Life in Latin America

Once laborers arrived in the Americas, their conditions did not improve. Coolie laborers faced grueling work in plantations, guano pits, and infrastructure projects, enduring harsh social and weather conditions. Estimates suggest that between 1847 and 1874, the mortality rate for Chinese laborers ranged from fifty to sixty percent. In Peru, between 1849 and 1876, nearly half of the Chinese population aged nine to forty died from exhaustion, suicide, or ill-treatment.

The pamphlet entitled “Illustrated Description of the Living Hells,” published in 1875 by a prominent Cantonese publisher, vividly depicts the harsh conditions endured by coolies. Senior Lecturer Pierre-Emmanuel Roux of Paris Diderot University delivered a lecture on the artwork, exploring its significance and highlighting ongoing kidnappings, mistreatment, and deaths of Chinese laborers. Roux describes the piece as a means to draw attention to a new form of slavery that persisted even after its supposed abolition in the Americas. Inspired by the findings of two international commissions that investigated labor conditions in the Americas, the pamphlet aimed to raise public awareness of the imminent dangers of the Coolie Trade and to urge the Qing imperial court to protect its citizens. The first image shows a Chinese man being forced onto a ship bound for Cuba, while the second depicts "Latrines for prison," illustrating "recruiting agents [who] used the most scandalous means to induce Chinese workers to sign an employment contract and to emigrate 'freely.'"

Roux explains that the format and style of the pamphlet is heavily influenced by the Yuli Chaozhuan (Jade Calendar Manuscript). The Yuli Chaozhuan was a renowned moral text depicting severe punishments for sinners in Buddhist hells. Below, Roux describes the piece as picturing "refining sugar with human bones. This death penalty scene represents the height of horror in Cuba's sugar plantations. The image was all the more unbearable for the Chinese of the 19th century because it was necessary to always preserve his body intact and to return to be buried in his native land."

Further, Roux notes that “the author adopted a similar approach to better serve his purpose and thus reach as wide a readership as possible: the texts and illustrations depict Cuba and Peru as terrestrial hells and expose the means not to sink into it.” Although the pamphlet initially gained popularity in bookstores across southern China, its success was fleeting. Spanish representatives in the Qing Empire demanded its censorship to prevent any potential anti-Western sentiment. Fortunately, several copies were rediscovered in recent years, where they had been unnoticed in a handful of European and American libraries for over a century. Roux emphasizes the importance of this rediscovery, noting that it “provides historians with new primary material for understanding the coolie slave trade, as well as offering insights into various aspects of Chinese society” during the period.

Chinese Coolie Resistance

The verb mutiny refers to rising against or refusing to obey authority. Despite Western stereotypes of Asian people as passive and submissive—often perpetuated by the Model Minority Myth—our community has a long history of resistance. During the Chinese Coolie Trade, several documented mutinies occurred against oppressive conditions. Two illustrations from Harper’s Monthly Magazine in 1864 depict a rebellion aboard a ship carrying Chinese laborers from Macau to Cuba; “On the Lower Deck” by Edgar Holden, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, June 1864, which depicts Chinese Coolies preparing to mutiny, and “The Writing in Blood” by Edgar Holden, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, June 1864, which depicts mutinying laborers writing their demands in the blood of those who had fallen before them during the mutiny.

Although the revolt was ultimately unsuccessful, these images challenge the notion of Chinese laborers as passive victims and reveal their agency in the face of adversity, countering stereotypes of submissiveness. Moreover, resistance continued beyond shipboard mutinies. In Latin America, Chinese laborers faced severe control through debt bondage and harsh physical punishment but continued to resist. On plantations, many coolies employed tactics similar to those of enslaved African-Americans, confronting Chinese contractors, stealing, escaping, faking illness, striking, and disrupting production to protest their unfair conditions. The Chinese Coolie Trade gradually declined as labor laws and international pressure increased, reflecting evolving labor practices and ongoing efforts to address past abuses.

Activity:

To learn more about the Chinese Coolie Trade, visit “The Rise and Fall of Chinese Indentured Labour” by Winnie Fok. Pay close attention to the primary sources highlighted within the article. Select two to three primary sources from the Coolie Trade that are discussed. Once you have chosen your sources, analyze each. Summarize the content of the source, noting the key points presented. Next, consider the perspective of the source's creator. Analyze who they were and how their background might influence their views. Additionally, identify the purpose behind the creation of the source.

After analyzing each source individually, compare and contrast them. Examine how the sources' perspectives align or differ regarding the Coolie Trade and identify any recurring themes or issues. Reflect on the broader discourse surrounding the Coolie Trade. Analyze how the discourse, as reflected in these sources, may have influenced public opinion during that time. Consider what these sources reveal about the legacy of the Coolie Trade and what insights or lessons they offer.