A Legacy Magnified: A Generation of Chinese Americans in Southern California (1980's ~ 2010's): Vol 1

By EHGBooks

A Legacy Magnified: A Generation of Chinese Americans in Southern California, 1980's-2010's (南加華人三十年史話英文版) is a monumental publication jointly authored by a team of renowned group of writers consisting of 17 chapters, nearly 1 million words, and more than 1,300 photographs, many of which are collected from historical archives. It is an unprecede

• Language: English
• Publisher: EHGBooks
• Release date: Jun 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647849832

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface I

Preface II

Preface III

Preface IV

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE SEVEN COUNTIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH THE LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF THE CHINESE POPULATION

I. Los Angeles County

1. The Rise and Decline of the Old Chinatown

2. Little Taipei----A Typical City for Chinese Immigrants

3. The China Valley Formed by the Chinese Communities in Greater San Gabriel

4. The Formation of Four Waves of the Chinese Immigration

5. Gradual Formation and Development of the Chinese Economic Impact

6. The Establishment of Transnational Business Enclave

II. Orange County

1. Early Chinese Farm Workers

2. Growth of the Chinese population

3. Vietnamese Chinese Businesses Flourish

4. A Variety of Complementary Organizations

4.1 Chinese Friendship Association

4.2 Chamber of Commerce and Other Overseas Chinese Organizations

4.3 Chinese American Cultural and Educational Organizations

4.4 Taiwanese Medical and Dental Association of Orange County

4.5 Orange County Taiwanese Benevolent Association

4.6 Chinese American Churches and Buddhist Temples

5. Orange County in California---A Base Camp for the Asia’s Richest

III. San Diego County

1. Early Chinese Fishermen Brought Prosperity to California Economy

2. Chinese Business Centers and Their Rise and Decline

3. Ah Quin, The Mayor of Chinatown

4. Countering the Impact of Anti-Chinese Sentiment

5. Freemasons, Chinese Consolidated Benevolence Association, and Chinese Americans in the Military in World War II

6. Growth of Chinese Population and Outstanding Chinese in Politics, Economics, Culture and Education

6.1 Population Growth and Community Development

6.2 Chinese American Highly Commended in Mainstream Society

6.3 Chinese Language Schools Flourished

6.4 Outstanding Chinese Americans in Economic Realm

6.5 Robust Development in Culture and Mass Media

6.6 The Development of Overseas Chinese Organizations

6.7 Chinese American Arts Organizations

6.8 Religion and Beliefs

6.9 Many Ways to Merge into the Mainstream

IV. San Bernardino County and Riverside County

1. Early Chinese Immigrants

2. Building of Chinatown

3. Growth of Chinese Population and Community Development

3.1 San Bernardino County

3.2 Riverside County

4. Development of Chinese Communities in the Inland Empire

4.1 Development of Chinese Communities

5. Chinese Language Schools

5.1 Inland Riverside Chinese School

5.2 Riverside HuaXia Chinese School

5.3 San Yu Chinese Language School

5.4 Pomona Valley Chinese School

6. Chinese Christian Churches

6.1 Loma Linda Chinese Church

6.2 Evangelical Formosan Church of the Inland Empire

6.3 Riverside Mandarin Baptist Church, RMBC

6.4 Riverside Christian Alliance Church

6.5 Inland Chinese/Taiwanese Presbyterian Church

7. Student Organizations

8. Rapid Development of Chinese American Economy

9. Preservation of Chinese Culture and Tradition

V. Ventura County and Santa Barbara County

1. From Sui Mon Gong to Big Oak

2. Chinese Community in Ventura County

3. Growth in Chinese Population

4. Conejo Chinese Cultural Association and Thousand Oaks Chinese School

5. Chinese Language School of Ventura County

6. History of Chinese Immigrants in Santa Barbara

7. Early Chinese Contribution to the Development of Farming Economy in Santa Barbara

8. Gin Chow Accurately Predicted the 1925 Santa Barbara Earthquake

9. Development of Santa Barbara Chinese Community

10. Henry T. Yang’s Remarkable Contribution as Chancellor of UC Santa Barbara

11. Santa Barbara Became a Sister City of Weihai, China

12. Chinese Immigrants in Santa Barbara in the Past 30 Years

13. Santa Barbara Chinese American Association (SBCAA)

14. Santa Barbara Chinese Language School and Chinese Evangelical Church

VI. The Bright Future for Chinese Americans in Southern California

CHAPTER TWO ORGANIZATIONS FOUNDED ON SENTIMENT FOR HOMELAND

I. The Formation and Functions of Organizations

II. The Interpretation of Overseas Chinese and Their Organizations

III. Functions of Organizations Representing Old Time Traditional Community Groups

1. Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Los Angeles (CCBALA)

1.1 Support China for the War against Japan

1.2 Seeking Welfare for Chinese Immigrants

1.3 Sponsored the 8th International Asian Business Trade Conference

1.4 Placing Vietnamese Refugees

1.5 Anti-MGM Action for Its Insulting Movie Content against Chinese

1.6 100th Anniversary Celebration

1.7 The Turbulence Caused by the American Anti-Immigration Act

1.8 Celebration of Independence Day in New Chinatown

1.9 Beautifying Chinatown - Negotiation with the State to Build a Park

1.10 Major Annual Events

1.11 The Twenty-Seven Associations and the Three Sub-Organizations

2. Other Chinatown Organizations with Historical Significance

2. 1 Chinatown Service Center

2. 2 Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles (CCCLA)

2. 3 National Chinese Welfare Council at Los Angeles

2.4 The World Kwong Tung Community Association of Southern California Chapter

2.5 Chinatown Senior Citizen Service Center

2. 6 Overseas Chinese Association Los Angeles Chapter

2. 7 Cathay Manor Senior Care Services and Grand Senior Apartments

2.8 Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC)

2.9 Chinese American Museum (CAM)

2.10 Chinatown Public Safety Association

2.11 The Impact of the Closing of the Community Redevelopment Agency

IV. The Organizations Formed by People from Taiwan

1. Special Elements Applying to Taiwan Immigration

2. Their Outstanding Socio-economic Achievement

3. Gained the Reputation of Exemplary Immigrants

4. The Reasons for the Decline in Immigration to the U.S.

5. The Origin and Continuity of the Political Topics for Discussion

6. A Brief Summary of Numerous Organizations

6.1 Main Benevolent Organizations

6.2 A Brief Summary of Other Types of Community Organizations

7. The Insistence by Taiwanese Americans on the Different Meanings between Taiwanese and Chinese

8. The Main Organizations of Taiwanese Americans

8.1 Taiwanese Association of America (TAA)

8.2 Taiwanese American Foundation (TAF)

8.3 Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL)

8.4 Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA)

8.5 Taiwanese United Fund (TUF)

8.6 Taiwan Center Foundation of Greater Los Angeles

8.7 Taiwan American Association of East San Gabriel Valley

8.8 Taiwanese Association of Northwest Los Angeles (TANLA)

9. Hakka Organizations

9.1      Taiwanese Hakka Association of the World and Taiwanese Hakka Association of America

9.2      America Hakka Association

9.3 Southern California Taiwan Hakka Association

9.4 Meizhou Association of Southern California, USA

9.5 Qin Lian Ling Fang Association

9.6 American Hakka Center

9.7 World Federation of Chinese Traders Alumni (WFCTA), Los Angeles Chapter

9.8 Meinong Association, Xing Ning Association and Dapu Association

9.9 Hakka Foundation - Origin of The Spring Foundation

V. Organizations of Immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia (Khmer) and Laos

1. The Origin of Immigrants Escaping through the Raging Water

2. The Cultural and Economic Development Founded on the Confucius School of Thought

2.1 Strongly Connected to Chinese Culture

2.2 Intelligence, Diligence and Grasping Opportunities Accounts for Their Rise

2.3 Business Development from Chinatown to the San Gabriel Valley to Westminster

3. Passion for Political Participation and Charitable Giving

3.1 March Forward Courageously in Political Participation

3.2 Exhibiting Their Great Compassion for People in Need

3.3 Victor Lu Sacrificed His Life for the Iraq War

4. The Sense of Mission to Keep up Chinese Culture in Their Sub-conscious

4.1 Praiseworthy Support from the Nationalist Government with All Its Strength

4.2 The Trend of Valuing Organizations came from Their Provincialism

5. The Unified Organizations Formed by the VCL Chinese

5.1 The Global Unified Chinese Organizations from Vietnam, Khmer and Laos (TGUCOVKL)

5.2 The Global Unified Chinese Organizations from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos (TGUCOVCL)

6. Brief Introduction of the Main VCL Organizations

6.1 Indochinese American Political Action Committee (IAPAC)

6.2 America Vietnam Chinese Friendship Association

6.3 Cambodian Ethnic Chinese Association USA

6.4 Lao-Chinese Friendship Association of USA

6.5 Teochew Association of Southern California

6.6 Hainan Association of Southern California

6.7 Southern California Fukienese Association

6.8 Southern California Cantonese Association

6.9 Cà Mau Association of America

6.10 Xuan Wu San Buddhist Association

6.11 Vietnam Danang Thonhon School Alumni Association

6.12 The Elderly In-do Chinese Association

6.13 American Hai Ninh Community Association

6.14 Buddha Monastery Support Association

6.15 Rạch Giá Friendship Association of California

6.16 California Tong-An Association

VI. Organizations Formed by Immigrants from China

1. Causes for Mainland Chinese Immigration to the United States and Its Current Situation

2. Motivation for Investment Immigration

3. The Problems Generated from the Distance between the Rich and the Poor

4. Characteristics, Functions and Effects of Mainland Chinese American Organizations

5. Introduction of Main Federations

5.1 Federation of Chinese Americans

5.2 Kiangsu, Zhekiang & Shanghai Association of the USA (KZSUSA)

5.3 Chinese American Federation (CAF)

5.4 Roundtable of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations (ROSCCAO)

6. Main Individual Membership Organizations

6.1 Chinese CEO Organization

6.2 US-China Association of High-level Professionals

6.3 China Enterprise Association

6.4 Beijing Association USA

6.5 Shanghailanders Club

6.6 Zhejiang United Head Association

6.7 Northwest Chinese Association of the United State

6.8 Zhi-Qing Association of Southern California (ZQSC)

6.9 U.S. Wenzhou Association

6.10 Wenzhou Association of California, U.S.A.

6.11 U.S. Chinese Minority Society

6.12 The Shanghai Club, USA

6.13 Tianjin Overseas Friendship Association

6.14 Southwest China Association of Southern California, U.S.A.

6.15 Nanjing Association USA

6.16 Hei Long Jiang Friendship Association

6.17 Xiamen Association USA

6.18 American Association for Shaanxi Province

6.19 North America Suzhou Association (NASA)

6.20 Shenzhen Americans Association

6.21 Hunan Benevolent Association of America

6.22 American Yantai Association

6.23 North-East Overseas Chinese Friendship Association USA

6.24 Overseas Chinese Civil and Structural Engineering Association (OCCSEA)

6.25 American Chinese Culture Association (ACCA)

VII. Organizations Formed by Immigrants from Hong Kong and Macau

1. Setting a Sound Record of Political Participation

2. Achievements and Models in Science Research

3. Development in Economics and Business

4. Philanthropy of the Organizations Formed by the People from Hong Kong

4.1 Hong Kong Association of Southern California

4.2 Hong Kong Schools Alumni Federation (HKSAF)

4.3 Morning Light Foundation (MLF)

4.4 Christian Schools Alumni Association

4.5 Pui Ching Middle School

VIII. Chinese Immigrants from Korea and the Organizations Formed by Them

1. Their Performances in Politics

2. Their Development in Economics

3. Their Accomplishments in Publishing

4. Their Passion in Charity

5. Their Organizations

5.1 Southern California Han Hwa Association

6. Other Organizations Closely Connected with the Southern California Han Hwa Association

IX. Organizations Formed by Chinese Immigrants from Indonesia and the Them

1. Causes for Emigration of Indonesian Chinese

2. The Indonesian Chinese American Association Fights for Its People to Gain Their Rights

3. Former President Abdurrahman Wahid, a Self-Described Chinese

4. Their Concern over Indonesian Disaster Reflected in Their Donations

X. Room for Improvement in the Chinese American Community

XI. Evolving Policies on Overseas Chinese Affairs from Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait and Their Impact

