This book offers a comprehensive account of indentured Chinese labour in the Dutch East Indies between 1880 and 1942, particularly in its twilight years after 1917. The author shows that Chinese indenture started and evolved differently from other forms of bonded labour in Southeast Asia and globally, including its Indian and Javanese variants. This difference is reflected in its lexicon, which was in part special to the Chinese strain. Using fieldwork findings from the tin islands of Bangka and Belitung and the Deli plantations on Sumatra as well as archival materials in Dutch, Chinese, and other languages held in libraries in Java, Nanjing, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Leiden, this book presents cutting-edge research that sets out to contribute to the revising of our historical understanding of indenture.
1. Introduction.- 2. The Setting.- 3. Indenture in Three Keys: Chinese, Indian, and Javanese.- 4. The Penal Sanction.- 5. Recruitment.- 6. Huagong Life and Labour Under the "Coolie System".
Gregor Benton is Emeritus Professor in Modern Chinese History at Cardiff University, Wales.
