2 - Trumpets and Ledgers

Summary

“Trumpets and Ledgers” expands on the groundwork laid in the first chapter by exploring the intricacies of life for Filipinos in Shanghai and Chinese in Manila. The first section, trumpets, uses records from the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, which employed many Filipino musicians, to piece together a social history of Filipinos in Shanghai. It then pivots to the cabaret scene in the metropolis, which likewise featured many famous Filipino jazz bands. It argues that Filipinos, as the face of jazz and classical music in Shanghai, became caretakers and representatives of the genres for the Chinese residents of the city. The second section examines Chinese connections with business and trade in the Philippines and efforts by Filipino lawmakers to expand global exclusionary legislation by limiting the ability of Chinese in the archipelago to conduct business. The Bookkeeping Act, which banned the use of the Chinese language in bookkeeping, ultimately fell apart due to a coordinated campaign by prominent, well-connected Chinese leaders from the archipelago, but the passage of the act reveals some of the challenges that Chinese in Manila and Filipinos in Shanghai faced as foreign Asian migrants without imperial protection.