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Young Chinese League

Gallery

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    Possibly a family celebrating a Birthday, c. 14 July 1956, by Unknown creator (see disclaimer), courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
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    Dancing class function preparing supper, c. 19 May 1956, by Unknown creator (see disclaimer), courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
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    Dragon parade practice, c. 28 February 1954, courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
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    Moomba Young Chinese League dragon procesion, 1950s - 1970s
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    Various members of the Young Chinese League, courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
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    Y.C.L. members at a weekend away, courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
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    Young Chinese League Ball, 1 September 1959, c. 1 September 1959, by Unknown creator (see disclaimer), courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
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    Young Chinese League dancing class at Chin's place in Prince's St, c. 21 December 1955, by Unknown creator (see disclaimer), courtesy of Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History).
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    Young Chinese League debutantes and Mrs. Amy Young
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    Young Chinese League debutantes, 1937
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From
Melbourne, Victoria
Summary

The Young Chinese League was created from an amalgamation of Chinese Progress Association and the Chinese Athletics Association. The organisation was formally established on 4 October 1932 with M.H. (Mee How) Ah Mouy as President, B. Moyling as Vice-President, C. (Claude) Wing Kee as Secretary and H. Nam as Treasurer. F.A. (Frank) Chinn, G. Lau, N. (Norman?) Wong Hee, G. Yee, Miss D. Chung and Miss L. Yee were Committee members.

Details

Founded on 4 October 1932, the Young Chinese League was set up to provide social engagement and activities for young Australians of Chinese descent. It arose out of the merging of two former clubs, the Chinese Progressive Association and Chinese Athletics Association, and continues to meet today.

Both clubs had organised social activities that were popular cultural pastimes of the Australian community, but with a distinctive Chinese touch. The clubs had been around since the 1920s. Sport was very important to these clubs and the two competed against each other.

Through organising social and sporting activities the aims of the clubs was to further advance the Chinese in Melbourne and Australia. By advancing the prospects of Chinese Australians, it was hoped that this would lead to a further understanding in the broader Australian community of what the Chinese community could contribute to the nation. Through clubs like the Young Chinese League, new forms of community allegiances were created.

The idea of Chinese clubs in Melbourne was nothing new by the 1920s and 1930s. There had been societies that sought to improve relations with Australians as well as discuss community issues and business. One such club, the Sino-Australian Association, was formed by future Young Chinese League founding president, Mee How Ah Mouy in 1906.

Founding members of the Young Chinese League included Mee How Ah Mouy (first club President), Ben Moy Ling (Vice President), Cord Wing Kee (Honorary Secretary) and Herbert Nam (Honorary Treasurer). On the committee were Frank Chinn, G Lau, N Wong Hee, Miss D Chung and Miss L Yee. Most of these members had held committee positions with either the Chinese Progressive Association and or the Chinese Athletics Association. The objectives of the Young Chinese League were to promote free social intercourse and goodwill amongst its members and their mutual improvement. Membership was open to all persons, with one or both parents or grandparents born in China. Wives of Chinese members were permitted as members with the same privileges. The Young Chinese League was not a political organisation.

Founding member and later President, Frank Chinn, saw the League as a way of providing positive social activities that would further the Chinese community’s advancement. He saw the Young Chinese League as a moral alternative to the gambling and drinking houses in and around Little Bourke Street. For many years, the Chinn family allowed their home, 104-106 Little Bourke Streets, formerly the Munster Arms Hotel, to be used as the club’s meeting rooms. The home had fifteen rooms and was large enough for the club to meet and hold functions there. In 1963 the League were looking for new premises and the See Yup Society offered them the use of their temple in South Melbourne. The League was to stay there until the early 1980s.

Activities of the Young Chinese League included indoor sports such as table tennis as well as card games. From 1930 an Australian Rules football team was formed. Other sports played on a regular basis include ten-pin bowling, basketball, netball and golf. For a short period in the 1930s they ran boxing classes with a professional trainer. A tennis tournament was organised every year; played at Bacchus Marsh Lawn Tennis Club, the tournament provided a popular and competitive atmosphere with club members vying for men’s and ladies championship titles as well as trophies.

Each year the League organised a summer picnic. For many years, the picnics were held at Aspendale Palais and Racecourse, then Carrum Beach and later Chelsea Lifesaver’s Hall. The picnic kicked off the social calendar for the Young Chinese League. The picnics were open to all Chinese Australians including non-members and were an opportunity for members of the Chinese community to renew acquaintances, with some coming from interstate. Members of the League were encouraged to bring their friends as well, opening up the opportunities for the Chinese and Australian communities to meet.

