The Evolution of Overseas Chinese Social Organization in the Nineteenth Century Western Malay States

/ THE EVOLUTION OF OVERSEAS CHINESE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WESTERN MALAY STATES by IJxSIGH WOH-FEWG B'tA., University of Malaysia, I968 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA January, 197^ In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may tie granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of $ a cj; olo The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date J o-i-v CA^-T-V^ ' ^ 1H 4- ABSTRACT An attempt is made to demonstrate that locally-based Chinese communities ss such did not take shape at the point of setttoent in the western Malay States during the early half of the nineteenth century. Rather, they evolved end eventually emerged through a slow process of change, the effects of which may be found mirrored in the fluctuating fortunes of the initially all-powerful and all-encompassing secret societies. With growing length of settlement and expansion, differentiation took place and social stratification occurred. Economic and social leadership emerged and became stabilized. Com ensurately, stakes in and attachment to the local environment mounted. Thus almost imperceptibly to the participants, locally-based and orientated overseas communities took shape and grew. As the yardstick of social prestige became increasingly interpreted in local terms, leaders began to court the favours of the masses more and more. • In this arocess, the coming of indirect British rule in the Malay States contributed not a little to its gatherigg:,:momentuB. Owing to the relative scarcity of comprehensive historical data on the subject and the period under study, it has also been the aim of this thesis to provide some detailed background information on the politics of the: host society as well as the groupings of the various secret societies xn Malaya. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I Introduction 1 II The Western Malay States and the Bole of the Host'- 11 Society III Movement' of Chinese Miners into the Malay States; 30 Secret Societies: their Hole and Development from 1810-1860. IV Social Organization of the Mines, I83O-I87O. 64 V Developments from I87O to I89O. 113 VI Conclusion 184 VII. Bibliography 196 List of Figures and Tables -Groupings of the Chinese in the Western Malay States in iv the Nineteenth Century (Table) -Map A - The Malay Statess Place-Names Referred to in v. the Text -Map B - The Larut District of Perak vi -Map.C'- Areas of Origin for Chinese Migrants to the Malay vi States Tables- GROUPINGS OF THE CHINESE IN THE WESTERN MALAY STATES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Secret Society Dialect Groups Mining Area. GHEE HIN jL -Fei Chew 4l -Klian Bahru (Hakka) -Sun Neng ^ -KLian Bahru -Teochew -Perak -Chin Chew -Perak (Hokkien) -Cantonese -Perak HAI SAN -Fei Chew -Sungei Ujong, Klang, Kuala (Hakka) . Lumpur -Chin Sang }A -KLian Pauh (Hakka) * TSUNG PAK KUN llf -Kah Yeng Chew ft* -Sungei Ujong, Kanching, (Hakka) Langat TOA PEH KONG 'LN -local-born Hokkien -Perak HO HUP SEAH -jfn ;j:jL -Sun Neng -Klian Bahru -Cantonese -dissidents HO SENG -Perak JOHORE \ MAP A. •'- THE MALAY STATES "Pv. SINGAPORE" MAP THE LARUT DISTRICT OF PERAK MAP C:-AREAS OF ORIGIN FOR CHINESE MIGRANTS TO THE MALAY STATES ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to thank, The University of British Columbia for the -provision of funds for the course of her studies, Professor C. BeIshaw for his initial aid and continued interest, Dr. K.O.L. Burridge for the invalusble assistance he h«s offered in this respect, Dr. G. Johnson who had been Supervisor, Counsellor and. friend throughout the long period of struggle, Drs. Willmott and Wickberg for their consta.nt and helpful suggestions and ideas. And all those members of the Department who have in one way or a.nother given freely of their time and attention. Chapter I INTRODUCTION -Ia• in recent years much attention has turned to the study of overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and North America, Their continued survival as distinct communities within larger host societies challenges scholars in the field to seek an explanation of the phenomenon. Interest has turned to the nature and possible significance of Chinese organizational behaviour outside of China. These attempts have given rise to different theories on how Chinese associations and the initial common stock of organizational experience from which these derived, influenced and lent continuity to the cultural survival of the Chinese overseas, Crissman attempted to establish that a relationship exists between the social experience of the Chinese peasart at home and that which he faced overseas. The crux of this explanation lay in the existence of 1 an "inter-relationship of urban and rural Chinese culture and society". 2 Through this inter-relationship seemingly rural 'sociologicallprinciples!