The Way of the Bachelor by Alison R. Marshall, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters

The lives of early Japanese and Chinese settlers in British Columbia have come to define the Asian experience in Canada. Yet many Chinese men did not seek their destiny on British Columbia, but followed the railway east, settling in small Prairie towns and cities. The Way of the Bachelor documents the religious beliefs and cultural practices that sustained and leant meaning to Chinese bachelors in Manitoba. In the absence of women and family, these men opened the region’s first laundries and, by the turn of the twentieth century, developed a new kind of restaurant – the Chinese cafe. They maintained their ties to the Old World and negotiated a place for themselves in the new through a process called Dao – the way of the bachelor. At cafes and restaurants, churches and Christians associations, and the offices of the Chinese Nationalist Party, bachelors fostered a vibrant homosocial culture based on friendship, everyday religious practices, the example of Sun Yat-sen, and the sharing of food. This fascinating exploration of the intersection of gender, migration, and religion in small Prairie towns and cities broadens our understanding of the Chinese quest for identity in North America. With a Foreword by the Honourable Inky Mark, former Member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette. | The Way of the Bachelor by Alison R. Marshall, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters