The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo

Wong Chin Foo Chronology

1839–42 Britain provokes and wins the First Opium War with China; forces concessions in the Treaty of Nanjing, including the opening of five ports to foreign trade and missionary activity. 1847 Wong Chin Foo is born in Jimo, Shandong Province, China, to a well-to-do family. 1850–71 The Taiping Rebellion, led by a religious fanatic, is fought against the Qing dynasty. Rebels gain control of a large swath of southern China before being defeated. 1856–60 Britain and France win the Second Opium War and force additional concessions from China, including the opening of diplomatic missions and 11 additional ports. 1860 Wong arrives with his father in reduced circumstances in Zhifu (now Yantai), Shandong, which opens to foreign commerce in this year. 1861 Taken in by Southern Baptist missionary Rev. J. Landrum Holmes and wife Sallie. Rev. Holmes is murdered by bandits soon afterward. 1862 Sallie Holmes bears a son and moves her household to Dengzhou (now Penglai), Shandong, where she begins 20 years of missionary work. 1867 Baptized into the Baptist faith in Dengzhou. Accompanies Sallie Holmes to America. 1868 U.S. and China sign the Burlingame Treaty, which guarantees U.S. non-interference in China’s internal affairs and effectively encourages Chinese immigration to America. Wong Chin Foo Chronology xxii Wong Chin Foo Chronology Studies at Columbian College Preparatory School, Washington, DC. Begins lecturing on Chinese culture. 1869–70 Studies at LewisburgAcademy in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. 1870 Returns to China. 1871 Marries Liu Yushan, former pupil in a Baptist school in Dengzhou. 1871–72 Appointed interpreter in the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service in Shanghai and then in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. Excommunicated from the Shanghai Baptist church. 1873 Son Wong Foo Sheng is born. Flees China after Qing government puts a price on his head for revolutionary activities. Escapes to Japan, and boards a U.S.-bound ship with help from the American consul in Yokohama. Arrives in San Francisco. Helps liberate Chinese girls sent to the U.S. to become prostitutes, earning the enmity of the triad organization responsible for importing them. Begins a multi-year, cross-country lecture tour. 1874 Admitted to U.S. citizenship at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Allegedly engages in a liaison with a prostitute in Rochester, New York. “The Chinese in Cuba,” his first published article in English, appears in the New York Times. Declares himself China’s first Confucian missionary to the United States. Prince Gong, China’s de facto foreign minister, demands his extradition to China, but is rebuffed by the American chargé d’affaires in Beijing. 1875 U.S. Congress passes the Page Act, an attempt to restrict the immigration of Chinese prostitutes that proves a barrier to further immigration of all Asian women. 1877 Meets Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of the mystical Theosophy movement, and addresses members of her society in New York. Wong Chin Foo Chronology xxiii 1879 Settles temporarily in Chicago. Intervenes in a dispute between local Chinese laundrymen. Enemies seek to have him kidnapped and deported. Survives assassination attempt. 1880 Briefly quits lecturing and opens a tea shop in Bay City, Michigan. Registers to vote in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1881 Cuts off queue and permanently adopts Western dress. 1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act, which places a 10-year moratorium on the immigration of Chinese laborers into the United States and prohibits the naturalization of Chinese, is signed into law. 1883 Publishes the Chinese American, New York’s first Chinese newspaper. Believed to be the first time the term is used. Charges Chan Pond Tipp with attempting to assassinate him and causes latter’s arrest. Chan, in turn, sues for criminal libel, seeking $25,000 in damages. Publicly challenges San Francisco anti-Chinese demagogue Denis Kearney to a duel. 1884 Introduces Americans to “chop suey” in an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Convenes first meeting of “naturalized Chinamen” in New York City, probably America’s first gathering of Chinese American voters. 1885 Found guilty of libeling Chan Pond Tipp and ordered to pay $1,000. Cracks the case of the murder of Sing Lee, principal witness in a legal dispute among Canadian Chinese laundrymen. 1887 Publishes essay, “Why Am I a Heathen?” in the North American Review, causing a firestorm of criticism and spurring a rebuttal. Travels to Canada and is forced to pay a $50 head tax. Bests Denis Kearney in a face-to-face debate in New York. xxiv...