Librery of Congrcss Cetrloghs'h-hbltc'don llrtr The Ethnic Press Main cntrY undcr title: Tbc F,thnic p'ress in thc Unitcd States' in the Includes bibliognphies and index' L Ethnic press-United States-Addr€ss€s' essays' lcctures. 2. American newspapers-Forcign language United States press-Addrcsscs, essays, lectwes' l' Miller' Sally M'' 191't- PN4882.E84 198? 070.4'sr'cfz3 85-31699 Mg' : alk' paper) A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS ISBN 0-313-238?94 0ib' AND HANDBOOK CoPYright @ 198? bY SallY M' Miller All rights rescrved. No portion of this book may be the reproOucrA, by any process or technigue, without EDITED BY express written consent of the publisher' Library of Congrcss Catalog Card Numbcn 85-3169 SALLY M. MILLER ISBN: G3l3-238?9-0 First Publishcd in 1987 Grecnwood Press, lnc' 06881 E8 Post Road West, Wcstport, Conn€cticut Printcd in thc United States of America e9, Thc papcr uscd in this book complies with the Permancnt Paper Standard issucd by thc National lnformation Sundards Organization (239'4E lg8r')' 10987654321 GREEI.IWOOD PRESS NEW YORK . WESTFORT. CONNECTICUT . IONDON I i / The Chinese-American Press H. M. LAI THE PIONEERS Most students of the subject date the beginning of the modern Chinese press from the introduction of the concepts of Western jounalism first implemented by the publication of Reverend William Milne's Chinese Monthly Magazine in Malacca on August 5, 1815.1 This magazine and most of its immediate succes- sors, many published by missionaries, were not commercial ventures, copies being distributed gratis; they contained basically expository and evangelistic essays along with a few news items. However, their targets were people in all walks of life, and thus, these publications were in conformance with the precepts of modern journalism. The same progenitor also gave birth to the Chinese- American press, which evolved parallel to the Chinese-language press in China and Hong Kong and was closely related to and influenced by the latter. Existence within a small ethnic enclave in a dominant Western society, however, led to development of a number of characteristics which in themselves set it apart. Three decades after Milne's pioneer journalistic effort, the Gold Rush in California attracted thousands of argonauts from areas all over the globe, in- cluding China. The Chinese population in the Golden State increased rapidly from about 800 in ia+9 to 25,000 in 1852, and a Chinese community was established in San Francisco, the principal port of entry. The open Western society with flourishing technology and commerce in which the new community found itself provided a favorable environment for the birth of Chinese-American journalism. San Francisco had expanded from a village to become the largest city in California within a few years during the 1850s. As different groups settled among the growing population, a number of diverse institutions sprang up to fill their needs, including places of worship, clubs and associations, hospitals, newspa- pers, and so on. These conditions undoubtedly contributed to the motivation to 2ll H. M. Lai The Chinese-American press 29 launch the first Chinese-language weekry newspaper, The Golden Hills' News, was founded in the united states, for this was the first country in the <rn April 22, 1854.2 west where the chinese settled in great numbers and where they had excellent opportunities Howard, the publisher of the journal, noted in one of the initial issues: to observe and learn from the Western press. During this initial period of chinese-American journalism, the chinese pop- we, . believing that civil and political knowledge is of infinite importance to the ulation in the united States was small. illiteracy was high and Chinese, both the readership in their individual, social and relative state, have established The Golden minuscule, and journals had to rely on financial subsidies and the publisher s Hills' News for that special mission. The influence of chapel and press is intended to zeal. These adverse factors limited the duration pioneer relieve the pressure ofreligious ignorance, of ventures, but such settle and explain our laws, assist the Chinese enterprises did familiarize the chinese in America with the concept the press to provide [for] their wants and soften, dignify and improve their general character.3 of and laid the groundwork for its further development. By the end of the 1860s, with the completion of the transcontinental railroad The text of rhe Golden Hills' News was handwritten by chinese brush and spurring california's development, there began a great surge in chinese immi- ran in vertical columns from right to left. In order to facilitate reading, each gration to the pacific coast to fill the need for page labor to exploit the natural resources was divided into three rows, apparently an adaptation