Regular social dances were organised and these provided the perfect opportunity for the Chinese community to meet on a larger scale and raise funds for the club’s sporting teams. The Young Chinese League also held annual debutante balls, which were the biggest and most popular social event for the Chinese community in Melbourne. The Chinese Progressive Association had also organised balls, with the first occurring around 1922. The dances were held every year at St Kilda. In the early years of the debutante balls there could be as many as one thousand people in attendance. Typically, a debutante set was around eight to twelve young girls and their partners. In preparation for the event the girls undertook dancing and etiquette lessons with instruction from Alma Quon. Alma held the distinction of instructing every debutante set from the very first in 1938 to the last in 1988. Alma also played in an ‘all-ladies’ orchestra called ‘Alma Quon and her Joybelles’ and for many years, the band played at the debutante balls as well as other social activities such as fundraising dances and the annual summer picnic.

The Young Chinese League also had an historic involvement with Chinese lions and dragons in Melbourne. The League’s first lion and dragon were imported in the 1950s. They appeared at charitable functions and processions, most notably the Moomba Parade from 1953 to 1975. The dragon was a popular fixture at Moomba drawing mixed praise for its ‘gorgeous design’ and ‘grotesque colours.’ The dragon was carried around by up to forty League members acting as the ‘legs’.

In its heyday, the 1930s to 1950s, the Young Chinese League had several hundred members and, through a committee, organised regular social and sporting activities. From the late 1950s, a newsletter was published either monthly or bi-monthly. For many years, they were edited by Les Youie. The newsletters informed members of upcoming events organised by the Young Chinese League committee as well as promotions and reporting on sport and social dances and the debutante ball.

In 1992, a special reunion function was organised to commemorate sixty years of the Young Chinese League. In attendance were past and current members, including ladies from debutante sets from every year. Alma Quon who had trained every single one of them was there to provide musical entertainment.

The Young Chinese League continues to organise an annual golfing championship and annual tennis tournament. Newer activities include wine tastings, cooking classes, car rally and scavenger hunts.

Sources used to compile this entry: Loh, Morag, Sojourners and Settlers: Chinese in Victoria 1848-1985, Victorian Government China Advisory Committee, Melbourne, 1985; Ryan, Jan, Chinese Women and the Global Village: An Australian Site, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 2003; Yong, C.F., New Gold Mountain: The Chinese in Australia 1901-1920, Raphael Arts, South Australia, 1977;

Museum of Chinese Australian History collection.

Young Chinese League Collection (Les Youie) on Chinese Australia website (La Trobe University and Chinese Museum)

Museum of Chinese Australian History collection including - Young Chinese League, Melbourne Constitution & Rules, 1932 reprinted 1957.

Prepared by: Brendan O'Donnell, Monash University

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival Collections

Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History)

  • Young Chinese League Debutante sets, 1938 - 1988; Chinese Museum (Museum of Chinese Australian History). Details

S. Millard (private hands)

  • Shirley Millard private collection, 1890s; S. Millard (private hands). Details

State Library of Victoria - Picture Collection

  • Ah Yee family collection, 1900-1983, 1900 - 1983, LTA 801; State Library of Victoria - Picture Collection. Details

Published Resources

Books

  • Loh, Morag, Sojourners and Settlers: Chinese in Victoria 1848-1985, Victorian Government China Advisory Committee, Melbourne, 1985. Details
  • Ryan, Jan, Chinese Women and the Global Village: An Australian Site, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 2003. Details
  • Yong, C.F., New Gold Mountain: The Chinese in Australia 1901-1920, Raphael Arts, South Australia, 1977. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • 'Y.C.L. Debutantes', The Sun, 6 September 1950, p. 7. Details
  • 'Y.C.L Dragon at Moomba', The Sun, 13 March 1956, p. 25. Details
  • 'International Deb Set including two YCL members', The Sun, 17 May 1957, p. 9. Details
  • 'Y.C.L. Dragon at Moomba', The Sun, 1 March 1958, p. 22. Details
  • 'Y.C.L. Debs', The Age, 7 September 1960. Details
  • 'Y.C.L. New Lion', The Sun, 5 October 1960, p. 2. Details
  • 'Y.C.L. dragon', The Sun, 13 March 1979, p. 3. Details

Online Resources

  • Edwards, Grace, Dancing dragons: Reflections on creating a cultural history of the Chinese Australian community, Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, Special issue: 'Sources, Languages and Approaches in Chinese Australian History' edited by Bagnall, Kate and Couchman, Sophie, vol. 6, 2013, 102-111 pp, http://www.chl.anu.edu.au/publications/csds/csds2013/csds2013_09.pdf. Details

See also

  • 'Chinese girls graduate as models (includes YCL members)', The Sun, 5 April 1960. Details
  • 'Gail Chung and Reaney Wong, Y.C.L. members', The Sun, 13 February 1964, p. 1. Details

