Материалы чтений памяти Б. Н. Мельниченко и С. Е. Трифонова

109 carpentry, joinery, and jewelry crafting — ​were also mostly in the hands of Chinese artisans — ​small business owners, with whom worked the Chinese hired employees [Skinner 1957: 117]. In 1909, China passed the Citizenship Law, according to which all children of Chinese parents have since been recognized as Chinese cit- izens, regardless of their places of birth and residence [Kitajskie et- nicheskie gruppy v Yugo-Vostochnoj Azii 1986: 46]. Since then, over- seas Chinese have been able to apply to Chinese consular offices to obtain Chinese citizenship and, if they could prove their ‘blood ties’ with China, to receive it under a simplified procedure. It was an attempt by the Chinese authorities to return overseas Chinese to their sphere of influence, but it was not very successful. In 1910, the authorities of the Qing empire, which was living out its last months, were forced to lift the previous ban on the departure of citizens from the country. This served as an additional incentive for many people to leave their home- land, which was in deep crisis at the time, in search of a better life, since then they could do it completely legally, without fear of reprisal. Representatives of the Chinese community in the cities of Siam built schools and temples, raised money to invite teachers from Chi- na who could teach their children the language of their fathers. Of- ten, wealthy members of the Chinese community sent their children to study in China [The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas 1999: 222]. The patriotic secret societies of Chinese immigrants in Siam, origi- nally created to organize the fight against the Manchu invaders, contin- ued to exist after the overthrow of the Qing Empire in 1911, but their political protest potential gradually faded into the background, while the other side of their activities came to the front — ​various kinds of il- legal and semi-legal businesses [Kitajskie etnicheskie gruppy v Yugo- Vostochnoj Azii 1986: 56]. According to the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand, by the begin- ning of the 20 th century in the rice industry, almost all exporters were ethnic Chinese. The role of ethnic Thais in the country’s economy was mainly limited to the growing of rice, only a few representatives of the Thai aristocracy and bureaucracy owned rice mills together with foreign companies, this was probably a legacy of the times when rice trade was still the exclusive monopoly of the Siamese king [Shustrov 2006: 35]. Over time, overseas Chinese came to control the full cycle of rice turn- over in Thailand: purchase of raw materials — ​processing at rice mills —​ export. By 1919, almost all rice mills that were not yet under the con- trol of the Chinese were either sold to them or closed altogether [Ibid].