Chinese Guyanese
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2,722 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Georgetown · Enterprise | |
| Languages | |
| English (Guyanese Creole) | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chinese Caribbean |
The Chinese community played an important role in British Guiana beginning in 1853, supplying independent Guyana its first President, Arthur Chung, from 1970 to 1980. The Chinese are one of the "six peoples" celebrated in Guyana's national anthem. The 20th century saw substantial emigration by the Chinese Guyanese professional class, a process accelerated following independence, making the Chinese Guyanese principally a diaspora community today.
Fourteen thousand Chinese arrived in British Guiana between 1853 and 1879 on 39 vessels bound from Hong Kong to fill the labor shortage on the sugar plantations engendered by the abolition of slavery. Smaller numbers arrived in Trinidad, Jamaica and Suriname. The Chinese achieved considerable success in the colony, a number of them having been Christians in China before the emigration. Some, particularly in the early years were "the offscourings of Canton--gaol-birds, loafers and vagabonds," who swiftly deserted the plantations and took to bootlegging, burglary and robbery and kept brothels and gambling houses. and the Hakka/Punti conflicts of Canton. Others were Christians fleeing the Tai-Ping Civil War or belonged to the Hakka minority fleeing conflicts with the dominant Punti. Most were bound under five-year indentures—civil contracts enforced by penal sanctions—to work on the sugar plantations.
Eighty-five percent of these immigrants were men, and most returned to China or emigrated to other parts of the Guianas and the Caribbean after completing or escaping their indentures. Those who remained soon turned to trade, competing effectively with the Portuguese and East Indians, who had also entered as indentured laborers, in the retail sector. Look-Lai reports important Chinese import and wholesale traders by the 1880s and that the 1890s saw Chinese "druggists, butchers, hucksters, cart and boat cab owners, barbers, laundrymen and legal sellers of opium and ganja (marijuana)" and holding 50% of food shop licenses and 90% of liquor licenses. By the end of the 19th century, the Chinese had transcended their early reputation for criminality and come to be regarded as worthy, law-abiding, industrious citizens.
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