linguisticlandscape

Linguistic Landscape – Chinatown, Manhattan, NY 

If you have visited New York City, you will hear people talking with each other with different languages on the street. If you pay attention to the street, you will notice that there are different signs on the stores. to the scenes in New York City. Those signs represent part of the local culture and they together forming the New York City. There is only special place that people or visitors definitely do not want to miss is the Chinatown located in Lower side of Manhattan, where including not only signs that show the Chinese Culture, but also incorporating the American, Italian, Spanish and other countries’ culture.  

When talking about Chinatown, there are more than 50 Chinatowns in the United States and 3 alone in the New York City. Among these three, the one located in Lower Side of Manhattan also has the longest history among all the Chinatowns. Therefore, I would like to introduce this place from the benefits and the specific meanings it brings to the society.  

Fig.1. The location of Chinatown in Manhattan 

History 

This Chinatown located in Manhattan is the first Chinatown established in New York since 1870s. In that century, Chinese people were inhabited around the lower side of Manhattan and forming certain area that protect them from hate sentiment resulted from concern over job opportunities. In Chinese, the implication of Chinatown is “The Street of People in Tang Dynasty”. The reason why it is named after Tang dynasty instead of other dynasty is that Tang dynasty was the most prominent and influential dynasty in Chinese history. At that time, the culture is especially prosperous, lots of famous poetry was produced in Tang Dynasty and people want to remember that golden age in this way. 

Fig.2. People in Tang Dynasty. Source: Epic World History. http://epicworldhistory.blogspot.com/2012/09/tang-tang-dynasty.html​

Simplified Chinese vs. Traditional Chinese 

By digging in the history of the Chinatown history, you would know that this place has a significant amount of Cantonese people, which explains why the dim sum is so popular and more authentic than elsewhere. Also, they are used to communicate by traditional language so that the majority of commercial signs in this community are in forms as traditional Chinese instead of simplified Chinese. If you have no idea what difference they have, you can compare their difference from the the images I provided below. From figure 5, it is easier to see that simplified Chinese has less writing work to do. The same word “dragon” in traditional Chinese has a more complicated writing comparing to the simplified version. However, that does not mean it created more trouble for people. In fact, Chinatown are becoming a place for helping immigrants to adapt to the unfamiliar environment. The signs on the streets or the menu are all bilingual. For those people who are not yet adapt to the new life and not fluent in speaking English, this is exclusively important for them to make a transition. They can read the original Chinese from the board to find something such as which store, they are looking for, or just talk to some Chinese employee to order what they want. From this aspect, we can see that is not only beneficial for individual, but also beneficial for the society in the long term. 

     

Figure.3 & 4 Signs in traditional Chinese. Photo by Ziling C.

Fig.5. Traditional Chinese vs. Simplified Chinese​.

Colors 

Another significant feature in Chinatown is the high saturation of color in most of the signs. As you can see from the images 6&7&8, most of them displays green, red, yellow, which are all gives people a vibe of life, vibrance, and peace. Take yellow as an example, from these 3 figures, you can easily tell the most often used color is yellow. While some western people may consider yellow as a coward color, yellow in Chinese culture is a heroic color. In the ancient time, the yellow can only be used by the emperors and nobody else are allowed to wear yellow otherwise they would be killed. Those assembly of warm colors in commercial signs are not commonly seen elsewhere. By comparing areas such as little Italy that adjacent to the Chinatown, we can easily tell the difference between these two by just focusing the colors of them. The little Italy is applying cold colors such as white and black. Therefore, this unique feature in color is becoming an irreplaceable landscape Chinatown area. They are very eye-catching and gave you a view of the retro-feel of how China looked like in the last century.  

Fig.6. Signs of colors. Photo by Ziling C

Fig.7. Signs of colors. Photo by Ziling C

Fig.8. Signs of colors. Photo by Ziling C

Couplets 

In western culture, couplets are often seen at the early modern poetry. For example, as we can see from the figure 11, which shows Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, which contains 3 same length poetry and come with rhyme. Similarly, we also have couplets culture in Chinatown. Instead of appearing as in literature, couplets in Chinatown are shown on the red papers as we can see from the left two images. They are quite common in China. Most Chinese family will change a new couplet when Spring Festival coming. It presents bring new lucky and fortune to the family. Usually, they are consisted of two equal length lines of poetry that have good meanings.  

    

Fig.9 & 10. Couplets Store in Chinatown. Photo by Ziling C

Fig.11. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. Source: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/432742​

Red Egg 

Chinatown is also famous for its authentic and delicious food. Not only dim sum is famous here, but also some small special restaurant was opened here. I found this store occasionally and was attracted by its special name. Therefore, I researched the name of this restaurant and found out some interesting facts. As we can see from figure below. This landscape is a store in Chinatown named Red Egg. Red has always been an especial color for Chinese people due to its auspicious implication. Accordingly, the store ‘s name refers to a Chinese traditional food “red egg” that newborn will eat when they become 1 month old. As for the colors, the red eggs are not naturally red. They are artificially coated with red color that brings lucky and means auspicious for the infants.  

