Transpacific Reform and Revolution

"The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the turbulent end of China's imperial system, violent national revolution, and the fraught establishment of a republican government. During these decades of revolution and reform, millions of far-flung "overseas Chinese" remained connected to Chinese domestic movements. This book uses rich archival sources and a new network approach to examine how political transformations taking place in China impacted and were influenced by Chinese communities on the west coast of the U.S. and Canada. In these North American Chinatowns, individuals participated in Chinese reformist and revolutionary movements in a variety of ways: they raised money, circulated ideas, housed exiled and traveling political dissidents and revolutionaries, and influenced the views of 'host' governments and societies. Focusing on the transpacific Chinese political reforms under Kang Youwei's leadership in 1899-1909 and the revolutionary activities of the "father of Republican China" Sun Yat-sen in the years before and after the 1911 Revolution, Zhongping Chen tells the story of these and other Chinese reformers and revolutionaries as well as their personal ties, political parties, and collective actions in the Pacific Rim. Through its broad examination of the origins, interrelations, and influences of Chinese reform and revolution in North America, Chen's work makes a significant contribution to modern Chinese history, migration studies, and Asian American history"--