Re/searching 《大漢公報》 The Chinese Times
Re/searching 《大漢公報》 The Chinese Times
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《大漢公報》The Chinese Times, the longest-running Chinese-language newspaper in Canada, served the Chinese Canadian community for over 80 years, from 1907 to 1992. Despite its historical and cultural significance,《大漢公報》The Chinese Times has long been neglected in mainstream historical research due to systemic linguistic and racial bias in Canadian heritage narratives.
Dr. Yao Xiao, a UBC scholar and a director at the Foundation for Chinese Dignity, has undertaken a project to analyze the wealth of stories and knowledge embedded in《大漢公報》The Chinese Times. Through public engagement and research, this project aims to restore visibility to the lived experiences of ordinary Chinese people chronicled in the newspaper and reclaim their place in the public record .
《大漢公報》 The Chinese Times
Historical Context
《大漢公報》The Chinese Times was a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Vancouver's Chinatown from the early 20th century to 1992. It was produced by the Chinese Freemasons Society of Canada, also known as Hongmen 洪門. As one of the major Chinese-language media platforms among Chinese Canadian communities during the 20th century, it documented political, economic, cultural, and social issues central to the Chinese diasporic communities in British Columbia and across Canada, North America, Asia, as well as globally.
In addition to covering major political issues such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and anti-Chinese urban development policies like the Strathcona Freeway fight, the newspaper also featured local and international news from nuanced diasporic Chinese perspectives. It documented the making of everyday life, inviting reflections on the complexity of diasporic Chinese culture expressed through editorials, advertisements, community events, relations to ancestral homeland, fundraisers, literature, and more. As such, it stands as a vital primary source for understanding Chinese Canadian life through the voices and values of the community itself.
Beyond cultural history, the paper also contains practical and often singular data: obituaries, donor lists, clan membership records, community businesses, travelling troupes, etc. These records are invaluable for recovering lost Chinese names, networks, and memories, as well as triangulating identity information especially in the absence of equivalent documentation in Anglophone records. This information has been valuable in our pursuit of restoring Chinese names in archives and public memory.
萬國酒樓 International Chop Suey Parlour, 《大漢公報》 The Chinese Times
The Problem
Despite the richness and depth of its content,《大漢公報》The Chinese Times has been historically and systematically marginalized in dominant Canadian historical accounts. It was sidelined due to its Chinese-language publication and the racialized status of its readership and contributers. Furthermore, much of the academic research and public education on Chinese Canadian history has not used《大漢公報》The Chinese Times effectively as a primary source, often because of limited language capacity and limited understanding of cultural nuances. This linguistic barrier is not simply accidental neglect but a form of systemic exclusion that continues to marginalize certain expressions of Chinese Canadian experiences, especially those that do not conform to Anglophone norms and representations.
As a result, Chinese disaporic histories in Canada are frequently told through an Anglo-colonial lens, relying primarily on English-language newspapers and archives. This approach provides a skewed and sometimes inaccurate understanding of the nuances of Chinese lives, cultures, and experiences. It also silences the voices of those it describes and erases ordinary lives that were never legible within Anglo-colonial records and historical narratives.
Gold Mountain Song Competition commemorating Chinese Exclusion Act on July 1, 《大漢公報》 The Chinese Times
Our Approach
Dr. Xiao’s work brings renewed attention to 《大漢公報》The Chinese Times through archival research and multilingual public programming. Drawing from editorials, personal letters, and community news, they curate and present stories that reflect both resistance and resilience in Chinese diasporic life in the 20th century, serving as an index.
To bridge the gap between archival silence and public awareness, Dr. Xiao has delivered public lectures such as the July 1, 2025 lecture at the Chinese Canadian Museum to commemorate the Humiliation Day when the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act was implemented, and will present another lecture on October 5, 2025 at the Richmond Public Library. These talks revisit narratives that had long been obscured or completely forgotten.
Dr. Xiao’s research has also appeared in the collaborative award-winning national project The Paper Trail 尋影覓跡 (Chinese Canadian Museum, 2023-2024), where selections from 《大漢公報》The Chinese Times are used to highlight the self-representation and cultural memory of Chinese diasporic communities. Through these efforts, stories once confined to obscure archives are now reaching new and broader audiences, fostering both public and scholarly engagement. This renewed visibility not only expands the collective understanding of Chinese Canadian cultures and identities, but also invites deeper dialogues on the ways of being and knowing that have long been excluded in Anglophone-dominant Canada.
Outcomes & Impact
Dr. Xiao’s work has helped recover a range of forgotten accounts from intimate reflections on identity to responses to global events, demonstrating the value of grassroots literacy and community knowledge. The voices preserved in《大漢公報》The Chinese Times speak across generations of the marginalized, the resilient, the builders, the dreamers, and the dissenters.
This work not only educates but also serves as a call to action. By demonstrating the relevance and richness of《大漢公報》The Chinese Times, we invite others, including researchers, community members, and cultural workers, to continue this work of historical recovery. It affirms that Chinese diasporic history is not peripheral but a significant narrative, and that its telling must include the languages, names, and voices of the people who lived it.
Ad on《大漢公報》The Chinese Times
Missing person notice on《大漢公報》The Chinese Times, 1924-07-12
Ad on《大漢公報》The Chinese Times
Public Lectures
Stay up-to-date with our public education lectures by Dr. Xiao about 《大漢公報》The Chinese Times.
What’s Next
Beyond ongoing lectures, we plan to expand public and academic engagement with 《大漢公報》The Chinese Times. Future initiatives include further public lectures and interpretive projects that explore the themes and materials of the newspaper in more depth.
We also aim to build on this momentum by encouraging the use of 《大漢公報》The Chinese Times as a foundational source for future scholars and community researchers studying Chinese diasporic histories.
Partners & Acknowledgements
We are grateful to June Chow for her efforts in archival stewardship and making《大漢公報》The Chinese Times accessible for public use; Rosalie Gunawan at the Chinese Canadian Museum for organizing the 2025 July 1st public lecture; and Wendy Jang at the Richmond Public Library for organizing the 2025 October public lecture.
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