Diaspora and Double Happiness: Tracking Rice Bowls Across the Pacific

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Artifacts are More Than Enough: Recentering the Artifact in Historical Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Double Happiness is a ceramic pattern that was popular during the 1850s and 1860s at Chinese diaspora communities in the Western United States, but is rare in post-1870s sites. My recent archaeological investigations in China indicate, however, that Double Happiness was abundant in the home villages of Chinese migrants during the time it was waning in the US. In this paper, I discuss possible explanations for the uneven distribution of this specific artifact type across the Pacific Ocean, which include market availability, economic choice, and aesthetic preference. My interpretations are shaped by my collaboration with Chinese American descendants and a transnational approach to studying Chinese diaspora archaeology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Artifacts are More Than Enough: Recentering the Artifact in Historical Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow