Portraits of a Challenge: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Canadians

Ross Willmot is Executive Director of the Ontario Association for
Continuing Education.

This readable, well-documented volume should be in every public and school library in Canada. Canadians need to know about the contribution the Chinese have made to this country and the potential they have in its continuing development.

This history, which is richly illustrated with over 300 photographs, maps, and drawings, starts in

485 when five Buddhist monks from China travelled to a country called Fusang, now claimed to be British Columbia. Quotations from observers, commentators, and participants in the struggle of the Chinese to establish themselves in Canada to the present accompany the photographs. The English language text is accompanied side-by-side with one in Chinese.

Many Chinese gave their lives in mining and in building the CPR. They were discriminated against and taxed unfairly. Now, however, Chinese Canadians take an active part in Canadian life and Canada’s relationship with China. Lee Wai-Man concludes his masterly historical account thus: “By participating actively, Chinese Canadians can help mold a new, unique Canadian identity based on many ethnic cultures ... By joining together we can create a unique Canadian culture and make Canada a new Eden.”