 Though the book was originally to be called " Chinese Merry @-@ Go @-@ Round " , the title under which it was ultimately published is a quote from Bret Harte 's poem " The Heathen Chinee " . Though " The Heathen Chinee " had been used a rallying cry by opponents of Chinese immigration to the United States , Harte had intended it as a parody of the anti @-@ Chinese bigotry prevalent in the United States of the nineteenth century . 
