Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraphy
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Nongqayi, the Nightwatchman
- 1 The Frontier Dandies
- 2 Johnny Fingo
- 3 Langalibalele, the Black Beast
- 4 Cetshwayo, the Photogenic King
- 5 The Rickshaw Puller and the Kitchen Suit
- 6 The Black Watch
- 7 A Man Named ‘Cash’
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - The Rickshaw Puller and the Kitchen Suit
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 September 2025
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraphy
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Nongqayi, the Nightwatchman
- 1 The Frontier Dandies
- 2 Johnny Fingo
- 3 Langalibalele, the Black Beast
- 4 Cetshwayo, the Photogenic King
- 5 The Rickshaw Puller and the Kitchen Suit
- 6 The Black Watch
- 7 A Man Named ‘Cash’
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Lao She begins his 1939 novel Rickshaw Boy with a description of rickshaw pullers that is useful as our starting point. He writes, ‘I’d like you to meet a fellow named Xiangzi, not Camel, because, you see, Camel is only a nickname. After I’ve told you about Xiangzi, we’ll deal with his relationship with camels, and be done with it.’
The city of Beiping [now Beijing], has several classes of rickshaw men: first are those who are young, energetic, and fleet-footed; they rent handsome rickshaws, put in a whole day, and are free to come and go as they please. They stake out a spot at a rickshaw stand or by a manor gate and wait for people who are looking for speed. If luck is with them, they can land a fare right off, earning as much as a silver dollar or two. But if luck passes them by, and they do not make enough to pay for that day's rental, well, so what? This group of running brothers has two ambitions: one is to land a job as a private hire; the other is to buy one's own rickshaw, to own one outright. Then it makes no difference if they get paid by the month or pick up odd fares, since the rickshaws are theirs.
The subsequent images of rickshaw pullers of different ages and circumstances do not create a pretty picture.
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- The NightwatchmanRepresenting Black Men in Colonial South Africa, pp. 99 - 116Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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