from the practice of of the west. The chinese population in san Francir"o gt"* to more than 20,000 using columns in western newspapers. printing was by lithography on a sheet in the 1870s, and the city became firmly established as the center for economic, (approximately 48 cm. by 32 cm.) folded along the width to form iour tabloid- political, and cultural activities for the chinese in America. At that time there size pages. This became the accepted format and production method for chinese- were about sixty English- and foreign-language journals in san Francisco, American newspapers until the turn of the century. a factor which probably played a role in rekindling This pioneer journal interest in chinese-American ceased publication soon afterward when presbyterian journalistic endeavors. missionary Reverend william Speer announced another journalistic enterprise, on July 14, 1874, Bocardus and Gordon published the first issue of san The oriental orTung-Ngai san-Luk, a weekly which began publishing on January Francisco china News to begin another phase in 4, 1855. Aiming the development of the chinese- to be "an instructive and interesting uehi"l" of religious ani American press. Like its predecessors, this publication was tabloid size and general knowledge, of late news, or whatever may tend to draw the chinese lithographed. Besides news item on America and china, the weekly included into the tide of our nation's advancement,"o The oriental was also the first of poems' stories, and essays that catered to more traditional Chinese tastes. It also several nineteenth-century newspapers to include an English section aimed at abandoned the earlier format of dividing the page increasing into horizontal rows. Now the non-Chinese reading public's understanding of china and the each column of characters ran from the top to the bottom of the page, thus chinese in America. (others were the bilingual Chinese Record, also known as making the text somewhat more difficult to follow. The Chinese professor Recorder, founded by Augustus Layres in lg76 during year A later, on september rr, r87s, chock wong and Hoffman began another the height of the anti-chinese movement;s the oriental and occidental presi, weekly, The oriental, also known asThe oriental chinese Newrpoprl,pubrished started by Tong King chong in 1900 when the Boxers were attacking westerners by wah Kee.tt This newspaper, which went through several in own- in china;6 andrhe chinese Defender, pubrished by the chinese t-eag"ue of Justice "tu.rg", ership, became one of the longest-lived chinese journalistic during in America in 1910 to fight racial discrimination against the chineseln America.T "nt"rp-rir", the nineteenth century and published for almost three decades, until around' The latter two were in English only.) Reverend speer was responsible for the l9o3.t2 other San Francisco weeklies were also started English section within the next few years, of The oriental, while the chinese editor was Lee Kan, a graduate including r; san F rancisc o c hine s e N ew spap e r or Ton g F an san B o( I g76- I g'g0), of the Morrison school of Hong Kong.8 The paper published until the end of The weekly occidental (founded l88l; title changed to The Daily occidental in 1856, when operations were suspended due to speer's deteriorating health. and the bilingual American and chinese Commerciai News (lgg3- on the eve of the demise of rhe oriental,Ze'roo yune establishedChinese 1?00)':: published by Sui Kee. The year lgg4 also saw the first Daily News in sacramento, one 1901),'s attempt in San of the stepping-off places for the gold mines Francisco to launch a chinese daily which newspaper, The san Francisco chinese had a considerable chinese population. Apparently the firsi chinese- Evening Daily News-tu However, it soon ceased publication as the time was managed newspaper in the United States, it started in December lg56 as a daily. apparently not yet ripe to support such an undertaking successfully. It later became a triweekly and then was issued irregularly, finally suspending From the 1850s to the 1880s, San Francisco was publication in 1858.' the center of chinese- American journalism. But by the l8g0s other clusters scholars have of chinese-American cited Hong Kong's chung Ngoi sanpo, published in lg5g, as population had developed to the point where similar enterprises could be the earliest chinese daily newspaper;to however, inti- chinese Daily News preceded tiated. In Hawaii, where the chinese population it by more had reached more than 10,000, than a year. It should not be surprising that the fiist chinese daily The Hawaiian chinese News, a weekly published by Lung Kee, launched its 3l The Chinese-American Press 30 H. M. Lai modem U'S laJge sheets (approximately 52 to 58 cm' by 74 to 76 cm') as in ' News- premiere issue in Honolulu on March 16, 1883.17.