Gold Mountain (toponym)

Gold Mountain (Chinese: 金山; pinyin: jīn shān; Wade–Giles: chin¹ shan¹; Jyutping: gam1 saan1, "Gam Saan" in Cantonese, often rendered in English as Gum Shan or Gumshan) is a commonly used nickname for San Francisco, California, and historically used broadly by Chinese to refer to western regions of North America, including British Columbia, Canada. After gold was found in the Sierra Nevada in 1848, thousands of Chinese from Toisan in Guangdong, began to travel to the West in search of gold and riches during the California Gold Rush.

Chinese people historically referred to California and British Columbia as Gold Mountain, as evidenced by maps and returned Overseas Chinese. However, because gold was also discovered in Australia (Melbourne was referred to as "New Gold Mountain" (新金山), California was more exclusively known as Old Gold Mountain (Chinese: 舊金山; pinyin: jiù jīn shān; Wade–Giles: chiu⁴ chin¹ shan¹; Jyutping: gau6 gam1 saan1); although "Old Gold Mountain" now specifically refers to San Francisco.

History

The name "Gold Mountain" was initially applied to California. Ships full of immigrants docked in San Francisco to disembark passengers, initially bound for the gold fields, but later to remain in the growing Chinese settlement in San Francisco. In the latter part of the 19th century, however, British Columbia also came to be referred to as "Gold Mountain" following the discovery of gold in the Fraser Canyon in the 1850s and the spread of Chinese settlers in British Columbia (which they also referred to as "The Colonies of T'ang" i.e. China). The term thus broadened to mean "Western North America". The gold seekers in British Columbia first went to the Chinatown in Victoria, on the Colony of Vancouver Island, to obtain supplies. Victoria was the dominant political and economic centre before the economic ascendancy of Vancouver (which has its own Chinatown), and remains the official seat of political power in British Columbia today.

See also

• Chinese migration
• History of Chinese immigration to Canada
• Altai Mountains (Jin Shan)

External links

• "Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America" by David H.T. Wong. 2012.
• Overview of Chinese immigrants during California Gold Rush
• "Gold Mountain" from The Concubine's Children by Denise Chong. Accessed: 2006-04-09.
• "Chinese transformed 'Gold Mountain'" by Stephen Magagnini, San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 1998. Accessed: 2006-04-09.
• Chinese and Westward Expansion from The Chinese in California, 1850-1925. University of California, Berkeley/Library of Congress. Accessed: 2006-04-09.

References

• Hasley, Karen J.: "Gold Mountain" (Denver, CO: Outskirts Press, 2012) a work of fiction describing this time in history