Images

Title
Celebrating Les Youie's Birthday
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 14 July 1956
Details
Title
Dancing class function preparing supper
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 19 May 1956
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Dragon parade practice
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 28 February 1954
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Carlton
Details
Title
Fashion parade
Type
Photograph
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Moomba Young Chinese League dragon procesion
Type
Photograph
Date
1950s - 1970s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Bourke Street
Details
Title
Various members of the Young Chinese League
Type
Photograph
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Y.C.L. members at a weekend away
Type
Photograph
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Wharburton
Details
Title
Young Chinese League Ball, 1 September 1959
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1 September 1959
Details
Title
Young Chinese League dancing class at Chin's place in Princess St
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 21 December 1955
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Kew
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes and Mrs. Amy Young
Type
Photograph
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1937
Type
newspaper items
Date
1937
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 25 September 1945
Type
Photograph
Date
25 September 1945
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, possibly 1946
Type
Photograph
Date
1946?
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League dragon on Carlton Oval
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 28 February 1954
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Carlton
Details
Title
Young Chinese League Group 1
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 19 May 1956
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League Group 2
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 21 December 1955
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Kew
Details
Title
Young Chinese League group at St Vincents Royale Ballroom
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 23 September 1954
Details
Title
Young Chinese League picnic
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1 January 1961
Place
Australia - Victoria - Aspendale
Details

See also

Title
Alma Quon and her Joy Belles
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1955
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne?
Details
Title
Cecil [?] Lew Ton, aged 18 in Young Chinese League
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1936
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Chinese Athletic Association
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1922 - c. 1923
Place
Australia - Victoria
Details
Title
Chinese Progress Association 2nd Annual Ball
Type
Photograph
Date
26 November 1924
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Dance function (possibly Chinese Progress Association dance) in Melbourne, circa 1920s
Type
Photograph
Date
1920s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Frances Lew Ton, Agnes Lee and Marjorie Hughes, Brighton beach, c1935
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 16 February 1935
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Brighton
Details
Title
Frank (Tung Foo) Chinn (3rd from right?) and friends by a car at a picnic in Melbourne
Type
Photograph
Date
1920s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Frank (Tung Foo) Chinn (with flowers, possibly second from left) and friends at a picnic in Melbourne.
Type
Photograph
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Frank (Tung Foo) Chinn at 74, showing decoration from Taiwanese Government, 1971
Type
Photograph
Date
1971
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Frank (Tung Foo) Chinn making a presentation to Taiwanese Consul at a function in the 1950s
Type
Photograph
Date
1950s
Details
Title
Group photo, Carlton, near Trades Hall
Type
Photograph
Date
1920s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Carlton
Details
Title
Group portrait at a Young Chinese League function 1920s
Type
Photograph
Date
1920s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Mooomba Parade, Melbourne in the mid 1950’s
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1955
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Procession with Chinese Dragon
Type
Photograph
Date
1960s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne?
Details
Title
Procession with Chinese Dragon
Type
Photograph
Date
1960s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne?
Details
Title
Publicity photograph taken of Philip and William Lew Boar as part of a war effort charity
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1939 - c. 1945
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Little Bourke Street
Details
Title
Two men dressed for dragon parade
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1925 - c. 1930
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League [?] group in Moomba parade
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1955
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League at Clubhouse, late 1940's
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1945 - c. 1949
Place
Australia - Victoria?
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutant group (7 September 1954)
Type
Photograph
Date
7 September 1954
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes 1957
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1957
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - St Kilda - St Kilda Town Hall
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1938
Type
Photograph
Date
1938
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1940
Type
Photograph
Date
1940
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1941
Type
Photograph
Date
1941
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1944
Type
Photograph
Date
1944
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1947
Type
Photograph
Date
1947
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1948
Type
Photograph
Date
1948
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1950
Type
Photograph
Date
1950
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1954
Type
Photograph
Date
1954
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1956
Type
Photograph
Date
1956
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1957
Type
Photograph
Date
1957
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1958
Type
Photograph
Date
1958
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1959
Type
Photograph
Date
1959
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1960
Type
Photograph
Date
1960
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1961
Type
Photograph
Date
1961
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1962
Type
Photograph
Date
1962
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1963
Type
Photograph
Date
1963
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1964
Type
Photograph
Date
1964
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1965
Type
Photograph
Date
1965
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1966
Type
Photograph
Date
1966
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1968
Type
Photograph
Date
1968
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1969
Type
Photograph
Date
1969
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1970
Type
Photograph
Date
1970
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1971
Type
Photograph
Date
1971
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1972
Type
Photograph
Date
1972
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1977
Type
Photograph
Date
1977
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1978
Type
Photograph
Date
1978
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1979
Type
Photograph
Date
1979
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1980
Type
Photograph
Date
1980
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1981
Type
Photograph
Date
1981
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1982
Type
Photograph
Date
1982
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League debutantes, 1988
Type
Photograph
Date
1988
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League football team in the 1950s
Type
Photograph
Date
1950s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League football team, 1947
Type
Photograph
Date
1947
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Little Bourke Street
Details
Title
Young Chinese League Members, South Melbourne Beach
Type
Photograph
Date
1950s - 1960s
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League sports team
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1947
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details
Title
Young Chinese League women's netball team, late 1940's
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1945 - c. 1949
Place
Australia - Victoria?
Details
Title
Young debutantes
Type
Photograph
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - St Kilda
Details
Title
Young debutantes in Melbourne in the early 1960s
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 1960 - c. 1965
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
Details