Were The Peranakan Chinese

Were the Peranakan chinese just really good at their jobs such as being businessmen or merchants; or was Peranakan success owed to the opium farms that made customers addicted and enslaved to buy? The peranakans originally came from china to Southeast Asia because they were looking at good business opportunities or jobs in general. China at this time was very poor and large so they saw a good chance at wealth that would be brought back to china if they had a good trading system involving chinese merchants. These chinese soon started to inhabit other countries besides their own and as time passed became an important part of the societies around them. These chinese who later came to be known as the Peranakan, which means, “foreign born”
in Malay, started businesses and became wealthy because they worked hard. One reason these businesses were so successful in these other countries was that the resources they were mining or growing were not available in china, so they had a huge market to sell to. One of the products that the Peranakan sold was opium, and, often to the ‘Coolies’ from China. Opium may have been the biggest reason for the success of the Peranakan Chinese throughout South East Asia in the late 1800’s.

There are several different races of Peranakan. Mainly the Chinese, but also Indian, Arabs and other nationalities have been called Peranakan. The word Peranakan simply means, “foreign born”. They are those whose ancestors have come from other parts of the world and intermarried with Southeast Asian local people and have adopted many of the local cultures. They are typically loyal to their adopted country. “For example, most Malaysians might have Chinese heritage because they intermarried, but they would first consider themselves Malay and not Chinese.” (Loh Wei Leng p.4) The Peranakan Chinese tend to blend well into the cultures of Southeast Asia and this ability to identify with and blend into the culture has definitely helped them to be successful.
The Baba and Nonya (or men and women Peranakan) “were highly westernized and well educated, while the women had highly elaborate dress styles that made strong concessions to local malay cultures while reinforcing chinese heritage features.” The Peranakan arts and crafts are an important part of Southeast asian culture and have become a foundation for other local arts. They brought a new kind of politics to the region as well. For example, even in their first trade communities they encouraged equality between the workers and the bosses. Stoddart suggests that, “Their significance and influence have been a strong factor in modern Malaysia and in Singapore.” Probably the best demonstration of an educated and powerful Peranakan would be the father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. (Stoddart p. 7)

The Chinese were the powerhouse of Asia for hundred of years. During this time the Chinese, “dominated the maritime trade of East Asian seas from the fifteenth century until the end of the eighteenth century .” (Loh Wei Leng, p.5) Chinese admiral Zheng He, travelled all throughout Southeast Asia, between 1405 and 1431 “impressing those he met with China’s wealth while stimulating trade and intensifying Chinese–Southeast Asian exchange, hence helping foster the age of commerce.” (Lockard, 227) The Chinese were prosperous and with a large population and educated, curious minds they were traveling all over the world. They had to go out into the other countries and bring back needed resources because foreigners were not allowed to come into Chinese ports and sell things. Lockard states that “between 1400 and 1600 China’s population doubled from 75 million to 150 million” (p.226) which meant a huge increase in demand for resources. The Chinese went out to get resources and profit from them, while at the same time preserving Chinese culture by keeping foreigners out of China. Soon, the Chinese started finding places to live besides China to maintain long term business or mining centers. They even began to send labourers to support these small business communities.
Trocki recalls research that,“reports large numbers of “emigrants” on board the ocean junks leaving China after 1683.
Each junk generally carried between 200 and 300 migrants...it seems logical to assume that a considerable number of them were laborers.” (Trocki, p.149) Then as early as 1690 the Chinese started setting up colonies so they could make money or have better trade opportunities. The first recorded colony was in southern vietnam. Trocki tells about “The Cantonese refugee/pirate/tax farmer, Mac Cuu” who ruled this settlement and “At some point, Mac Cuu paid tribute to the Cambodian king, who recognized him as the gambling farmer of the town.” ( p.196) So it was because of trade diaspora that the Chinese Peranakan were able to become a major population throughout southeast Asia.There original idea of business started with opening up to other cultures but it then became life by living
there.

The Chinese trade diaspora that happened in Southeast Asia made sense because of the quantity of trade routes by sea and because of the gold, pepper, salt, tin, sugar and other goods that were in demand in China.
In places like Melaka, “gold was so plentiful that children played with it.” (Lockard, p229) “Pepper bought in Melaka could sell in China for three times the price it was purchased for.”(Lockard, 231) so it was very valuable for both the Melakan tradesmen and the Chinese. The spice forests and special woods of Southeast Asia have been a huge value for centuries, even during the time of Solomon, who brought them back to his palace in Israel.
If the sailors were only able to stay in a certain port for a short while their business abilities would be limited, but with all the resources that could be collected and the amount of money that they could sell it for in China and other ports along the way made it a smart move to set up homes and offices, mines and farms for themselves in Southeast Asia. The Chinese were becoming a very successful group of people and establishing families and networks all over
Asia.
The Peranakan Chinese were so successful at business and adapting to the cultures around them that they have become well-known for their powerful trade, farms, mines and other businesses throughout Southeast Asia. For example, their trade on the seas was not just to bring products from other parts of Asia back to China, the Peranakan Chinese also began selling to other countries along the way and acting as the middlemen. Lockard states that, “Between 1635 and 1723 up to nine Chinese operated Ayutthayan ships went to Nagasaki each year. Some brought much-prized Japanese copper and silver back to Ayutthaya. This triangular Sino-Siamese-Japanese trade enhanced Ayutthaya’s economic ties to China.” Ayutthaya is present-day Thailand where many Chinese settled. The Chinese seemed to be successful in many of their business ideas. One of the key strengths of the Chinese were their ability to operate as merchants with strong networks that were capable of making “communication links and business ties, with a whole range of people in different capacities along the supply chain” (Loh Wei Leng, P.3)
Though it is not clear why the Chinese have gotten so powerful in Southeast Asia, some people suggest that it may be the religion or culture of the local people that held them back from working as hard as the Chinese because they have more of an otherworldly focus than the Chinese. Or others think that maybe it was the fact that the Chinese were immigrants, and immigrants tend to have to work hard to succeed in a new culture. Whatever it is, their success is obvious to the cultures that they have lived in and it began to cause some discrimination against them
Because of the local people’s poverty and weak local governments in both Malaysia and Indonesia there were tendencies by the locals to look at the Peranakan success and become dissatisfied. Eventually, this led to mistreatment of the Peranakan Chinese and even discrimination in the legal systems against them.