1. The ROC's Overseas Chinese Affairs Policies

1.1 Politics

1.2 Economy

1.3 In Social and Cultural Aspects

1.4 The New ROC Representative Met with the Los Angeles Chinese Community

2. The Changes in and Impact of Mainland China's Overseas Chinese Affairs

2.1 The PRC's Overseas Chinese Affairs after 1978

2.2 The Variations in the PRC's Policies toward Overseas Chinese Affairs

2.3 The China-U.S. Relationship

XII. Seek a Common Ground while Reserving Differences, Pay Mutual Respect with Sincerity, and Stand Together as Always

CHAPTER THREE CONTRIBUTIONS TO URBAN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

I. Distribution and Development of Chinese Residential Areas in the Greater Los Angeles Areas from 1980 to 2010

1. The Changing Demographics of the Chinese American Population from 1980 to 2010

2. Analysis of the Population Growth Rate of Chinese-Concentrated Cities

3. A City within a City – The Chinatown in Los Angeles

4. The Southwestern Regions of San Gabriel Valley – a Heartland of the Chinese Residents

4.1 City of Alhambra

4.2 Temple City

4.3 City of Arcadia

4.4 City of San Marino

4.5 City of Rosemead

4.6 City of El Monte

4.7 City of Cerritos

5. The Southeastern Regions of San Gabriel Valley

5.1 Hacienda Heights

5.2 Rowland Heights

5.3 City of Walnut

5.4 City of West Covina

5.5 City of Industry

6. Main Reasons behind the Continuing and Unstoppable Eastward Movement of the Chinese

6.1 Affordable and Quality Housing

6.2 Luxurious Housing in Coastal Areas are Favored by the Rich

6.3 Chinese Investment Capital and Ethnic Economy Promote Development

6.4 Construction of the Interstate Highway System, Transportation, and the Eastward Development of Chinese Communities in Los Angeles County

II. The Role of Chinese in Urban and Community Development of Southern California

1. Examining the Achievement of Chinese American Participation in the Urban and Community Development in Three Typical Cities

1.1 Monterey Park, the First Stop in the Eastward Movement of Chinese Immigrants

1.2 San Gabriel, a City with the Second Highest Chinese Population Concentration

1.3 Diamond Bar, a City Managed by a Chinese Mayor

2. Contributions of Numerous Investors and Chinese Architects

2.1 Examples on Chinese Participation and Investment in Urban Construction

2.2 Contributions from Chinese Architects and Renowned Urban Planners and Engineers

3. Several Examples of Chinese Participation in Urban and Community Environmental Protection

3.1 Stephen K. Sham Substantially Increased the Quality of Social Services in the City of Alhambra

3.2 Mary Su Guarded the Quality of Life for City of Walnut Residents

3.3 Steven Ly Urged for the Extension of the 710 Freeway

3.4 Chin Ho Liao Supported the San Gabriel Trench Project

4. The Inseparable Relationship between Excellent School Districts and Chinese Community Development

4.1 Arcadia Unified School District

4.2 San Marino Unified School District

4.3 Irvine Unified School District

III. Chinese Americans Becoming Vigorous Participants and Leaders in Community Development

Postscript

Donors List

Rosemead Gardens-Mary Liu

Appendices included in the original Chinese version

Editorial Board of the Original Chinese Version

Preface I

by

Larry Wong 黃金泉

A Remarkable Generation

Who Passes Down the Cultural Torch and Forges Ahead into the Future

It has been over one hundred and sixty years since the Chinese came to settle in Southern California. I arrived Los Angeles in 1948 when I was seventeen. I heard the hardship of our predecessors and witnessed racial discrimination in the land. The hardships experienced were indeed unspeakable. I joined the Chinese Benevolent Association, Los Angeles羅省中華會館during my adolescent years without the slightest hesitation for the sake of help achieve solidarity and promote cooperation among the Chinese. I vowed to contribute my own part to the service of the Chinese. Owing to my unremitting effort and zeal, I was welcomed and my efforts appreciated by the leaders of the Chinese community and won the trust of the Chinese American community at large. I was thrice elected chairman and twice as chief supervisor監事長 of this organization. Subsequently, I was requested to organize and found the Chinese Benevolent Association in the United States全美中華會館, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association中華公所, National Association of Overseas Chinese Benevolent Associations華僑總會聯誼會, and Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, USA 美洲中華公所 and have served as its chairman and executive secretary up to the present. How time flies! I am now at the age of eighty-five! It is no exaggeration to say that I have dedicated my life to the service of the overseas Chinese.

I have been living in the U.S. for nearly seventy years. In the first twenty years, the Chinese I encountered called themselves laoqiao 老僑 or older generation overseas Chinese. Although they no longer worked as miners and railway workers, they made a living predominantly by running restaurants or laundries. Chinese Americans then were manual labors. In the second twenty years, Chinese came here in increasing numbers as students at institutions of higher learning. Although they were much better educated, constrained by their financial resources and living under a variety of pressures, they found it difficult to merge into the mainstream American society. They remained marginal. In the last thirty years, however, there was an influx of so-called xinqiao 新僑 or recently arrived overseas Chinese. The pleasant and salubrious climate in Southern California made it an ideal place for these newcomers. Among them, there is no lack of professionals with various expertise, skills, and financial capabilities. Gradually, those who came as students successfully completed their graduate education and established themselves professionally. They have contributed significantly to the Chinese communities here in Southern California and are responsible for the rising socio-political status of the Chinese Americans. This dramatic development is in sharp contrast to the situation I witnessed during my first forty years here. 

