F I R S TP R E V827NEXTLAST

The Benevolent Associations of Chinatown
In Chinatown there are at least 90 benevolent and family associations. These organizations date back to 1850 when newly-arriving Chinese would be met at the docks by kinsmen who would assist them finding work and lodging in this new, confusing and often hostile city.

Those representatives laid the foundation for the Chinese associations in San Francisco. Beyond assisting the new comers, they would resolve personal and business disputes, provide medical care, and care for the poor and the elderly. Another important function of the assocations was to transport the bodies of the dead back to their ancestral grounds in China to avoid their souls wandering endlessly because they were buried in a foreign land.

Today the functions of the Chinese family associations have evolved. As most Chinese families have assimilated into the general American population, the focus of the associations has turned to strengthening family and regional ties as well as providing meeting places, social services, and often entertaining visiting dignitaries from China.
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