Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Asked to Come … Then Excluded

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages in the sugar industry were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. The first contract from China came in 1852. On the continent, in the 1850s, Chinese workers migrated to the US, first to work in the gold mines, but also to take agricultural jobs, and factory work, especially in the garment industry. Chinese immigrants were particularly instrumental in building railroads in the American west.

Objections to Chinese immigration took many forms, and generally stemmed from economic and cultural tensions, as well as ethnic discrimination. Most Chinese laborers who came to the US did so in order to send money back to China to support their families there. At the same time, they also had to repay loans to the Chinese merchants who paid their passage to America. These financial pressures left them little choice but to work for whatever wages they could. Competition with American workers and a growing nativism brought pressure for restrictive action. In the Islands, in 1883, the Hawaiian Cabinet Council, concerned that the Chinese had secured too strong a representation in the labor market, passed a resolution to restrict Chinese immigration.

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Chinese Wo Hing Society Temple and Cookhouse

Starting in the 1850s, labor shortages in the Islands were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.) The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population; between 1852 and 1884, the population of Chinese in Hawai’i increased from 364 to 18,254 (almost a quarter of the population of the Kingdom (almost 30% of them were living in Honolulu)). Between 1869 and 1910 over thirty secret societies that have their roots in seventeenth century China were established in the Islands, six on Maui. These secret societies were formed to politically re-establish the deposed Ming dynasty.

These local clubs were mutual aid societies which met social and recreational needs of its members providing funeral services and burial, support in times of crisis, protective services and made contributions to their members. The Wo Hing Society – Wo, meaning “peace and harmony” and Hing, meaning “prosperity” was an important aspect of cultural and social life in Lāhainā for its immigrant Chinese. The society provided a fraternal structure which was a substitute for the absent family. In 1912, using private donations, the society built a 2-story temple on Front Street. It is believed that the present building replaced an earlier structure. In 1983, Lahaina Restoration Foundation took steps to restore this valuable site for Lāhainā and manages the site.

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Surnames

In old English name-making, every surname was essentially based on one of four reasons (1) personal, from a sire or ancestor, (2) local, from place of residence, (3) occupative, from trade or office, (4) a nickname, from bodily attributes, character, etc. Today, we say a patronym is a personal name suited to its owner. For some, like ‘Smith,’ the person was a metal worker; for others, like Johnson, he was ‘son of John.’

In the Islands, missionaries were given Hawaiianized names (that sounded somewhat like the original name). These weren’t the only Hawaiianized name changes. The Chinese-Hawaiian surname was formed by adding a letter or syllable ‘a’ or ‘ah’ to the Chinese given name. For example, if a person’s name used in the Chinese style with the surname first is Lau Say Kan, his Hawaiianized name becomes Ah Kan. Later, that may become Akana. Some other examples are: Tang Hung Sin became Ahsin or Akina. Tang Chow became Akau or Akao. Lau Fai became Hapai.

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Timeline Tuesday … 1850s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1850s – Kuleana Act, Smallpox Epidemic, death of Kamehameha III and growth in rice cultivation. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

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Chinese Baseball

“Although Chinese baseball players are mighty scarce in this country (US mainland), over in Honolulu there is a team composed exclusively of Chinese and they play good baseball. The team is called the Chinese Alohas. … During the period between 1910 and 1925, (Chinese) baseball teams … ruled supreme in the territory. … Starting in 1912 and through 1916, Chinese diamond squads annually invaded the mainland, returning each time with impressive records.” “Honolulu had become a hotbed of Chinese American community baseball.”

In 1915, “arrangements have been completed for the famous All-Chinese baseball team of Honolulu, which was so successful against the leading American College clubs on its tour of the United States last year, to come to Shanghai and take part in the series for the open baseball championship of the Far East.” In Hawai‘i in 1920, an All-Chinese team knocked off a visiting University of Chicago team; they tied University of California, and later in 1922, Honolulu’s All-Chinese team beat a visiting Stanford team.