Kung Hee Fat Choy!
In continuation of my blog series celebrating Hawaiians of Chinese desent and their contributions to Hawaii and the world at large, we examine Chinese immigration to the Islands and some of the prominent Chinese/Hawaiians in History.
About 1/3 of Hawaii's population can trace some Chinese heritage in their family tree and about 4% of the population is 1st generation Chinese.
The first Chinese arrived in Hawaii from Guangdong province in 1778 while traveling with Captain Cook. and By 1790, a handful of them were on the island of Oahu, living as vassals to Kamemhameha I. As Chinese women did not arrive in the first waves of immigration, Chinese men married Hawaiian women instead, and frequently, adopted Chinese-Hawaiian surnames like Ahina and Akaka which are a hybridization of both languages. The practice of taking Hawaiian brides continued up until the mid 19th century, as Chinese women were rare in Hawaii.
European sailing vessels arriving in the Islands following the voyages of Captain Cook required deep harbors to anchor safely. Mamala Bay - later called Honolulu Harbor - was the best anchorage in Hawaii nei; known for it's protection from wind and heavy waves. As trade developed in the late 1700's, the area surrounding the piers and anchorages became the center of business life. Here is where the City of Honolulu began and where China Town developed.
Back in China during the early 19th century, European merchants and explorers discovered China's southernmost province Kwangtung, or Guangdong. There they found abundant pineapple and sugar cane fields growing in areas climatically identical to windward areas of the Hawaiian Islands. In an effort to reproduce Southern China's agricultural abundance, Chinese and European entrepreneurs began to import Chinese workers to Hawaii. In 1802, one such entrepreneur farmer named Wong Tze Chun began an effort to cultivate and process sugar in Hawaii. In 1823, Hung Tai another ambitious Chinese entrepreneur built a sugar mill in Wailuku, Maui. However, sugar production did not become a profitable crop until 1835. With sugar being successfully processed in Hawaii, more Chinese began to see opportunity in Hawaiian agriculture.
46,000 Chinese immigrants, came to Hawaii between 1850 and the annexation of Hawaii to the United States in 1898. Nearly all the Chinese immigrants came to Hawaii as migrant workers, with the belief they would work long enough to make a suitable income and then return to China.
It was at this time that the first Chinese women came to Hawaii. A sizable majority of the pre-annexation migrant workers did indeed return back to their native China. However, several thousand Chinese immigrants became permanent settlers in Hawaii. Many had married or established common-law marriages with Hawaiian women, and the rest took the recently arrived female immigrants as brides, creating families and settling down.
After the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 the US's Chinese labor exclusion law extended to Hawaii. Many Chinese, however, continued to arrive as teachers, artisans, doctors and entrepreneurs. As the Chinese became culturally acclimatized they abandoned their indifference towards the formal education of women and as a result many Chinese women took on professional careers.
It is commonly believed that the present day Chinese in Hawaii are descendants of the pioneer sugar plantation contract laborers, this is a misconception. A larger proportion of island-born Chinese families are descended from merchants, plantation entrepreneurs, independent farmers, and artisans. The Chinese in Hawaii have made great contributions to Hawaii's multi-ethnic society and are proud of their many accomplishments.
Notable Chinese Hawaiian Americans:
Daniel Akaka (Born on September 11, 1924), Daniel Akaka is the junior U.S. Senator from Hawaii. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the first U.S. Senator of the Hawaiian ancestry and the only Chinese American member of the Senate.
Chang Apana (December 26, 1871-December 8, 1933) was a Chinese-Hawaiian member of the Honolulu Police Department, first as an officer, then as a detective. He is the officially-acknowledged inspiration for the fictional Asian detective character, Charlie Chan.
Rear Admiral Gordon Pai'ea Chung-Hoon (Honolulu, Hawaii, July 10, 1910 - July 24, 1979) was an admiral in the United States Navy, who served during World War II. He is a recipient of the Navy Cross and Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary heroism as commanding officer of USS Sigsbee (DD-502) from May 1944 to October 1945. The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Chung-Hoon is named for him.
Don Ho (born August 13, 1930 - April 14, 2007) was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician and singer and entertainer. Tiny Bubbles was his world famous hit and signature song.
Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968) is an American actress and former fashion model who held the Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993 titles.
Jason Scott Lee (born November 19, 1966) is an American movie actor. Lee was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Hawaii. He is of mixed Chinese-American and Hawaiian descent. He currently lives off the grid on the Big Island growing all his own organic produce.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen ( born November 12, 1866 or November 24, 1870 - March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader often referred to as the Father of Modern China. Sun played an instrumental role in overthrowing the QingDynasty in 1911. His birth certificate issued by the Territory of Hawaii substantiates that he was born in the Kingdom of Hawaii on 24 November 1870, but it is commonly assumed that he was born on November 12, 1866 to a peasant family in the village of Cuiheng, Xiangshan county, Guangzhou prefecture. Dr Sun lived in Hawaii for several years before returning to China. Sun once lived in Honolulu's China Town and attended Iolani and Punahou schools.
Hiram Fong (born October 15, 1906 - August 18 , 2004) The seventh of eleven children born to Chinese immigrants, he worked his way through school, graduating from Harvard Law, and became the first Asian American to serve in the U.S. Senate (1959 - 1977). He was also the first Asian American presidential candidate (1964). He is still the only republican to have represented Hawaii in the Senate. Senator Fong's Plantation & Gardens in Oahu, Hawaii, is a 700 acre, family owned tropical garden named for the former US Senator and is a popular tourist destination open to the public.
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