Asian Mexicans
Asian Mexicans are Mexicans of Asian descent. Asians are considered cuarta raíz of Mexico in conjunction with the two main roots: Native and European, and the third African root.
Due to the historical and contemporary perception in Mexico of Asians as a distinct ethnic group in the country, this article focuses on Mexicans of South, East and Southeast Asian descent. For Mexicans of West Asian descent, see Arab Mexicans, history of the Jews in Mexico and Turks in Mexico.
History
Colonial era
The first record of an Asian in Mexico is from 1540; an enslaved cook originating from Calicut bought by Juan de Zumárraga in Spain and subsequently relocated to Mexico.However, regular immigration did not begin until 1565 with the establishment of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon, which economically linked Asia, the Americas and Europe. During those two and a half centuries, many Filipinos, Mexicans and others sailed to and from Mexico and the Philippines; Mexicans as soldiers, governors and sailors, and Filipinos as slaves, prisoners and crew.
On these voyages, thousands of Asian individuals were brought to Mexico as slaves and were called chinos or indios chinos, which meant "Chinese" and "Chinese Indian", respectively. Although in reality they were of diverse origins, mostly Filipino, but also including slaves bought from the Portuguese or captured through war like the Moros, Malays, Javanese, Bengalis, and other ethnic groups in smaller numbers, including Japanese, Chinese, Sinhalese, Cambodians, Koreans and Timorese. This colonial grouping of Asians should not be confused with "chino", a casta term also used in New Spain to refer to individuals of mixed ancestry.
During the early period of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, Spaniards took advantage of the indigenous alipin system in the Philippines to circumvent the Leyes de las Indias and acquire Filipino slaves for the voyage back to New Spain. Though the numbers are unknown, it was so prevalent that slaves brought on ships were restricted to one per person in the "Laws Regarding Navigation and Commerce" to avoid exhausting ship provisions. They were also taxed heavily upon arrival in Acapulco in an effort to reduce slave traffic. Traffic in Filipina women as slaves, servants, and mistresses of government officials, crew, and passengers, also caused scandals in the 17th century. Women comprised around 20 percent of the migrants from the Philippines.
Filipinos were also pressed into service as sailors, due to the native maritime culture of the Philippine Islands. By 1619, the crew of the Manila galleons were composed almost entirely of native sailors. Many of whom died during the voyages due to harsh treatment and dangerous conditions. Many of the galleons were also old, overloaded, and poorly repaired. A law passed in 1608 restricted the gear of Filipino sailors to "ropa necesaria" which consisted of a single pair of breeches, further causing a great number of deaths of Filipino sailors through exposure. These conditions prompted King Philip III to sign a law in 1620 forcing merchants to issue proper clothing to native crews. During this period, many Filipino sailors deserted as soon as they reached Acapulco. Sebastian de Piñeda, the captain of the galleon Espiritu Santo complained to the king in 1619 that of the 75 Filipino crewmen aboard the ship, only 5 remained for the return voyage. The rest had deserted. These sailors settled in Mexico and married locals, particularly since they were also in high demand by wine-merchants in Colima for their skills in the production of tubâ.
A notable example of a chino slave is Catarina de San Juan, an Indian girl captured by the Portuguese and sold into slavery in Manila. She arrived in New Spain, became well known for her religious piety and eventually became associated with the "China Poblana".
The estimate of the number of Asian immigrants during the Colonial era range from 40,000 to 120,000. By comparison, during the Colonial era, Mexico received about half a million Europeans and 250,000 Africans. These early Asian individuals, the foundation of the cuarta raíz, are not very apparent in modern Mexico for a few reasons: relatively small numbers, the widespread mestizaje of Colonial Mexico and the common practice of chino slaves to "pass" as indios in order to attain freedom. As had occurred with a large portion of Mexico's black population, over generations the Asian populace was absorbed into the general Mestizo population. The indigenous people were legally protected from chattel slavery, and by being recognized as part of this group, Asian slaves could claim they were wrongly enslaved.
Many Filipinos worked on coconut plantations in the Southwest. There are examples of free Filipinos who held land, including Andrés Rosales who owned twenty-eight coconut palms in 1619. Asians were active in the politics of Colima; enough so that the position alcalde de los chinos was created.
