Bodie —“Celestial Empire”
~~BODIE CALIFORNIA- Reflecting on daily life living in Bodie~~~
Celestials in Bodie… CHINATOWN~~~~
“Celestials” was a term commonly used in mainstream “Newspapers of the Day,” to denote Chinese immigrants. The “Celestial slang term” was derived from references to China as the “Celestial Empire.”
“John” was a commonly used name, also used in the mainstream and daily published Newspapers press to denote a Chinese immigrant.
~~This slang term, “John,” came from the tendency for European-Americans citizens to refer to Chinese men as “John Chinaman”. The European immigrants or “Anglos,” could not easily remember, or pronounce proper Chinese names. Also the European-Americans or “Anglos,” often perceived Chinese men as “indistinguishable from one another.”
~~~Coming to California in the late 1880’s almost all Chinese Nationals were single men. They came via the “credit ticket system.” Meaning- You bought your ticket in China on Credit, and signed a Contract to pay back the sizable debt in cash. (The Ticket was “good for passage to California, and the necessary paperwork to enter the United States.” Once in America, how you earned the money to pay back the debt was up to you.) There was no time limit on the repaying the money. Only the Debt had to be paid, before you returned to China.
~~In California, you could go to the appropriate agency in San Francisco’s Chinatown to get the Paperwork needed to prove you were free of debt- "your Credit Ticket.” Then you could return home to China. Without the “Certificate,” no returning to China was unacceptable, because it would reflect badly on you and your enter family. The social pressure on the Issue was tremendous. Although, using the “Credit Ticket System” was perfectly acceptable, returning home to China, with the Debt unpaid was not.
~~The Federal Census lists Bodie population at 2,712, with about 350 Chinese listed by name in the “official count.” In Bodie, there was a deep cultural difference between the European- American miner workers, and the Chinese immigrants, which made communication difficult. The Chinese men were not eligible for Membership in the Bodie Miner’s Union. They formed a “Chinatown, all living in close quarters near the Slaughterhouse in Bodie. There they labored in the “Chinese Laundry”- or cutting, chopping and hauling of firewood- need for the mining operations.
~~In August 1880, it was noted in the Weekly Standard-News, that the Chinese were the “first citizens to have a House of Worship.” The “Chinese Men”— “had bought and converted the Sonora Dance House into a Joss Temple.” Joss Temples— got their name from the incense sticks, or “Joss Sticks” that were buried in the temples.
~~When a Chinese immigrant died in Bodie, their interment was considered to be “temporary”. It was very important, to be “laid to rest in the Family Plot” in China. They practiced Ancestral Worship. Therefore Chinese immigrants, felt the urgency of keeping in line with proper Spiritual Ritual.
~~In China, you would be “laid to rest with the rest of your family.” Your Descendants would care for your Grave, and you would become part of the Family Heritage.
~~The “Temporary Interment”- in forgotten, (never recorded location) of the Chinese immigrants that “were laid to rest” in the Bodie Cemetery is part of a larger “Cultural Heritage,” and the Bodie Miners’ Union.
~~Both the membership of the Bodie Miners’ Union and “Bodie Chinatown”—- together established Bodie as a Mining District. Without the Chinese labor “outside the mines”- tolerating living at the isolated, mountain-slope elevation of 8,350 feet would not have been possible. The realities were too harsh- and the “harshness- manifested”— in Death —-and never returning to China.” Also, never being recognized, or remembered for living in America.