I have been living in Southern California since my adolescent years. I boast of being a living witness to the history of the Chinese in Southern California. I often thought to myself that if this history exists only in my memories it would be forgotten once I pass away. Fortunately, May Chen 陳十美, concurrently President of American East Asian Culture and Education Foundation 美國東亞文教基金會, Principal of Sunshine Education Center 陽光教育中心, and President of North American Chinese Writers Association, Los Angeles 北美洛杉磯華文作家協會, has spent many years planning for the project and has mobilized hundreds of individuals to write and compile the book A Legacy Magnified: A Generation of Chinese Americans in Southern California, 1980’s-2010’s 南加華人三十年史話, a massive publication that contains nearly one million Chinese characters. The book records and reports the evolution and transformation of the lives of the Chinese in Southern California in the past thirty years. It has concurrently filled the gap of knowledge about the Chinese activities in the past half a century.  This book will definitely transmit to our posterity China’s rich cultural heritage. This is a true blessing to the Chinese in Southern California. We are all profoundly indebted to Madame Chen for her courage and sustained effort indeed.

Madame Chen is a publisher, educator, writer, and philanthropist in one person. She is a gifted woman as well as a lady of amazing caliber. It would be difficult to find her equal. Over thirty some years ago, she founded the So Cal Community News 南華時報, which served as a effective media advocating for the Chinese. It was one of the few Chinese paper media active at the time. The newspaper provided important information for the Chinese community, a great contribution in and by itself. I made acquaintance with her back then. As we had much in common in terms of ideas and values, we have become close friends who are oblivious of their respective ages.

Before the publication of A Legacy Magnified, Madame Chen approached me to furnish a preface. Neither a scholar myself nor is writing my forte, I feel humbled for this task. I composed the above as a token of my appreciation for Madame Chen’s sincerity and tireless effort.

Larry Wong

Fall 2013

Chinatown, Los Angeles, California

Preface II

by

Yong Chen 陳勇

A Monumental Work on the History of Chinese Immigration

The publication of A Legacy Magnified initiated and compiled under the leadership of Madame May Chen 陳十美, President of American East Asian Culture and Education Foundation, is an occasion for jubilant celebration. This masterful work comprehensively documents in great detail the robust growth of the Chinese in Southern California during the past several decades. This book is a milestone in itself. It makes it possible for this important chapter of Chinese American history to be documented and passed down from generation to generation.

Throughout American history, the Chinese play a pivotal role. First of all, the immigration of the Chinese to America has served an important link that connects Chinese and American economies and cultures. In 1784, the first merchant ship of the US, the Empress of China, arrived in Guangzhou, which signaled the American involvement in flourishing Chinese trade business. At the beginning of the 1830s, American missionaries went to Guangdong in droves. This opened the door for the further Sino-American exchanges, which paved the way for Chinese emigration to America. Moreover, the Chinese who came during and after the Gold Rush made indelible contributions to the development of the American West, especially California. In 1870 the Chinese represented almost ten percent of the overall population in California and over twenty percent of its labor force. We can say without exaggeration that without the Chinese, there would be no American West of today.

The Chinese experience also constitutes an important part of the development of cultural diversity and human rights in the US.  The Chinese 49’ers, who came primarily from the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong, were the first large wave of Asian immigrants to arrive in America. And Chinatown was the first permanent Asian settlement in the country. Later, the Chinese suffered from intense persecution and discrimination. They were driven out of hundreds of towns in the American West. Their houses were burned down; their properties were robbed; and many of them lost their lives. In 1882, the American Congress passed the notorious Chinese Exclusion Act. This was the American act that restricts the immigration from a country on the basis of race. Besides forbidding the Chinese workers from coming to the US, this act also reiterated the racist principle that Chinese immigrants could not become naturalized American citizens. Nonetheless, the Chinese did not remain passive victims of racism but continuously fought against in the media, courts, and other areas.  In doing so, they promoted cultural diversity in American society and upheld the principle of equality and justice as stipulated in the Constitution.

In spite of its significance, much of Chinese America history was forgotten over time. Mainstream Americans have little interest or ability in recording the overseas Chinese history. And most Chinese Americans themselves did not have the resources or training to record their own experiences. Recently, there is some notable progress in the study of Chinese community in America, but much of the attention has been directed to big cities like New York and San Francisco. Southern California has not received due attention, creating a big gap in our understanding of the history of the Chinese in America. As early as the 1850s, traces of the Chinese presence appeared in this area. In 1871, in an anti-Chinese riot in L.A, 18 Chinese were killed, which signaled the beginning of a large scale anti-Chinese violence in the American West. But the Chinese pioneers persevered. In the first half of the 20th century, Chinese medicine spread to various ethnic communities through the L.A. area, which serves as a bridge among different cultures. Since the 1960s, Southern California has become an important destination for new immigrants. The immigrants from Taiwan established suburban communities away in cities like Monterey Park, which became known as Little Taipei, from traditional Chinatowns.  In the 21st century, Southern California has become one of the largest Chinese population centers. In the newly developed cities like Irvine, a new type of Chinese community, which I have characterized as post-modern Chinatown, has emerged.

A Legacy Magnified fills an important gap in our understanding of Chinese American history, covering seven counties throughout southern California. The grand scale of this book is truly impressive. Another feature of the book is its coverage of a comprehensive list of topics, ranging from history to politics, culture, economy, and the daily lives of the Chinese. The many people involved in writing and collecting materials come from various professions and different cities. This makes the book a very meaningful undertaking for the Southern California Chinese community. The rich materials and the profound insights of this book will benefit not only the community but also those who wish to understand the past and present of Chinese America. 

