The Heathen Chinee

E1003020

"The Heathen Chinee" is a satirical 1870 poem by Bret Harte that critiques anti-Chinese racism in the American West through the story of a Chinese card player accused of cheating.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf poem
satirical poem
alternateTitle The Heathen Chinee NERFINISHED
author Bret Harte NERFINISHED
authorNationality American
centralTheme anti-Chinese racism
cheating and deception
hypocrisy
racial prejudice
characterizationOfAhSin apparently naive but actually clever card player
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticizes anti-Chinese racism
white American hypocrisy
depicts a card game involving marked cards and cheating
firstLine Which I wish to remark
form rhymed verse
genre narrative poem
satire
hasSubject Chinese immigrants in the United States
frontier life
gambling
historicalContext anti-Chinese sentiment in 19th-century American West
post–Gold Rush California
influenced popular stereotypes of Chinese immigrants in the United States
language English
laterReception sometimes misread as endorsing stereotypes it satirizes
literaryMovement American literature NERFINISHED
literaryPeriod 19th-century American literature
mainCharacter Ah Sin NERFINISHED
Bill Nye NERFINISHED
Truthful James NERFINISHED
meter irregular
narrativeFocus a Chinese card player accused of cheating
notableFor early literary treatment of anti-Chinese racism
use of dialect and colloquial speech
originallyIntendedAs critique of racial prejudice
originalPublicationMedium Overland Monthly NERFINISHED
originalTitle Plain Language from Truthful James NERFINISHED
perspective first-person narration by Truthful James
portrays white characters as also cheating
publicationDecade 1870s
publicationYear 1870
settingLocation California NERFINISHED
settingRegion American West NERFINISHED
tone ironic
satirical

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.