The Wandering Migrants.

Left : My paternal grand father and grandmother
Right : My maternal grandfather and grandmother

The first record of travel from China is provided in the travelogue of Fa0hien who visited Tamluk in the 5th cent. BC. Fa-Hien was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to acquire Buddhist manuscripts between 399 to 412 BC. His work is a travel book filled with accounts of early Buddhism and history of numerous countries along the Silk road at the turn of the 5th century. records of immigration for the next 16 century are not reliable.

The first person to come to India and settle down was Yang Tai Chow in 1778 during the British Rule when Calcutta was the capital of the British India. Most of the immigrants from China found a foothold in Calcutta and started working at the Calcutta port. Calcutta because it was the easiest accessible metropolitan area from China by land. Most of them even started their own business of carpentry, tanning and shoe making.

My family’s story of migration is quite different. My Great grandparents decided to leave China and settle down in India due to political and social unrest.

The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, followed the Ming Dynasty in Chinese history, and was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. It was overthrown following the Xinhai Revolution. Due to this there was major political and economic struggle for the people of China.

During the war people were being killed if they opposed the new Government.

Children and women were being murdered. For the protection of their families my great grandfather along with his family escaped to Rangoon.

In order to save the children from any harm they were carried from one place to the other in tin boxes and food baskets.

My maternal grandmother was born in Rangoon. (a lot of story telling and source of information for us is she.)

When my grandmother turned five, the family decided to move back to China.

After spending a few years there, my great grand father passed away and my great grand mother along with the children returned back to India for a safer peaceful life in Calcutta. In the year 1962 during the Indo China war my family migrated to India for the second time and have been staying here ever since.

Though we’ve made India our homeland, no Chinese leaves his home not intending to return. His hope is always to come back rich, to die and be buried where his ancestors are buried.

This is where it all began. The Lee family belongs to the Central province of the Republic of China - Hupeh or Hubei province, Wuhan being the capital. The name Hubei means “north of the lake”, referring to Hubei’s position, north of Dongting Lake.

My grandfather hasn’t been to china after migrating to India decades ago. Though it’s a life long wish of every Chinese living in India that one day we might be able to visit our origin nation.

 

Through out my 27 years of life I’ve been asked many times where am I from and from which part of China do i belong to.

Now I know exactly where it is on the map

 

*Written by Lisa Lee