Need phrase meaning: Days of bitter strength

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

Googling the phrase only calls up info about a fiction book with that title.

Anyone able to give me info on the phrase itself?

Thanks…

[carnut]

Sounds like a tale of horseradish.

[Crazyhorse]

It seems to be related to Chinese migrant laborers. The term “Coolie” comes from the Chinese for “bitter strength”.

a historical term for manual labourers or slaves from Asia, particularly China and India, during the 19th century and early 20th century. It is also a contemporary racial slur or ethnic nickname for people of Asian descent, including people from India, Central Asia, etc.

CBC News: Chinese Immigration

Few of the men squeezed out of tumultuous, overcrowded southeast China in the 19th century had any intention of sinking roots abroad. Called coolies - from kuli, “bitter strength” - some left China willingly, while others were kidnapped by press-gangs. But many did end up staying in the New World. As well as seekers after gold, they were builders of the daunting B.C. section of the Canadian Pacific Railway; 700 of them died in the process. The 17,000 Chinese who helped build the railway were paid half as much as white workers. This wage differential was the norm for Chinese in Canada well into the 1930s.

[Autolycus]

Just WAG but it draws a mental image of a period of persecution and oppression that required an exceeding amount of strength and will to survive. The strength needed to live in such a period would be bitter compared to not living in such a rough time to begin with.

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

Interesting, Crazyhorse. Thanks. That “Coolie” association helped me dig a bit deeper.

I found a quote from a November 1944 Rotarian news article about one Dr. James Y. C. Yen, an educator and linguist in China, who related the term Coolie with “main strength and awkwardness” which he said conveyed the idea of strength without benefit of skill or knowledge.