Chinese French
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chinese French |
|---|
| Total population |
|
~300,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Rhône-Alpes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Paris; Choisy, Belleville, Marne-la-Vallée |
| Languages |
| French, Chinese languages, others |
| Religions |
| Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism |
| Related ethnic groups |
| British Chinese, Chinese Canadian, Overseas Chinese, Han Chinese |
Chinese French (French: Sino-Français) are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in or immigrated to France. They are part of the Chinese diaspora, or Overseas Chinese. Current population estimates vary, ranging from 240,000 to 600,000.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 17th century
The first record of a Chinese man in France is Arcade Hoange, or Huang Jialü (1679-1716). He was brought back by Jesuit missionaries to the Versailles court of the Sun King in the late 17th century, and oversaw a collection of manuscripts sent as a gift from the Chinese emperor Kangxi.[1]
[edit] Post World War I
To aid the allied effort in World War I, 140,000 Chinese workers mostly from the province of Zhejiang were brought to France. Most who survived returned to China in 1918.[2] However, some were trapped in France by the June 30, 1920 collapse of the Banque industrielle de Chine. The number of Chinese in France was slightly bolstered by an influx of students (including Zhou Enlai, later Premier of the People's Republic of China), who would play a crucial leadership role in organising community institutions for the Chinese there.[3] The few thousand who remained formed the first rooted Chinese community in Paris, based first around the Gare du Lyon in the east of the capital, then near the Arts et métiers metro station in the 3rd arrondissement.[citation needed]
In the 1930s and 1940s, Wenzhou Chinese settled in Paris and worked as leatherworkers near the Jewish neighborhood in the 3rd arrondissement. Taking over the wholesale trade lost by the Jews during the German occupation of France during World War II, this Chinese community still exists today, but remains relatively discreet.
[edit] Recent immigration
The expulsions of ethnic Chinese from Vietnam in the 1970s led to a wave of immigration and the colonisation of the high-rise neighbourhood near the Port d'Italie, where Paris' Chinatown is located. Located in the 13th arrondissement, the area contains many Chinese inhabitants predominantly living in high-rise apartments.
Since the 1980s, immigration has been increasing steadily, with the main source countries being mainland China and the countries of former French Indochina. In Paris, settlement is spread across both urban and suburban districts, notably the towns of Lognes, Torcy and Noisy Le Grand. Lyon and Marseille also have Chinese communities.
[edit] References
- ^ Lycée Fustel de Coulanges [1]
- ^ Condliffe, John Bell (1928). Problems of the Pacific: Proceedings of the Second Conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations Conference. United States: University of Chicago Press. (page 410)
- ^ Levine, Marilyn Avra (1993). The Found Generation: Chinese Communists in Europe During the Twenties. United States: University of Washington Press. (pages 116-120)