This grand work is the fruit of May Chen’s many years of hard work, unselfish dedication, and leadership, which mobilized and inspired many individuals from different walks of life to participate in the writing and research of this book over a long period of time.  When I first drove from Irvine to her Foundation in Rosemead to review some chapters of this book, numerous scholars and community leaders from different parts of Southern California were already there. We all sat obediently and quietly behind the student desks for hours, using the pen and paper she provided to work on the parts of the draft that she assigned each of us.  It vividly demonstrated the profound impact of this project as well as her enormous appeal as its chief architect.  Therefore, when she called me to write a preface, I could only oblige! 

Yong Chen

Professor of History

University of California, Irvine

Preface III

by

Su Chen陳肅

Closing a Historical Gap

It is at the kind invitation of Madame May Chen, I compose this preface to A Legacy Magnified. Although I am not a specialist in Asian American Studies, I am fully cognizant of the significance of this book in terms of its collecting, arranging and preserving the historical documents for the Chinese and the community at large in Southern California. I wish to take this opportunity to share my personal observations and reflection with its readers.

I made acquaintance with Madame Chen, editor-in-chief of this book, at the inauguration of the Taiwan Academy 台灣書院 back in October 2011. I learned that she was in the process of mobilizing writers for the publication of A Legacy Magnified: A Generation of Chinese Americans in Southern California, 1980’s-2010’s. I was both excited and curious. I was excited because I was able to meet Madame Chen and her team and to understand more about the source materials for the book as well as how these materials are to be utilized. Such information would be useful for UCLA’s East Asian Library to gain understanding of the community and to serve the Library’s patrons better. I was also curious. One and a half centuries have elapsed since the Chinese landed in Southern California. Chinese are found everywhere in the Southland. As the second largest Chinese conglomeration in America, how could it be possible that no one has ever written a book on the history the Chinese in Southern California in general and in Los Angeles in particular?

Intrigued by this question in mind, I searched various bibliographies and data banks. To my surprise, I discovered that although over 800,000 of Chinese from various parts of the world have settled here in the Los Angeles area, there are only some scattered family histories are in existence, such as Louise Leung’s Sweet Bamboo: A Memoir of a Chinese American Family, written by a grand-daughter of Tom Leung 譚良. In this book, the author details Tom Leung’s experience and the life of his family in Los Angeles. The author also mentions Leung’s association with Kang Youwei 康有爲 and with Kang’s Society for the Preservation of the Monarchy 保皇會. I was unable to locate any historical work that studies the overseas Chinese as a whole. This being the case, the work of Madame Chen and her team most definitely fills in the gap in this unprecedented undertaking. She and her team command my highest respect. 

How does Chen’s team cover the overseas Chinese as an integral whole? To find out, I visited the office of the book’s Editorial Board situated in a large classroom at the Sunshine Education Center, a Chinese language school founded by May Chen. On the blackboard, an outline of the book was clearly written, containing a total of 17 chapters. Along the walls of the classroom there were tables upon which all the collected books, documents, and other materials were on display. Plans and progress for each chapter and their respective sections were also made available on these tables. A Legacy Magnified is extensive in scope. It covers Chinese American communities, Overseas Chinese organizations, political participation, rights campaign, mass media, education, arts, urban construction, large and medium-sized enterprises, business and industries of all kinds, family structure, ethics, and religious beliefs. It amounts to nothing less than an encyclopedia of the Chinese Americans in Southern California. Chen’s team wishes to document and to present a panoramic perspective of the Chinese Americans in this region during the past 30 years through this book.

As a librarian, I am particularly interested in the collection of source materials. Since Madame Chen was previously the editor-in-chief of So Cal Community News, she relied upon the input of a vast number of Chinese here. Her team adopted a variety of means to collect materials. The team convened source collection meetings, solicited historical photographs from private collections, and sought print as well as digital archives. They not only extensively solicited materials from the local residents, but also collected relevant information from phone books, census data, and other statistics available pertaining to Chinese Americans in the Southland. This is conducted in such a manner so that the multi-perspective, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive nature of this book on the subject of Chinese Americans in Southern California can be meaningfully completed.

Why does the book choose to cover only 30 years? Perhaps, this is the question that many readers would ask. Madame Chen explained that they intend to record the part of history that they themselves have experienced or witnessed. Further, these three decades coincide with the dramatic transformation in Southern California, of which Chinese Americans are an integral and significant part. These 30 years of drastic change are also emotionally relevant to them. Many are inspired and responded in unison to undertake this monumental and gap-filling task together.

I have to say regrettably that up until now no university library in Southern California has systematically collected, catalogued, and preserved the historical records of Chinese Americans in Southern California, hence any scholarly research on their lives and experiences is extremely difficult. Chinese have lived and worked on this land since 1850. If one wanted to know what happened to the Chinese around 1900 in terms of their lives and work and to know how they survived in spite of discrimination, one would not be able to find any systematically presented materials to assist them in their research. A Legacy Magnified has blazed a new trail. It inspires and impels all the Chinese Americans in Southern California to cherish and to consciously preserve their own history. The effort of Chen’s team has successfully provided us and our posterity with important clues to understand what has transpired in the past 30 years. Had there not been such a publication, much of the history would have been lost into oblivion in the long river of history.

The history of the Chinese Americans in Southern California belongs to us all. We should not only continue to create history and continue to collect and preserve historical documents, we should also encourage more people to study our history. A Legacy Magnified is a pioneering work and I am profoundly grateful for its publication. It is my hope that additional historical works of this kind will be made available.