Fig.12. Red Egg restaurant in Chinatown. Photo by Ziling C

Fig.13. Authentic Red Eggs. Photo by China Daily News.

Honest in Chinese Culture 

Chinatown also provides variety choice of bubble tea shop. One sign that is significant and stood out for me is the store named “Cheng” or in English “Honestea,” which has a similar pronunciation with honesty. In Chinese culture, honest is an especially important feature that a person should have, especially in a business environment. Though the store was not found by Chinese, their notion is the same: which is to advertise this character by combining the modern look and authentic organic tea to their customers. The store is a good example of combination of delicate decoration into traditional value, which set a good example of positive commercial sign.  

Fig. 14 & 15. “Honestea” in Chinatown. Photo by Ziling C

Conclusion 

In conclusion, Chinese culture in Chinatown Manhattan is valuable because its unique features and benefits it brings to diverse groups of people. The landscapes in Manhattan Chinatown are valuable due to the fact that they are culturally influential in people’s lifestyle. If you have not yet been to this place, I would recommend you go to visit it. If you pay attention to the details on the streets, you can discover more information about Chinese story, and you would love it. I hope my information on this linguistic landscape makes you interested in the Chinatown culture. 

 

References

• Hullfish, S. (2012, July 19). Psychology of color. https://web.archive.org/web/20150304130251/http://provideocoalition.com/shullfish/story/psychology_of_color​
• Liu, J., & Hui, C. (2018, September 06). The “branding” of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 ce) – Center for Global ASIA: NYU Shanghai.  https://cga.shanghai.nyu.edu/the-branding-of-the-tang-dynasty-618-907-ce/​
• Pandarow. (2019, March 09). Chinese couplets history, categories & quotable examples: Duìlián.  https://medium.com/@Pandarow/chinese-couplets-history-categories-quotable-examples-du%C3%ACli%C3%A1n-7c2c9702c35c​
• Parejo, C. (2019, February 11). Explaining why Chinatown is the street of tang people to my kids.  https://www.socketloop.com/blogs/explaining-why-chinatown-is-the-street-of-tang-people-to-my-kids#:~:text=Apparently%2C%20Tang%20dynasty%20is%20known,remember%20this%20bygone%20golden%20era.​
• Staff, S. (2020, August 04). Chinatown: Colors, history and architecture: Dunn-Edwards Paints. https://www.dunnedwards.com/colors/specs/posts/chinatown-colors-history-and-architecture​

If you have visited New York City, you will hear people talking with each other with different languages on the street. If you pay attention to the street, you will notice that there are different signs on the stores. to the scenes in New York City. Those signs represent part of the local culture and they together forming the New York City. There is only special place that people or visitors can definitely do not want to miss is the Chinatown located in Lower side of Manhattan, where including not only signs that show the Chinese Culture, but also incorporating the American, Italian, Spanish and other countries’ culture. When talking about Chinatown, there are more than 50 Chinatowns in the United States and 3 alone in the New York City. Among these three, the one located in Lower Side of Manhattan also has the relatively long history among all the Chinatowns. Therefore, I would like to introduce this place from the infinite benefits and meanings it brings to the whole society. 

Fig. Traditional Chinese food presented in bilingual form

First of all, the Chinatown brings more opportunity to immigrants, especially new immigrants. Chinatown in Manhattan was established in the late 18 centuries due to the hate sentiment against Chinese people resulted from concern over job opportunities. Therefore, they were inhabited around the lower side of Manhattan and forming certain area that provide protection. Nowadays, Chinatown is still served as this purpose to people. As you can see from the images that I take from the streets. The signs on the streets or the menu are all bilingual. For those people who are not yet adapt to the new life and not fluent in speaking English, this is exclusively important for them to make a transition. They can read the original Chinese from the board to find something such as which store they are looking for, or just talk to some Chinese employee to order what they want. From this aspect, we can see that is not only beneficial for individual, but also beneficial for the society in the long term. Immigrants are a big part of the society, and their workforce cannot be ignored. If they can properly be helped, that would make their social status better and created a more harmonious relationship between people to people. 

