许炳济与买纸仔

lums

听过许炳济这个名字吗？ 这不是寻人启事. 而是台山人移民来美的一段历史. 谁是许炳济? 一般能上网的侨胞，都太年轻，不知许氏为何方神圣. 可是五十多年前，在美国的台山华侨中, 许炳济真系大名鼎鼎, 家喻户晓. 他还在1958年一月上了"时代" (TIME Magazine)杂志. 许炳济何来这般大的能量？ 先回顾一下台山人移民来美的历史吧. 大家都听说过美国的《排华法案》“The Chinese Exclusion Act". 《排华法案》出炉的原因是种族歧视. 从1848年起, 大批台山人远涉重洋来美做苦力，修铁路，淘金。 华人勤奋, 任劳任怨，工钱低薄，特别为雇主所喜欢。可谓平宜又大碗嘛。 铁路修好及淘金退热后, 经济衰退, 许多失业的白人归咎中国人抢走他们的饭碗. 加上不良政客操作民意, 美国各地反华情绪高涨, 暴力事件时有发生, 常有华人被活活得打死, 许多华埠被烧毁. 加州San Jose 与 Monterey 的华埠就是那时被烧的. 那时华侨的日子真是辛酸. 后来美国国会在1882还通过《排华法案》, 禁止中国公民入境美国, 雪上加霜. 此后二十余年，只有极少数华人能入境美国。 而已在美国的也很少回去中国，因为一旦离境， 就再无法返回美国. 但是中国人头脑"灵活". 上有政策,下有对策. 他们一直在等机会, 以突破这一困境. 这一天终于到来了. 1906年旧金山大地震, 大火烧毁了存放在市府的所有

市民

出生档案. 在这关键时刻, 很多台山人铤而走险, 自称在美国出生, 是名正言顺的美国公民. 有的还称在台山有家小, 儿子若干. 既然是美国公民,

则

出入自由, 老婆孩子也当然可以来美国. 从美国返乡下住两年, 回来美国便对移民局说，老婆两年两胎，而且现时又怀上了. 自然， 生下来的大多是男的， 还有不少双胞胎. 这样，回乡住两年，就有可能"生"五个儿子. 十三四年后， 就办儿子来美。 但极少人能在回乡两年间弄出五个儿子来。谁有这个本事？ 于是, 很多人把多余的 “儿子纸” 卖出去，捞一把。 这就是"买纸仔"来美国的由来, 也是有些在美国的台山人有复姓的原因。 我认识一个台山“土著仔”，姓 ”黄李“ (Wong Lee), 本族姓黄, 但祖父当年买李氏的"儿子纸”来美国. 为了不忘根，他的英文名字叫 Stephen Wong Lee. 但李 (Lee) 仍是他的法定姓氏. 直到1943年, 《排华法案》才被废除. 不过，台山人的"买纸仔"非法移民活动到大跃进时(1958年)才根绝. 从1907年到1958年, 用"买纸仔"来美国最猖狂的是水步西岐村. 美国移民局估计, 在这五十年间， 最少有250名西岐

男性

移民美国旧金山，而且大多数是"买纸仔". 五六十年代，水步西岐人在旧金山开几十家洗衣馆. 西岐人把"许"字用台山话音译成英文 Huey, Hoey, Hui, 或 Huie. 我不知道250这个数字有多可靠, 但西岐村的确有很多人在旧金山. 当年西岐村最大的人蛇就是许炳济 (Huey Bing Dai), 他自己卖了五十七张“儿子纸", 每张价钱由$2000到$6000不等. 后来， 因利益冲凸， 有人去移民局告秘， 许炳济被叫去问话. 老头子那时已经在美国生活六十多年了， 刚过八十。他一慌，就全盘托出。 美国人这时才知道"买纸仔"这个台山人的公开秘密. 1958年一月二十日，"时代" (TIME Magazine)杂志还特别报导这一事件和其主角许炳济. 许氏事件后, 一夜之间众多的华人"买纸仔"家庭人心惶惶, 害怕给驱逐出境. 许炳济也成了旧金山唐人埠人人喊打的过街老鼠, 几个星期都不敢出门. 当时,

