Beyond Tianxia: The Zhongwai Xinwen Qiribao (Hong Kong 1871-1872) and the Construction of a Transnational Chinese Community

Abstract

By the 1870s, hundreds of thousands of Chinese had gone overseas, despite the imperial ban against emigration. In Hong Kong, a major emigrant port where many business interests were pervasively and intricately related to emigration, the Chinese press became a primary source of public information on Chinese living abroad. The Zhongwai xinwen qiribao, published weekly as a section of the China Mail from March 1871 to April 1872 covered the subject extensively. It described the abuses Chinese individuals suffered in the migration process as well as the harsh working conditions, racial discrimination and legal disabilities they encountered in their destination countries. It repeatedly prompted the Chinese court to send consuls to protect Chinese abroad, an idea that contradicted China's official worldview and diplomatic practice. Thus, the Qiribao, a voice from the margin demanding to be different and demanding to be heard, not only openly broached the delicate subject of emigration but also challenged the court's policy on international relations. Moreover, by highlighting the commonality of the experience of Chinese emigrants, reiterating their deep and continuous relationship with their families and the homeland, and emphasizing the oneness of the Chinese people at home and abroad, the Qiribao created in its readers' minds a transnational entity that we now call the Chinese diaspora.