Pearl of the Desert | "I go", "I don't", "kill him" as Chinese gold diggers and road builders in western America seek their roots 9

Chinese Historical Association of Arizona, USA Zhang Zhaohong We continue to follow the footsteps of Chinese gold miners a hundred years ago, and the next stop is "I, go"...

Chinese Historical Association of Arizona, USA Zhang Zhaohong

We continue to follow the footsteps of the Chinese gold rushers a hundred years ago. The next stop is the town of "I, go", and then the town of "O, no".

The two small towns of "Let's Go" and "Oh No" are both located in "Shasta" County in Northern California. Very close to each other. It is said that at that time, the white people excluded the Chinese workers. At first, the Chinese workers did not understand the language. In the spirit of "they can't afford to offend but can afford to hide", they reluctantly said "I go" and were forced to leave. Therefore, "I go" was regarded as the name of this place by the white people. After that, the Chinese moved 4 miles north to another mountainous area to continue panning for gold. When another group of white people forced them to leave, the Chinese didn't buy it anymore and resolutely said "O, No!". From then on, he stayed in this new mine until the end of the gold rush. So O,No! became a place name.

These two place names may just be the expressions of Chinese resistance against discrimination. At present, apart from a small shop and a post office, there are no traces of the remains of the Chinese workers here.

In order to commemorate history, we asked the shop owner of "I go" and the post office staff of "O, No" to sign the commemorative banner.

"O, No" the post office clerk signed the commemorative banner

We continued to visit the gold mining site "Kill Him" ​​State Historical Park (Shasta State History Park). The correct Chinese translation of "Kill Him" ​​should be "Shasta", which is a county in Northern California. During the gold rush years of the 1850s to 1880s, Shasta was a bustling town with thousands of Chinese gold rush workers.

"Kill him" was also a city full of violence and murder. "Shasta" was a French miner leader who was killed in a conflict. The town was later named after him. Because there are a large number of gold miners working and living here, the town is full of prosperity. To this day, you can still see the red brick walls of some old houses, and some of them need to be strengthened to prevent collapse.

On the return bus, we had another revelation. Teacher Xu Heping, the author of "Goodbye Pearl Buck", told us the story about "Pearl Buck".

Pearl Buck is the daughter of an American pastor. When she was three months old, she came to Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China with her parents. She is an American girl who grew up in China. The first language she learned was Chinese and she received Confucianism. She did not go to Shanghai to attend middle school until she was 15 years old. Afterwards, she returned to the United States to attend college. After getting married, my husband and I returned to China again. She experienced rural life, accumulated materials, and taught English at Jinling University, Central University and Southeast Asian University. In 1931, she published "The Earth" and the "Earth" trilogy, and later wrote more Chinese-themed novels and biographical works, for which she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. The English version of the "The Good Earth" trilogy has been published in more than 70 editions and millions of copies. Her works have been translated into more than 140 languages, changing the world's understanding of China and increasing the West's sympathy for China, thus giving great solidarity and support to China's Anti-Japanese War during World War II.

She was also the first to initiate the abolition of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States: "At that time, the Japanese militarists and the Wang Puppet regime, in order to sow discord and alienate the Sino-US alliance, directly accused the US Chinese Exclusion Act of demonstrating the moral hypocrisy of the United States. The Japanese puppets trumpeted the US government's discrimination against the Chinese: "Americans don't want you. They just want you to help them fight the war. Their "Chinese Exclusion Act" is aimed at you, saying that you are not qualified to be American citizens..." In February 1942, Pearl Buck spoke at a rally at the Astor Hotel in New York and strongly urged: "If we do not give up the concept of white supremacy, the United States will lose this war. Japan's racial card is an effective weapon in Asia because racial prejudice is the weakest point of American democracy. In order to win the war, we must cooperate. The United States must unite people from different ethnic groups. At this time, the Chinese people's bloody fight against Japanese aggression has entered its fifth year."

Under the strong demands of the righteous forces of the United States and the strong pressure of public opinion, the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing on the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in May 1943. Pearl Buck went to Congress to testify. She confidently and generously stated the two main reasons why the Chinese Exclusion Act must be repealed: First, democracy is a symbol of pride for Americans and is promoted everywhere. But democracy first requires human equality and fairness. The Chinese Exclusion Act is contrary to this and tarnishes the spirit of democracy and must be abolished.

> 2. The current need to fight the war together. The Chinese nation is a great nation that is industrious, brave and peace-loving. It is currently engaged in an arduous struggle against the invasion and occupation of Japanese imperialism. Whether the current war against German and Japanese fascists can be successful depends on China's persistence and victory in the war of resistance, and on whether the United States can win the trust and support of the Chinese people.

Pearl Buck pointedly pointed out: "Every Chinese knows that the United States has the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese can no longer tolerate its existence.

" As an American, Pearl Buck's historic speech was well-founded and shocking. It makes the US government and opposition parties feel that there is no reason for the "Chinese Exclusion Act" to continue to exist

Teacher Xu Heping