明智

的华人律师劝导那些"买纸仔"家庭主动向移民局坦白 (confess). 还好，美国人也听毛主席的话, 有坦白从宽, 抗拒从严的政策, 后来大多乡亲都平安无事. 也因为许炳济, 英文维基百科(Wikipedia)特别有个条目介绍西岐村, 这是台山村庄少有的. 你家曾有人通过买"出生纸"来美国吗? 我家有. 这是“时代" 杂志有关许炳济报导的网页。

lums

这是“时代" 杂志报导的全文。 IMMIGRATION: A Case of Togetherness Monday, Jan. 20, 1958 In San Francisco's teeming Chinatown (pop. about 30,000), the man most hated last week was one Huey Bing Dai. The wrinkled man of 80 had not shown his solemn face in the streets for weeks, for thanks to his help the Justice Department had cracked one of the biggest cases of illegal immigration in its history. After a seven-month investigation federal authorities reported that Huey Bing Dai's clan had secretly and illegally moved most of the male inhabitants of an entire Chinese village to the U.S. over a period of 50-odd years. Like untold thousands of other Chinese in the U.S., the Hueys did it by playing a game as intricate and baffling as any Chinese puzzle ever devised: the slot racket. Bent Twigs. The racket required only money and patience. A Chinese in the U.S. would revisit the home country, say for a year, perhaps longer. Upon his return he would inform immigration officials that his wife, still in China, had borne him a child, maybe two or three. Since the self-styled father could claim that he was a U.S. citizen, his child, accordingly, was a citizen and was so registered. Years went by. Having established a slot or two—or more—on his family tree, the man then arranged with Chinese brokers in such places as Hong Kong to sell his slots to willing Chinese for prices ranging from $2,500 apiece to $6,000. The broker found on his lists a Chinese whose age approximated that of a registered son, sent him on to the U.S. Once there, the newcomer often became virtually an indentured servant until he paid for his slot, frequently was harassed by extortionists and informers who threatened to expose his illegal entry unless he paid blackmail. Dirty Wash. The racket worked for decades in such points of entry as New York and Boston. But it flourished best in San Francisco, where noncitizens, when pressed to prove U.S. citizenship,* could insist that their birth certificates and other papers had been lost in the great earthquake of 1906. Old Huey Bing Dai, haled before federal authorities on an anonymous tip, confessed that he alone was responsible for 57 such fraudulent entries into the U.S. Along with others, he had arranged slots for more than 250 men of his clan who had lived in the Cantonese village of Sai Kay; most of them became laundrymen in San Francisco. When the news of his confession spread through Chinatown, the elders of the Huey clan sensed the crisis, met in a laundry on Leavenworth Street, decided to parade into Assistant U.S. Attorney James B. Schnake's office and ask for mercy. After hearing the stories from the clan, the feds estimated that a good 50% of San Francisco's Chinatown are illegal residents; they hope they will be able to halt the flow by fining and jailing Chinese who deal directly in slot contacts, in the past year and a half have prosecuted 69. The U.S. probably will not prosecute the others, since deporting them would be impracticable. But all this did not ease the situation of old Huey Bing Dai, who gave everything away. "The whole town's mad at him," said a young Chinese-American. "He will not be happy here."

lums

这是英文维基百科(Wikipedia)介绍西岐村的网页.

双桥烟雨

优秀文章，支持！

朋友靓女

辛酸的华裔过去

xujinhua

西歧村现在很少人居住.经过几代人移民历史.定居美国有近两千人,其中许炳济买纸仔给村中大量移民有好大关系.谢谢Iums上传移民历史资料.

遲一步

前赴後繼﹐繼往開來!

十个辘

宁犯国法,不犯众憎.我有亲戚买老叶人纸.中文名:李XX,英文:XX Yip.一人俩制.

lums

谢谢 xujinhua: 我姑丈也是西岐人， 系许炳济的五十七个 “纸儿子” (paper sons) 之－。他十三岁买纸来美国, 立个卖身契， 在同亲的洗衣馆做工, 包吃包住， 薪水归许炳济, 到十九岁才还清"买纸钱". 虽然艰苦, 但给自己和家人带来一条生路。 想到这里, 我只有感恩。 真是前人种树 后人乘凉。

xujinhua

lums:谢谢 xujinhua: 我姑丈也是西岐人， 系许炳济的五十七个 “纸儿子” (paper sons) 之－。他十三岁买纸来美国, 立个卖身契， 在同亲的洗衣馆做工, 包吃包住， 薪水归许炳济, 到十九岁才还清"买纸钱". 虽然艰苦, 但给自己和家人带来一条生路。 想到这里, 我只有感恩。 . .. (2012-12-11 01:54)

那时只有同亲.同村兄弟才买到出世纸.去到美国做工才还钱.所以讲.许炳济为西岐村人移民美国功不可灭.