The Chinese in the early Cape Colony: a signifi cant cultural minority

Abstract

Chinese South Africans form one of the smallest culturally identifi able communities in South African society. Despite their demographic insignifi cance, and contrary to popular belief, they have been an integral part of this country’s multicultural identity since the inception of European hegemony in the Cape in the latter half of the seventeenth century. This article proposes to take a closer look at the presence and cultural identity of the Chinese community in the colonial Cape. While remaining a physically and culturally identifi able and relatively insular group, they were later to become one of the fi rst communities in South African history to be singled out and discriminated against in a blatantly racist manner. It will be argued that besides their own markers of cultural identity, the manner in which they were portrayed, perceived of, treated and discriminated against, contributed to their cultural visibility and in turn possibly entrenched a cultural cohesion

Keywords: Overseas Chinese; culture; identity; Cape Colony; minorities; DEIC; intergroup relations