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Barber Finds Gold In A Customer's Beard
- A Chinese barber in 1851 finds gold flakes in a miner's beard after cutting him and chooses honesty by returning them.
- The miner laughs and leaves while the barber locks up, reflecting everyday tensions and moral choices in the gold towns.
Sojourner Motive And Occupational Shift
- The first Chinese migrants came mostly as sojourners seeking to earn and return home, not to permanently immigrate.
- They shifted from mining into services like laundries and barber shops when white miners pushed them out.
Push And Pull Behind Chinese Migration
- War, famine, and rebellions in mid-19th century China pushed many to emigrate.
- The California Gold Rush acted as a powerful pull, framing the U.S. as 'Gold Mountain' in Chinese imagination.