Students had to memorize a poem that included some interesting points:

My Spanish Class:
Students had to memorize a poem that included some interesting points:
Towards the end of a poem titled VIEJA LLAVE by Amado Nervo, the author lets us see a connection to the Chinese influence of the era in the Hispanic community in the late 1800s.

The poem talks about an old key that has been kept as a momentum from old times and describes the importance of the key, the people that used it, and the thing that were kept safe with it. There is a reference to the valuable things that were kept safe in a wooden cupboard…
...
Sin embargo, tú sabías Non the less, you knew
de las glorias de otros días: Of the glory of other days:
del mantón de seda fina About the fine silk shroud
que nos trajo de la China That brought us from china
la gallarda, la ligera The valiant, the quick
española nao fiera. The fearless Spanish ship.

Tú sabías de tibores You knew of the paited jars
donde pájaros y flores Where birds and flowers
confundían sus colores; Mixed their colors
tú, de lacas, de marfiles You, of lacquers, of ivories
y de perfumes sutiles and subtle perfumes
de otros tiempos; of other times
tu cautela conservaba la canela… your cautiousness Saved the cinnamon…

Extra references that could be linked to the poem:

1

From: http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Chinese.html

“Large-scale immigration began in the mid 1800's due to the California Gold Rush. Despite the flood of Chinese immigrants during that time, their population began to fall drastically. Because of laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the highly imbalanced male to female ratio, and the thousands of immigrants returning back to China, the Chinese population in the U.S. fell to a lowly 62,000 people in 1920. Nonetheless, the Chinese make up the largest Asian population in the United States today.” (also central and South America)

2

From: http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Cinnamon%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm

“Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) is an ancient spice. It is mentioned Chinese writings which date back to 2800 B.C. and is also mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Not only was it used in cooking, but also in various medicinal preparations and during the embalming process in Ancient Egypt. Always considered a precious commodity, by the 1st century A.D. writings referred to 350 grams of cinnamon being equal in value to over five kilograms of silver and so prized was it, that the Roman emperor Nero who murdered his wife, showed the extent of his (supposed) remorse by burning a year's supply of Cinnamon on her funeral pyre”