Somewhat damaged but still standing this gravestone epitomises the continuity of Chinese-Australian history. Nearly forgotten by some or reduced to a handful of stereotypes, the story of Chinese people in Australia is being re-remembered as China and Chinese people once again grow in significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inscription is of a man from Xiang Yi or what is now called\u00a0Zhongshan County<\/a>. This county of the\u00a0Pearl River Delta, south China<\/a>\u00a0sent many people to Australia, particularly to Sydney and various parts of NSW as well as Queensland. The surviving gravestones in the Bathurst, Hill End and Sofala districts \u2013 a major source of information about specific origins as most documents just say born in China or Canton \u2013 are overwhelmingly of Zhongshan County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of these gravestones are now to be found in museums rather than cemeteries. A sign not so much of disrespect for Chinese graves as of the tendency of the Chinese community to remove the bones of their fellows after a time and return them to their villages and families. This was a practise carried out from the earliest gold rush period until the middle of the 20th<\/sup> century. While records from rural NSW are unclear, those from Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney show that 75% of Chinese burials before WWII were removed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Somewhat damaged but still standing this gravestone epitomises the continuity of Chinese-Australian history. Nearly forgotten by some or reduced to a handful of stereotypes, the story of Chinese people in Australia is being re-remembered as China and Chinese people once again grow in significance. The inscription is of a man from Xiang Yi or what … <\/p>\n