In the years 1613 through 1620, several diplomatic missions occurred on behalf of Japan to the Vatican in Rome, traveling through New Spain and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. Although the final destination was not Mexico, this mission is viewed as the beginning of Japan–Mexico relations. They were led by Hasekura Tsunenaga, who was accompanied by more than one hundred Japanese Christians as well as twenty-two samurai under the Hideyoshi Toyotomi. A fight occurred in 1614 in which a Japanese samurai stabbed a Spanish soldier. This was witnessed and recorded by historian Chimalpahin, who descended from an Aztec nobleman. Some of Tsunega's delegation would stay and marry with the locals.
A notable case of free Asians working in an urban setting is the 1635 conflict between chino and Spanish barbers in Mexico City. The legal case resulted in the expulsion of the Asians from the city center, limit on their numbers to twelve and prohibition on adopting Asian apprentices. Nonetheless, a 1667 document from the Real Audiencia details the attempt to limit the more than one hundred barber shops run by Asians without a license to twelve.
Some chinos held certain rights not afforded to most indigenous peoples, such as carrying a sword/dagger or riding a horse. Examples exist of chinos proving their standing to authorities in order to carry arms; such as the 1654 case of Marcos de Villanueva, arguing that his people helped quell a sangley rebellion in Manila. Others argued that carrying arms were a necessity when traveling through remote areas with merchandise. The most privileged Asians were the samurai that remained in Mexico from the Japanese envoys.
After Independence
Japanese immigration began in earnest in 1888 after the signing of a treaty to allow citizens of both countries the ability to travel to the other and establishing consulates. Mexico was the first Latin American country to receive organized Japanese immigration in 1897, with the first thirty five arriving to Chiapas under the auspices of Viscount Enomoto Takeaki, with the permission of president Porfirio Díaz. The very first settlement was based on coffee production but failed for various reasons including the fact that not all of the colonists were farmers and many became sick with tropical diseases. Many from this colony dispersed but there remains a small Japanese community in Acacoyagua, Chiapas.Modern Korean immigration to Mexico began in 1905. The first 1,033 Korean migrants settled in Yucatán as workers in henequen plantations.
Asians, predominantly Chinese, became Mexico's fastest-growing immigrant group from the 1880s to the 1920s, exploding from about 1,500 in 1895 to more than 20,000 in 1910. It was common among male Asian immigrants to quickly marry local women in order to facilitate assimilation. To do so, they were baptized into the Catholic faith, adopting a Christian name in the process. By doing this, they achieved a stronger bond with the land and a stronger sense of social belonging. They also received greater economic, moral and labor support from their new extended Mexican families.
At the same time, an anti-Chinese movement emerged during the Mexican Revolution and peaked during the Great Depression. This was in part due to resentment over the success of Chinese merchants and also fear of competition from Chinese workers willing to work for less pay. The most severe act of violence occurred in 1911. A massacre of over 300 Chinese in Torreón, Coahuila, which was carried out by a faction of Pancho Villa’s army. It culminated in mass deportations in the 1930s, when nearly 70% of the country's Chinese and Chinese-Mexican population was deported or otherwise expelled from the country.
Before World War II, the highest concentrations of Japanese and Japanese descent were in Baja California, followed by Mexico City and Sonora. Up until the war, the treatment of Japanese in the country and their descendants had been favorable, very different from the treatment of Chinese in the country. However, Japanese immigration was halted by WWII to near zero, and those who were in the country were faced with restrictions and relocation after Mexico broke diplomatic ties with Japan in 1941. Most Japanese citizens were forced to move to three interior cities: Celaya, Guadalajara and Mexico City. This was done so that they could not be used as a "fifth column" by the Japanese government. This treatment of ethnic Japanese is not in most accounts of Mexican history and is seldom taught in schools.
While in China, the Chinese-Mexicans that had been deported campaigned to be allowed to return to Mexico, from the 1930s to the 1960s. There was some success with two repatriations; one in the late 1930s and another in 1960.
After the end of the war, Japanese immigration to Mexico began again. From 1951 to 1978, this immigration was associated with Japan's economic growth, giving it money to invest abroad. A new smaller wave of Korean migrants also began to arrive in Mexico in the 1970s.
Larger numbers of Koreans began arriving in the 1990s: according to South Korean
ment statistics, the size of the community reached its peak in 1997 with around 19,500 individuals before falling to 14,571 by 2005.