* of social organization became readily adaptable and relevant even to essentially urban situations overseas. Thus, as Crissman concludes: The unity underlying the diversities in urban and rural life demanded a parallel, and in a sense inevitably 1, Crissman, L.W., "The Segmentary Structure of Urban Overseas Chinese Comm• unities, " Man, 2(2), p, 202 (1967) 2. See Skinner, G.W., "Chinese Peasants and the Close Community: Ah Open and Shut Case," Comparative Studies in Society and History. 1_3_(3)» July, 1971. similar, development of Chinese urban society abroad. The basic sociological principles that organize rural life- descent, locality, and occupation— are also used to order urban society. Indeed it is not just the same principles, but the same facts of stipulated agnation and origin which are used, a use made possible by the putatively temporary 3 nature of migration to cities, whether in China or abroad. From this model of analysis, one does acquire new insight into the raison d'etre of overseas Chinese organizations within their new environ• ment. It allows greater perception of the meaning and functions which these transplanted frameworks of social action held for their participants. In addition, Crissman outlined some of the major criss-crossing principles of social coherence which help to elucidate the basis of social cohesion within an apparently dissected and segmented Chinese community. Reference to the Chinese context and origins of overseas Chinese social structures therefore enables one to assess organizational behaviour of Chinese 'migrants in a new light. Despite the presence of essential similarities in needs and experiences as Crissman's analysis has shown, it must nevertheless be recognized that however similar the Chinese and overseas situations may appear, they nonetheless could not be exactly identical. This disparity must in turn necessitate modifications and adaptations of what began essentially as a "common Chinese core of social experiences»" Indeed the process of modification and adaptation was a never- ending one in the history of community development among overseas Chinese. '£he::existence of these factors thus makes a realistic appraisal of overseas Chinese communities incomplete if seen solely in terms of a structural model of analysis. In this respect, Freedman's theory appears to provide a more comprehensive approach. Freedman argues that the bases of overseas Chinese social organization change and differentiate in response to 3. Crissman, p. 202. -3- particular circumstances existent in the community, he it a growth in scale or a development in complexity. The idea of a link between evolutionary change and internal needs of the community presents a more realistic picture not only of change but of the necessary adaptation which must have taken place at the time of settlemtnt. In fact Freedman1s study of "Immigrants and Associations" demonstrates that in the nineteenth century, "once the anti-dynastic apparatus was moved overseas it adapted itself to new aims. These aims included the assertion of the independence of the Chinese in territory under the control of 'foreigners' and the building up of some kind of community organization to meet the needs of new settlements." A' further illustration may be found in a comparison of Crissman's and Freedman's observations on the major bases of social cohesion in overseas Chinese communities. Crissman's segmentary system offers the principles of locality, clan and speech group affinity as the major pivots of social organization in migrant Chinese communities. The employment of the cross- cutting nature of these traditional loyalties, Crissman argues, provided a "powerful agent of social cohesion.Freedman on the other hand believes that for the case of Singapore it was the secret societies which cut across the more basic and conventional mainsprings of Chinese social organization mentioned by Crissman. W.E. Willmott's study of the Chinese in Cambodia presents yet another variation of local organizational behaviour, a type he ascribed to the "system of indirect rule adopted by the French."^ Contrary to the Singapore situation, the Chinese community in Phnom-Penh was marked by a "paucity of associations, almost none of which included members from more than one speech group.Thus, it appears that sufficient modifications h> Freedman, M.V., "Immigrants and Associations: Chinese in Nineteenth Century Singapore," Comp. Studies in Society and History. _3_(l), Oct. I960, p. 33. 5. Crissman, p. 19^ _4- of the migrants' social experiences occur to make consideration of internal needs within any single overseas Chinese community important to the analysis. Willmott's observation also brings up a third variable which circumscribes the Behaviour of Chinese overseas •— that is the influence of the host government and their policies.

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