Understanding the world of the early Chinese in Aotearoa, means being aware of the tiny area of land they came from, their shared culture and the legal barriers that New Zealand set up to restrict Chinese migration.

There are two things that are unique about Aotearoa's early Chinese. The first is that they were overwhelmingly male.^[1] Part of this was due to traditional beliefs about family, land and the role of women. The other part was due to cost and the huge expense of bringing wives and families to New Zealand. This became even more prohibitive from 1881 when New Zealand's anti-Chinese poll-tax laws were introduced.

The second unique thing about this community is that it was shaped and contained by Government policies that actively sought to limit the community's growth. From 1881 there was a tax on all Chinese migrants (the poll tax) and restrictions on the number of Chinese that ships could carry. After 1920, the Government introduced an immigration permit system that dramatically limited the number of Chinese migrants. For the next 50 years it was extremely difficult for Chinese to migrate here - even for Chinese men who married New Zealand women. There were some limited exceptions for family reunification, such as during the war. However, the community was essentially isolated from new blood right up until the early 1970s.^[2]

Leaving the home villages

The Pearl River Delta is the ancestral home of all Aotearoa’s early Chinese migrants. This coastal area sits within the much larger province of Guangdong (Canton). Facing outwards to the world, both Guangdong and its neighbour Fujian have a centuries long tradition of migration and trade networks.  

Within the Pearl River Delta are the specific home counties of early Chinese New Zealanders. These rural areas are clustered to the west, south and east of Guangzhou city and occupy an area very similar to the size covered by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (ie Central Hawke’s Bay, Hastings and Wairoa).^[3]

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‍The home counties of the early Chinese migrants
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Like the rest of China, these areas experienced a big population boom during the 1700s. The result was land shortages and economic stress, compounded by high taxes and increasing Government corruption. The situation was made worse from 1839 when a war broke out over trading rights (the Opium Wars), and Western powers attacked key trading cities including Guangzhou. This led to further civil unrest.^[4]

All of these factors drove young men overseas in search of greater opportunities. Ironically it was the influx of foreign traders after the Opium Wars that highlighted the opportunities in places like the Americas and Australasia. Some of these young men came to Aotearoa, following in the wake of Pākehā colonists.

Who were they?

While many of the early migrants came from rural areas, there were generally not the poorest of the poor. At the least, all prospective migrants needed access to credit to pay for travel and settlement costs.^[5] This suggests they came from landowning clans or had good connections. In terms of education, almost all who arrived in New Zealand were able to read and write Chinese.^[6]

Some of the earliest arrivals also came with English language skills, a result of working on British ships or in colonies like Victoria and Hong Kong. This was a great advantage for people like Appo Hocton and John Ah Tong, who both set up businesses catering to early colonists.  

The first significant wave of Chinese came when miners from Victoria arrived in Otago in 1865. Unlike earlier migrants who had come independently, the goldminers were brought over in groups, the earliest being guided by Ho A Mei. Focused on a single task Chinese gold seekers quickly set up their own support systems, including supports for newcomers. Numbers grew as 'new chums' arrived in Aotearoa knowing they could rely on the help of relatives and fellow villagers already here.

Overwhelming, those who came were almost all men. In Chinese society women were embedded within the wider family. They had very little social or economic independence and there was a strong cultural expectation that women should stay home and look after their husband’s parents and property.

On the other hand, Chinese men had agency and independence. For the young and energetic, places like New Zealand offered enormous opportunities.

Migrants, settlers or something in between?  

It is often said that Chinese migrants were sojourners, or people who did not intend settling permanently in Aotearoa. This is roughly borne out by the 1870 to 1941 arrival and departure records for Chinese, which show that of those who arrived, a total of 82% departed.^[7]

However, only describing the early Chinese as temporary residents is to miss a more complex picture that unfolds over a 78-year period with different waves of migration and changing migration laws.^[8]

In general, an important part of settlement was family. The handful of Chinese who arrived before the goldminers all seem to have married New Zealand women, suggesting their intention to settle. This was not so for the gold seekers and others who arrived by their thousands from 1865. The vast majority only came to New Zealand for economic reasons and left once they had made their money. However some stayed out of choice - perhaps because they had made good lives for themselves in New Zealand - or because they could not afford to return.

It is more difficult to know the settlement intentions of those who arrived after the goldrush, post-1881. However, we do know that they came intending to set up businesses. Some did very well and a few of the most wealthy or financially stable could afford to bring their families to New Zealand. The poll-tax for all Chinese, including wives and children, was £10 poll tax from 1881. This was later raised to £100 in 1896 - more than the average New Zealand wage earner made in a year.^[9]

The result was a semi-settled life. Ideally, a man would return to China every five to seven years to spend an extended time ‘at home’. Those who returned would often come back with their sons or other relatives and teach them how to run the family business. This would allow the original migrant to go back to China for their retirement years. This cycle was sometimes repeated for two or three generations. Families depended on the New Zealand money that was sent back to China, and the relative social stability of New Zealand compared with China made it important for the family to maintain those New Zealand connections.^[10]  

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The three main groups of early Chinese migrants

• ‍The earliest settlers - before the gold seekers a handful of independent-minded Chinese men made Aotearoa their home. Like other colonists, they took whatever opportunities that saw. The earliest settler Appo Hocton, had multiple businesses including housekeeping, cartage, farming and property development. James Patterson, John Jackson and William Smith took English names, and were cooks and hoteliers. While John Ah Tong who arrived in the 1860s, was a carver, gilder, cabinet maker, translator and entrepreneur.

• ‍Goldseekers – the 1848 California gold rush kicked off a series of rushes in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Gold was discovered in Otago in 1861, but by 1865 new fields had been discovered on the West Coast, triggering an exodus of miners from Otago. Chinese miners from Victoria were invited to work the abandoned Otago fields.  The first arrived at the end of 1865. By 1881 there were just over 5,000 Chinese in New Zealand – mostly gold seekers. The majority of the miners came from Poon Yue county. Those who arrived early did extremely well, and returned to China in a few years as very wealthy men. The later arrivals did not fare as well. However, most returned to China. Those who stayed, continued to work for diminishing returns or moved into other occupations such as market gardening.‍
• Business people / poll-tax payers – From the 1890s a new wave of Chinese migrants arrived. These new arrivals, mostly from Jung Seng county had more access to capital than earlier migrants, and were able to pay the poll tax (£10 from 1881 and £100 from 1896). The new wave of migrants set up businesses all around the country, but especially in North Island cities and small towns. Their main businesses were fruitshops and import / exports. The late 1800s also saw the rise of Chinese laundries – generally run by Seyip migrants, and Chinese market gardens which were set up mainly by Poon Yue and Seyip migrants.

The effect of anti-Chinese migration laws

In 1920 the Government introduced a new policy making it almost impossible for Chinese and other 'undesirables' to freely migrate to New Zealand. This type of immigration restriction stayed more or less in place until 1987.

The effect of these laws meant that New Zealand’s early settler Chinese community developed from a base of about 3,000 Chinese who were in New Zealand before 1920.  There were a few migration influxes, including the 1939 refugee intake comprising the wives and children of Chinese New Zealand men who were already here. The post-war period also saw other smaller groups of Chinese migrants. these included migrants chosen for their specialist skills, to ethnically Chinese refugees from South East Asia. However, the bulk of the early settler community derives from the three groups of pre-1920 migration.