Su Chen

Head, East Asian Library

University of California, Los Angeles

Preface IV

By

Min Zhou周敏

Turning of the Tide

In 2011, I received a call from Shui Yin Lo 盧遂顯, a Ph.D. in quantum physics from the University of Chicago. A meticulous researcher, Dr. Lo was looking for a specialist in Chinese American Studies with bilingual proficiency and found me from UCLA’s Asian American faculty roster. He told me that Asian-American Cultural and Educational Foundation, which he led, was working on a book entitled A Legacy Magnified: A Generation of Chinese-Americans in Southern California, 1980’s to 2010’s (in Chinese). His wife, May Chen, served as the chief editor. I was deeply moved by the passion, effort and dedication of Dr. and Mrs. Lo and all the people who were directly or indirectly engaged in this immense project. When I was invited to write a preface for this book, I felt honored and delighted. As an immigrant from China and a student of contemporary Chinese diasporas, I also consider it a rare opportunity that allowed me to immerse myself in my own history. 

Looking back, the history of the Chinese in America was filled with hardship, humiliation, struggle and triumph. The passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act by U.S. Congress in 1882 plunged Chinese Americans into a deep abyss, which lasted for 60 years. During WWII, the Act was repealed, but its negative effect still lingered even as Chinese began to rise up in American society. The lenient sentence made in the murder case of Vincent Chin in 1982 is a good case in point. This case reflected deep-rooted discrimination against the Chinese in American society. Fortunately, on June 18, 2012, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to apologize to Chinese-Americans. Members of both Houses issued an apology for the Chinese Exclusion Act. This historical event resulted from years of concerted effort on the part of Chinese-Americans. Incidentally, A Legacy Magnified covers the period framed approximately by these two historical events. I would guess that the compilers of this book may have had these two events in mind when they decided on the time frame for the book.

In the mid-19th century, the gold rush attracted a large number of Chinese to San Francisco (called Gold Mountain by the overseas Chinese) in California. Later tens of thousands of Chinese workers came to construct the First Continental Railway. Suffering from homesickness and racial discrimination, the Chinese still made an indelible contribution to the farming, manufacturing and service sectors in the development of California. Now, the Chinese constitute 10% of the overall population in the state. They play an important role in its social and economic development. Southern California is well-known to the world as a major center of entertainment, mass media, aeronautics and space research, pharmaceuticals, and other high-tech industries. It is also home to reputable academic institutions such as UCLA, Caltech, USC, Claremont McKenna College, and Harvey Mudd College. Currently, the overall Chinese population in America is about 3.8 million (according to the 2010 Census). The Chinese population in Southern California alone is over 800 000. In the past 30 years, the Chinese in this region have flourished and distinguished themselves in politics, economy, education, technology and the arts. Many have successfully merged themselves into the mainstream society in America. Success stories include Dr. Judy May Chu趙美心, the first Chinese Congresswoman in American history, Dr. Roger Youchien Tsien 錢永健, a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry from University of California, San Diego, Ming Hsieh 謝明, an entrepreneur who donated US$85 million to the University of Southern California, and Walter Wen-hsiang Wang王文祥, a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. The list goes on and on. They are all the pride of the Chinese in Southern California. As we look back, we cannot help but sigh. There is a great change of fortune for Chinese Americans here. Indeed, as a Chinese saying goes, there are thirty years’ ebb and there are thirty years’ flow.

The Asian-American Cultural and Educational Foundation was established in 1989, chaired by Ms. May Chen. Chen was formerly a lecturer in the Department of Chinese at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. She came to America in 1977. In 1980, she ran Nanhua Daily, the first Chinese community newspaper in L.A., which appealed to both new and old Chinese-Americans. This pioneering work promoted prosperity in the Chinese newspaper industry. In 1987, Chen plunged herself into the field of education and established Huaxing College and Sunshine Education Center. She has also become a pioneer in pre-school education and after-school programs. Over three years ago, she took the initiative to organize and compile this huge historical piece entitled A Legacy Magnified. This work proceeds with a line of thinking that is very creative. Instead of brooding over a sad and, at times, bloody, historical past, it focuses on the success stories of Chinese-Americans today. It sheds a positive light on the Chinese in America.

In the process of writing this voluminous work, we see the unity and cooperation of the Chinese in Southern California at their best. Under a limited budget, the compiling committee made light of many difficulties. Besides sorting through articles solicited from the public, they also conducted interviews with over 500 persons from various classes and professions. The interviewees included many eminent Chinese. The committee collected the material from oral history, while sorting, verifying and synthesizing them on the basis of individual experience, reflections and life paths. As a result, the book before you is a great work with distinctive viewpoints and convincing arguments. Besides the history of immigration and the history of political participation, the compilers give prominence to the arduous journey that the Chinese underwent to protect their civil rights. The book also elaborates on the accomplishments that the Chinese have achieved in technology, education and high-tech companies. Besides these, the book also surveys the essence of Chinese culture such as philosophy and thought, language, medicine and literature, and arts. The essence of Chinese culture is an indispensable spiritual pillar for the Chinese, which they cannot lack even as they seek to merge into the mainstream society. Furthermore, the book highly commends the stable Chinese family structure, eminent Chinese women and new-generation Chinese. It appeals to the Chinese to give back to society, respect different religious beliefs, and to respect American values, as a way to merge into mainstream society.

Admittedly, no one in the compiling team is a professional historian specializing in the study of Chinese-Americans. They have made their utmost effort, and are meticulous in putting together a book that approaches perfection in both form and content. Their objective is to adopt a broad vision and take a positive angle, using solid data and plain language to portray the glorious journey that has been undergone by Chinese-Americans. It is meant to inspire Chinese-American readers in all ranks to move forward, to feel proud of being Chinese in America, and to instill in them a sense of optimism. The compilers have clear objectives and position themselves well. The book has quite a few distinctive features. In particular, the historical material it uses comes from grassroots communities with various backgrounds. The grassroots nature of the source material and its originality especially characterize this book.