Fig. Menu in both Chinese and English

Secondly, Chinatown not only brings benefits to immigrants, it also brings the unique Chinese culture to the local people and eliminate the stereotypes. For many people that never have been to China yet, they might have lots of misunderstandings against Chinese culture. For example, the Chinese food, in their opinion, might be those junk food with only sweet and sour flavor and you can buy them at a very low price at just a random store along the street. However, the Chinatown eliminate this stereotype by providing a relatively clean place for just everybody with fast while affordable. Their excellent service can really amaze people once people have tasted them. One spectacular place that you should not miss is The Museum of China in America (MOCA) located in this area, which presented not only the history of immigrants but also the hardships they have been through. The museum provides a comprehensive view of history from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Nowadays. The visitors can immerse themselves into this museum by creative photography, vivid images, and interactive scenarios. 

Besides the significance mentioned above, Chinatown is also a place where against the discrimination. Precipitated by the coronavirus, Asian Hate crimes were rising drastically since March 2020. Very often can people see hurtful news on the social media. According to a report, On March 16, 2021, six of the Asian women were killed after a series of mass shooting. That malicious accident triggered a series of anti-Asian-Hate Movement among the society. One protest after another are emerging in Chinatown, Manhattan. As we can see from the image taken from the Columbus Park in Chinatown, the protesters comprises not only Asians but also other races.  

The economy of Chinatown is recessing during their fight against Covid. It was empty like a ghost town several months ago and now still suffering from the chain effect of coronavirus. Since March 2020, over 90% of the restaurants in Chinatown are closing while they still required to pay as high as over ten thousandrent one month. With no customers, lack of employees and thus no revenues, many of them currently are permanently closed and others are struggling to survive amid this pandemic. However, there are still some bright side. The celebration of Chinese New Year was not cancelled. Organizers did a good job on delicate decorations and hope that would add more liveliness and motivate people to combat the virus altogether. As shown on the graph, the lanternsand other decorations are all in red, which in Chinese culture means fortune and lucky.  

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Fig. Protest on Manhattan Chinatown

 

Fig. Celebration toward Chinese New Year

 

Ten Chinatowns In the US

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/05/top-10-chinatowns-in-the-u-s/#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%2050,most%20sensational%20dim%20sum%20around.

Atlanta Mass Shooting: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth

Celebration of Chinese Year   http://betterchinatown.com/

If you ever visited New York City, you will hear people talking with each other with different languages on the street. If you pay attention to the street, you will notice that there are different signs on the stores. to the scenes in New York City. Those signs represent part of the local culture and they together forming the New York City. There is only special place that people or visitors can definitely do not want to miss is the Chinatown located in Lower side of Manhattan, where including not only signs that show the Chinese Culture, but also incorporating the American, Italian, Spanish and other countries’ culture. The Chinatown in Manhattan also has the relatively long history among all the Chinatowns. Therefore, I would like to introduce this place from the infinite benefits and meanings it bring to the whole society.

First of all, the Chinatown brings more opportunity to immigrants, especially new immigrants. As you can see from the images that I take from the streets. They are all bilingual. For those people who are not yet adapt to the new life and not fluent in speaking English, this is exclusively important for them to make a transition. They can read the original Chinese from the board to find something such as which store they are looking for, or just talk to some Chinese employee to order what they want. From this aspect, we can see that is not only beneficial for individual, but also beneficial for the society in the long term. Immigrants are a big part of the society, and their workforce can not be ignored. If they can properly being helped, that would make their social status better and created a more harmonious relationship between people to people.

Chinatown not only brings benefits to immigrants, it also brings the unique Chinese culture to the local people and eliminate the stereotypes. For many people that never have been to China yet, they might have lots of misunderstandings against Chinese culture. For example, the Chinese food, in their opinion, might be those junk food with only sweet and sour flavor and you can buy them at a very low price at just a random store along the street. However, the Chinatown eliminate this stereotype by providing a relatively clean place for just everybody with fast while affordable. Their excellent service can really amaze people once people have tasted them.

My choice of linguistic landscapes are the landscapes locate in lower east side of Manhattan, Chinatown. Although I grew up in China and did not spend very long time in Chinatown, I still find this neighborhood intriguing enough to be paid attention. Although it is called Chinatown, it does not mean all the people are Chinese and all the stores are run by Chinese. As we can see from the images, which are the stores opened in the Chinatown. The advertising boards and the menu are all consisted of bilingual signs that can be easily understood by both English speakers and Chinese speakers. Some people may possess the stereotypes that think all Chinese food are cheap and fat fast food. On the contrary, the food made in Chinatown is delicate and delicious. Those landscapes allow this neighborhood to be part of the local culture as well as not only helping new immigrants to transitioned from one language to another, but more to one life to another life. Some of the stores have a history of over one century as we can see the obvious worn-out sign showed in the advertising board. However, it does not mean the quality of the services provide here is bad. Instead, the neighborhood is improving years after years and generations after generation. I would like to research more on this neighborhood and clarify the stereotypes as well as provide more information about the linguistic landscapes in this community. So that people will have a more clear idea that there is a unique culture worth spreading.