美国铁路华工研究中值得注意的几个问题

The Questions Needed to be Answered in the Study of Chinese Railroad Workers in America

美国铁路华工研究是一个系统工程。研究者由于受地域文化、语言、认知等因素的局限,往往更多地关注铁路华工的美国"在场"研究,未能关注到华工原籍地广东的"原乡"研究,从而难以回答铁路华工研究中必须回答的几个问题:华工从哪里来?华工原籍地村庄状况如何?华工和原籍地的关系如何?所以,应加强华工原籍地广东侨乡、美国西部早期唐人街和广东埠以及美国华人姓氏中英文对照等方面的研究。相应地,铁路华工研究中的"热点"——跨州铁路华工研究,应拓宽到尚处于"冷点"的美国铁路华工特别是西部铁路华工群体研究上。

The study of the Chinese railroad workers in America is a systematic one.However,most of the researches on Chinese railroad workers are made on"site"in America,while those of their hometowns in China are rarely done. As a result,it is difficult to answer the following questions: "Where did the railroad workers come from?""How about their home village?""How about the relations between the railroad workers and their home villages?"etc. Thus,researches should also be done on issues about their hometown and their destination in the U. S.,such as Guangdong Qiaoxiang( Overseas Chinese hometowns),the early Chinatowns and Faws( ports) in the U. S.,and the English versions for Chinese names of the American Chinese,etc. The study of the Chinese railroad builders is not confined to those of the Transcontinental Railroad,it needs to be extended to the Chinese builders of other railroads in the western regions of the United States.