Finally, this book has a rich content, presented sometimes by narration, and sometimes by commentary. It is only appropriate that shihua 史話, or informal historical narrative, is adopted here. I believe this book is good news for the overseas Chinese in America and elsewhere. It is also a good reference book for those engaged in the study of the history of overseas Chinese immigration and contemporary Chinese immigration.

The Chinese edition of A Legacy Magnified was published as a commemorative collection with 3,000 hard copies. The English edition will be published as an e-book made available online, and serve as a reference for those of Chinese descent, or descendants of other ethnic groups, as well as relevant academic and immigrant-run institutions. More importantly, this book will inform Chinese descendants of what their predecessors have accomplished, and inspire them to pass on the cultural torch. Indeed, the book has significance for now, and forever. I appreciate their ideas and their efforts. I heartedly congratulate them on their success today and tomorrow.

Los Angeles is a city where I have lived and worked for more than 20 years. The Chinese community here serves as not only my research site but also my home base. It holds dear to my heart, and I owe it a debt of gratitude. Between 2013 and 2016, I moved to Singapore when the Chinese edition was published and the English translation project launched. Being on the other side of the Pacific Ocean made me come to a realization that I was homesick. Home is in Southern California.

Min Zhou

Professor of Sociology & Asian American Studies

Walter & Shirley Wang Endowed Chair

in U.S.-China Relations & Communications

Director, Asia Pacific Center

University of California, Los Angeles

Introduction

Seventy-four years elapsed between the founding of the Unites States as a nation and the admission of California to the Union. The passage of this time and California’s geographic features contributed to California’s unique cultural characteristics and immigration pattern or history, different from other states. While the Chinese cannot claim to be the earliest foreign settlers in this country, we can say, however, that the Chinese are neither late-comers nor are they an ethnic group who came to enjoy the fruit of others. The Chinese arrived in California prior to some European immigrants, Jews, and the Japanese. Together with other ethnic groups, the Chinese reclaimed this land and cultivated the place they called home. Like the Westward Movement shortly began after the first colonial settlements were established along the Atlantic coast, the early Chinese immigrants to America were pioneers in exploration, enduring much hardship and displaying unyielding, indomitable, and dauntless courage and perseverance. Doesn’t this call to mind the drama of westward expansion, filled with courageous as well as tragic incidents?

According to a report on the status of Chinese Americans in the U.S. conducted by the University of Maryland in 2009, the earliest Chinese came to America in 1785, when three Chinese sailors arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, on board the ship Pallas. Larry Hajime Shinagawa, author of the report and Director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University, indicates that it is probable that the Chinese might have arrived in America earlier than 1785. Some scholars surmised that Chinese Americans in the United States could be traced back ten generations. Some Chinese might have arrived in the Mississippi River area and Southern California as early as 1700. It has been seven or eight generations since Chinese came to America during the Gold Rush in the 1840’s.¹

I. Who are the Chinese Americans?

Who are the Huaren 華人 (Ethnic Chinese)? Who are Meiji huaren 美籍華人 (Chinese Americans) or Huayi 華裔? These are terms which have been a subject of discussion in the academic disciplines of anthropology, sociology, and immigration history for over a century. Michel Guillaume

Jean de Crevecoeur (aka John Hector St. John, 1735-1813), a French-American prose writer once asked, What is an American? In order to find an answer, one needs to trace back to history. The fact that questions such as this are raised is itself a historical phenomenon.²

Ethnic Chinese is a generic term referring to all Chinese ethnicities. They are also known as the people of Tang or Tangren 唐人. It is an apolitical, anthropological designation, indicating those people whose ancestors came from ancient China. The ethnic Chinese originated from the Huaxia 華夏ethnicity in ancient China. It is noted in The Tenth Year in the Reign of Duke Ding, in the Zuo Commentary on the Annals of Spring and Autumn春秋左傳正義,定公十年: "Hua 華is defined as the decorative patterns on vestments." The Han people and their ancestors wore clothing with exquisite patterns. This is the etymological origin of the character Hua. As a designation of an ethnic identity, the ethnic Chinese can probably be traced back to the Zhou 周period. With the expansion of the Huaxia civilization to other parts of the land, the term Huaren or ethnic Chinese extended its connotation from referring to the purely Huaxia ethnic group to other ethnic groups who came under the influence of Chinese civilization. While Xia夏implies a consanguineous affinity or ancestral lineage, Hua 華 indicates cultural identification. Strictly speaking, therefore, the various neighboring ethnic groups identified themselves as ethnic Chinese only culturally. If they were to identify themselves with the Xia people, they would need to prove their biological lineage. In this sense, Huaren is derived from Huaxia people and it is an abbreviation of the latter. But it has acquired a broader connotation than the original Huaxia people.³

On the other hand, Tangren 唐人is a term frequently used by Cantonese speaking people in Guangdong, Hong Kong, among other places. Tangrenjie 唐人街 (Chinatown) is a Cantonese term, referring to the specifically designated section of the city where Tang people reside historically. This term is commonly accepted by Chinese overseas. People in Japan still call the Chinese Tangren today, because the Tang dynasty was the heyday of Chinese history. It is a historical period when China reached the height of her cultural splendor and glory. It was a dynasty distinguished by its cosmopolitan nature and its openness to the outside world. Tangren as a term gained its currency after the mid-19th century. Although it is no longer a designation as popular as Zhongguoren 中國人 or Huaren 華人 since the 20th century, it is, nevertheless, still accepted in places where overseas Chinese agglomerate.

