James Clavell’s 1966 novel of the same title. The novel was set after the conclusion of the First Opium War, when Hong Kong Island became a British possession. The story revolved around the competitions between two heads of trading firms – Dirk Struan …
A unique class developed under the context of China trade, the compradores truly embraced the spirits of “middlemen”. They stood between the foreigners and Chinese in commercial deals. They talked in pidgin English, which fused elements from Chinese and English. They aspired to live in a Western way of life but maintained Chinese customs and …
The signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 after the end of the First Opium War (1839-1842) resulted in the opening of more treaty ports for foreign trade in addition to Canton. The most important of these new ports was Shanghai. British, French and American began to settle in the city. The Shanghai International …
In Hong Kong, Caucasian men are known as gweilo (鬼佬 gwaai2 lou2) literally ‘ghost man’. Caucasians women are called gweimui (鬼妹 gwaai2 mui1)or gweipo (鬼婆 gwaai2 po2) ‘ghost woman’, the former name is used for younger women. Today, these colloquial terms are generally not considered as derogatory, and the terms are used among the white …