.
Chinese Coolie. John Thomson
Photography
around 1870.
Leverkusen, Bernd Lohse collection.
China.
Portrait.
Coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a pejorative term used for low-wage labourers, typically of Indian or Chinese descent
The word coolie was first used in the 16th century by European traders across Asia. By the 18th century, the term would refer to migrant Indian indentured labourers. In the 19th century, during the British colonial era, the term would gain a new definition of the systematic transportation and employment of Asian laborers via employment contracts on sugar plantations that had been formerly worked by enslaved Africans.
The word has had a variety of negative implications. In modern-day English, it is usually regarded as offensive.
----
Chinesischer Kuli. John Thomson
um 1870.
Leverkusen, Sammlung Bernd Lohse.
China.
Porträt.
----
