“文明”观念与19世纪末美国的排华浪潮

Concept of “Civilization” and Anti-Chinese Mania in Late 19th Century in U.S.

作为19世纪末美国社会所普遍共享的重要观念之一,"文明"观为美国提供了选择移民的标准,塑造着这个时期美国的排华运动。在移民问题上,它的内涵主要包含自由劳动的工作伦理、盎格鲁—新教文化和政治自由三个方面,华工则往往被置于其对立面。而排华分子则借此极力渲染"中国文明"与"美国文明"的差别和对之构成的威胁,推动了全国范围内排华共识和排华浪潮的形成,并最终向华人劳工关闭了大门。

As a key concept commonly shared by American society in the late 19th century,“civilization”offered the standard to choose immigrants,and shaped the Chinese exclusion movement at that time.On the issue of immigration,there are mainly threefold meaning in this concept:the work ethics of free labor,the Anglo-Protestant culture and the political liberty,all of which are repulsive to Chinese labor.The exclusionists further manipulated this ideology to underline the threat of“Chinese civilization”opposed to the“American civilization”,to instigate the anti-Chinese hysteria,and gave rise to the consensus on Chinese exclusion.Thus,they closed the door to the Chinese laborers.