The Chronicles of Chow King Leong & His Family

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In the 1850’s, Chow King’s grandfather, Chow Nung Yeung, made a trip to Gum Shan, the “old golden hills” as America was called then and is even today. Satisfied with amassing a small fortune of a few hundred dollars, he returned to his village shortly thereafter. Of his four sons, only the youngest, Chow Kroong Hung was adventurous enough to follow his father’s footsteps. This was Chow King’s Uncle number four, a man who loved the good life, the playboy of his time. He mingled with the gambling crowd, carousing with whores and became addicted to opium. In later years, Chow King and his wife nursed him back to health. Uncle Number Four had not bothered to return to China to “get him a wife” as most Chinese men did in former years. Traditionally, it was Chow King’s inheritance as one of his father’s younger sons to adopt the uncle as his foster father, to care for him and to bury him if and when death comes. At the same time, this custom dictated that Chow King would be his uncle’s sole heir. Needless to say, Uncle Number Four died penniless excepting for a plot of land in his village which he had inherited from his father. In 1914 he was given a worthy funeral service with all the symbolic rites and spiritual ceremonies. Lau Yung, who was pregnant with her third child, walked in the funeral procession taking her place as the deceased’s daughter-in-law. It was late winter and the rain was pouring down. Walking behind the horse-drawn hearse, she inched her way to the cemetery grounds, sloshing through muddy roads, from the paved highway to the burial grounds. I dare say her foot bindings may not have been removed too long before that year. Pressing down on the curved toes of her tiny feet must have been excruciating! Can you imagine the torture and ordeal she must have endured on that day” At least twice a year, on Ching Ming, meaning Pure Brightness Festival, falling about the time of Easter and Ch’ung Yeung, the Chinese All Hallow’s Day, on the ninth month of the lunar calendar, we join hundreds of Chinese to pay respect to the dead at the Chinese cemetery in Colma, California. Nephews, nieces, grand nephews and grand nieces lovingly placed flowers on the grave of Uncle Number Four and on those of all others who have gone on to their reward.

This photo of the village was taken in 2001,but excepting the modern buildings in the background, probably looked very much like this in 1879 Click to view larger

Chow King was born on August 26, 1876 in the village of Lo Chow, Shun Tak County, Kwang Tung province, in Southern China. Shun Tak is one of three districts commonly called Sam Yup, bordering the metropolis of Canton, also called Guangzhou. Today, Shun Tak can be reached from Canton by automobile in less than two hours. In 1930, when Chow King and his family spent nine months visiting relatives in Canton, there was no passable road into Shun Tak. The family made the trip to the village first by overnight ferry downstream on the Pearl River and then completed the last segment of the passage in the shallow canal by row boat.
Chow King was one of thirteen children, five sons and eight daughters, born to Chow Kwong Chiu and Lau Shee. Two of the boys, son number two and son number four died in infancy. King Yung was nine years younger than Wing Him and five years older than Mun Foo. All three sons subsequently had a hand in the family business.
In 1879, at the age of twelve, son number one, Wing Him, under the fictitious name of Lum Chong, came to San Jose, California to live with his uncle. Already living in the “Life of Riley”, Uncle Number Four turned his young nephew over to his cronies to raise, most likely a very loving and compassionate madam. Living among high-rollers, footloose and fancy free, Wing Him still managed to save enough money by 1894 to return to China. He had been away from home and family for fifteen years. Several years earlier, his parents had betrothed him, by proxy, to a neighbor girl. A live rooster, tied to a stake, was the surrogate bridegroom. The presence of village elders and priests completed the rites of matrimony. Now he was there to see his bride for the first time, to celebrate his wedding and to rejoice in his return.
Among the many kinsmen attending the festivities was Chow Kwong Yeung, Wing Him’s Uncle Number One. Speculating that his nephew must have struck it rich in “Old Golden Hills” he pestered Wing Him for money on many occasions. The old uncle had recently returned from “New Golden Hills,” as Sydney, Australia is known, after years of failure and despondency. Rebuffed numerously, becoming more frustrated and irrational, the uncle took out his anger by raising a cleaver to his nephew. Chow King, seeing the attempt, rushed to his brother’s aid and took the whack on his right forearm. As kids and being inquisitive, from time to time we would inquire about the ugly six-inch scar. Chow King would either side-track our grilling or dismiss our questioning with a little white lie. The horrible episode of family feud over money matters made Chow King more determined than ever to go to America to make a better living for his family, relatives and the village clansmen. Telling us the purpose for Chow King’s coming to America, we learned from our mother the straight story of the scar.
In the Spring of 1895, shortly before Wing Him was to depart once more to his adopted country, the youngest member of his family was born. It was to be the thirteenth and the last child born to Chow Kwong Chui and Lau Shee. Wing Him was given the honor to name his baby sister who was born twenty-eight years after his own birth. He selected the name, Wong Hing, meaning “joyful, glorious prosperity”. Indeed, the coming of the baby sister was a good omen, bringing happiness and good fortune to the entire Chow family. Wong Hing is our dear, loving “Number Eight auntie,” who will be ninety-four years old in March 1989. She is the prime reason for our numerous trips to China.

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