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THE BURLINGAME TREATY

​蒲安臣條約

​ 袁廣鳴 GOANG-MING YUAN /  劉經倫  JUWIN LIU

/ 黃仲瑜 CHUNG-YU HUANG

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　　1842年，中國打輸了鴉片戰爭以後，外國列強予取予求，強迫中國與他們簽署上百件的不平等條約。

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　　中國被迫放棄領土、金錢和主權，才能停止戰爭。貧窮的農民無法找到耕地，只好賣女兒求生，這些女孩被賣到美國去做女奴，生不如死。

 

　　雖然所有的不平等條約在1945年以後都被廢除了，但是美國華人女性仍要面對社會種種的不公平待遇。

 

　　我們重建1858年的「蒲安臣條約」，它是中美之間第一個平等的條約，該條約鼓勵中國移民美國，華人女性因此得以來美。

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　　但後來美國國內經濟不景氣，便宜又勤奮的華工成了白人工人的眼中釘，排華浪潮因之如火如荼的興起。

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　　繼之，美國國會反對華工入境，海斯總統只好授權安吉爾在1880年跟中國重新訂約，1882年的「排華法案」等於廢除了「蒲安臣條約」。

 

　　「蒲安臣條約」希望以豔麗的火焰燒除所有的不公，並為華人女性創造一塊更明朗的天空。

     After China lost the Opium War in 1842, foreign powers took advantage of a weakened China and signed hundreds of unfair treaties with the Chinese government. China had to give up land, money and sovereignty to end the wars.

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     Poor peasant families in China who could no longer find land to grow crops sold their daughters to the U.S. to work as slaves.

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     Although all the unfair treaties were abolished after 1945, Chinese American women still faced injustices in society.

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     We recreate the Burlingame Treaty of 1858 with all its glamour. The Treaty encouraged Chinese immigration to the U.S, including Chinese American women who left their homes to pursue a new life in America.

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     However, opposition in Congress to Chinese immigration led President Rutherford B. Hayes to authorize James Burrill Angell to renegotiate the Treaty in 1880.

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     The Treaty was reversed in 1882 by the Chinese Exclusion Act.

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     Yuan Goang-Ming’s burning of the Burlingame Treaty is metaphoric.

 

     It symbolizes the cremation of all the untold struggles endured by Chinese American women.

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