In 1565, after Spain conquered the Philippines, a shipping route from the Philippines to Mexico was opened. The galleons, loaded with goods from China and other Far Eastern countries frequently sailed eastward from the Philippines to Mexico. On the galleons, Chinese sailors and technicians were often employed. Some passengers also brought along Chinese servants with them. After they arrived in Mexico, some Chinese stayed on and were engaged in shipbuilding or other occupations. The record has it that the earliest Chinese who came to America in 1785 were three of the 35 sailors onboard Pallas named A-cheng 阿成, A-quan阿全and A-guan阿官.⁴

An agent of the Guangzhou office of Dutch East India Company settled in Philadelphia in 1796. He reportedly brought five Chinese servants with him. Between 1818 and 1825, five Chinese youths studied at an evangelical school (Guowai budao xuexiao國外佈道學校) in Connecticut. One of them was Liao Axi 廖阿細, who later became the first Chinese to convert to American Protestant Christianity. Another was A-Lin 阿林, who served as an interpreter for Lin Zexu 林則徐, an Imperial Commissioner in mid-19th century Qing China. These Chinese who came to America sporadically were not immigrants in the true sense of the term. They could best be described as sojourners or students studying abroad. According to U.S. immigration records, only a few dozen Chinese came to states other than California between 1820-1884. But 780 Chinese came to California during the same period. These pioneering Chinese endured much hardship and difficulties. They were the forerunners of the Chinese Americans.

II. The Gold Rush and Chinatown

When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, the United States acquired a vast area of territory from Mexico. In the same year, James W. Marshall, an American, discovered gold along the banks of Sutter’s Creek in California. When the news spread, it shocked America and the world. Tens of thousands of Chinese came in droves to pursue their golden dream.

Following the First Opium War (1840-1842), large numbers of Chinese laborer from the regions of Sanyi三邑(Nanhai南海, Fanyu番禺, Shunde順德) and Siyi四邑(Xinhui新會, Taishan台山, Kaiping開平 and Enping恩平) of Guangdong province immigrated abroad in search of a new life. 60% of the early Chinese workers who came to the United States were from Taishan. When the gold rush subsided, tens of thousands of Chinese workers were employed in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad between 1863 and 1869. After California gained its statehood in 1850, Chinese constituted a major labor force for the railroad construction and farming industries in the state. Every crosstie of the railroad that crossed the American continent in the mid-19th century was profusely stained with the blood and sweat of tens of thousands of Chinese workers. On the other hand, after Burlingame Treaty was signed between China and America in 1868, China was given the status of most favored nation, many Chinese came to America legally. By 1873, the number of Chinese in California reached 62,500.⁵

Yong Chen, Professor of History at University of California, Irvine, observed: The Chinese who came during the Gold Rush signified the beginning of mass Chinese immigration to the New Continent. It also opened a new chapter in the history of race relations in California and the United States. And Chinese immigration soon became a hot spot in American ethnic issues. ⁶

Although Chinese contributed significantly to the development of California, owing to the economic downturn and fierce competition for jobs in the mid-19th century, anti-Chinese sentiment grew steadily more explicit. Pushed by the group claiming White Supremacy, the U.S.  Congress passed the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act on May 6, 1882. This was the only such discriminatory Act of Exclusion in U.S. history targeted at one particular ethnic group. Subsequently, before every presidential election a Chinese discriminatory act was passed, such as the 1888 Scott Act, the 1892 Geary Law, and the 1902 Scott Act.

Just as the late Chinese American writer Iris Chang said in her book The Chinese in America, Far from appeasing the fanatics, the new restrictions inflamed them. Having succeeded in barring the majority of new Chinese immigrants from American shores, the anti-Chinese bloc began a campaign to expel the remaining Chinese from the United States. During a period of terror now known as ‘the Driving Out,’ several Chinese communities in the West were subjected to a level of violence that approached genocide. ⁷

A scene from the Gold Rush Era

According to Pedro Chan 陳燦培，an advisor to Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, the 1870 census indicates that the population of Los Angeles was 5,728, among which 172 were Chinese. The Chinese agglomerated in Calle de los Negros, a section of Los Angeles Street today. When the gold rush fever subsided and the railroad construction was completed, quite a number of Chinese moved to Southern California. This original Chinatown was completely burned down by arson in 1887. Thereafter, the Chinese moved to what it is now Union Station. This is called the Old Chinatown. During 1933- 1938, the old Chinatown was demolished and relocated on account of the city government’s project to build the railway station. L.A. Chinatown Corporation (Da Zhonghua shiye gongsi大中華實業公司) led by Peter Soo Hoo 司徒元發and Herbert Lapham built a new Chinatown situated between the 900 block of North Broadway and North Hill, in what it is Sun Yat-san Square today. It evolved into the present Chinatown, or what is called L.A. Chinatown (Luosheng Huafu 羅省華埠by the older-generation Chinese. This became the primary settlement in the history of Chinese Americans in Southern California.

Based on the research on available historical evidence pertaining to the lives of early Chinese Americans in Ventura County, the Chinese may have arrived there as early as 1782-1866. The history of Chinese in Orange County can be traced back to at least the 1870s. From the 1860’s to the 1890’s, the Chinese in San Diego became the main source of labor in the local fishing industry. All the data collected attest to the fact that Chinese immigrants in Southern California have a history of well over a century.

III. Students from Overseas and the Chinese Immigration

During the Self-strengthening Movement (Ziqiang yundong 自強運動, 1861-1895) led by the eminent Qing officials Zeng Guofan 曾國藩, Li Hongzhang 李鴻章, and Zuo Zongtang 左宗棠, when learning the superior techniques of the barbarians to control the barbarians (Shiyichangji yi zhiyi 師夷長技以制夷) was at the heart of Manchu Government’s foreign policy, 120 students aged 10 to 16 were sent to America between 1872 and 1875. This was the earliest group of students officially sent by the imperial government to the United States in modern Chinese history. These students, together with those who came after them in the following century became an important component of the Chinese in America in modern times.

In 1908, during President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, a portion of the Boxers Indemnity was designated for the development of higher education in China and for bringing selected Chinese students to the United States. A total of 1,971 students came to America to pursue their studies under the program. Many more came to study privately without receiving scholarships from this fund, hence creating an upsurge of Chinese students studying in the U.S. in modern times.

On December 17, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the measure adopted by Congress to repeal the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act and to establish an immigration quota for China of around 105 visas annually. According to