Day trip fun!

Where better to start poking my nose into NSW history than the National Museum in the fantastic capitol, Canberra.

Being an immigrant myself without any family ties in NSW I was finding it very hard to randomly come up with a starting point for my investigation. Therefore i thought the Museum would provide lots of general information from which my naturally inquisitive mind could begin to explore, clearly it was also a great way of procrastinating.

There was however something extra special on exhibition: The Harvest of Endurance

"Harvest of Endurance is a 50-metre-long scroll that represents two centuries of Chinese contact with, and emigration to, Australia. Stories of hardship and survival, resourcefulness and reward are painted in the traditional gong bi style. Artist Mo Xiangyi, assisted by Wang Jingwen, painted the scroll. Mo Yimei carried out the historical research.

The project was sponsored by the Australia–China Friendship Society celebration of the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. The scroll took just over 12 months to complete and consists of 18 elaborately painted panels. The National Museum of Australia bought the scroll in 1992." said the NMA website.

One particular scene on this scroll caught my imagination, this depicted 1937 in Sydney during the support effort for China under Japanese invasion. It even mentioned the annual event the Dragon Ball Fund raiser. It also mentioned Chinese general Jiang Jieshi. This showed a well organised and united Chinese community in Sydney at a time when Chinese immigration was restricted ( I think). I was intrigued and decided my research would begin with the Chinese immigrant community in Sydney at this time............ to be continued