1881年悉尼天花疫情下的排华运动

The Smallpox Epidemic and the Anti-Chinese Movement in Sydney in 1881

近代世界传染病的暴发不仅涉及公共卫生专业问题,也深刻影响社会内部不同利益群体之间的关系。1881年悉尼突然暴发的天花疫情就触发了澳大利亚社会空前的排华运动。无论所谓华人引入并传播天花的舆论造势,还是与之呼应的殖民地官方排华防疫措施及排华立法,都建立在对传染病种族属性的渲染与想象之上。这不仅是因为当时人们缺乏科学知识,更是因为突发的疫情为社会既有的种族偏见提供了所谓的客观依据,为底层社会抗争创造了宣泄的契机,更为当局推卸并转嫁防疫责任提供了借口。悉尼天花大流行使澳大利亚种族主义的国族认同与公共环境议题紧密联系,奠定了影响深远的“白澳政策”的基础。对悉尼天花疫情下排华运动的全面剖析,有助于深入反思近现代世界历史上并不鲜见的利用公共危机构建种族主义话语的机理。

The epidemic in the modern world not only is a problem of the public health,but also affects the changing of relations among different social groups.Rooted in an exaggeration of a racial bias,the outbreak of smallpox was described with a Chinese origin and incurred an exclusive quarantine policy against the Chinese immigrants in Sydney in 1881.This event was not simply attributed to the lacking of modern medical knowledge.It further resulted in an assertion by both white politicians and grassroots to take Chinese people as a scapegoat for lame social governance.The epidemic created a racial discrimination which was tightly connected to genetic and environmental issues.The overall analysis of the anti-Chinese movement in the context of the smallpox epidemic in Sydney would be helpful to form a broader reflection on the racialist discourse raised by the public crisis in the modern world.