Dean Lung: The Legend of a Chinese Valet
In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we are going to talk about a legendary Chinese immigrant to the west coast of the US in the era of the Gold Rush and how he turned from the servant of an arrogant tycoon into his close companion.
Statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Education showed that the total number of Chinese studying abroad in 2019 was 703,500. From 1978 to 2019, the total number of Chinese students studying abroad reached over 6.56 million, and about three-quarters of them have completed their studies.
China has not released the total number of outbound students since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019. But according to a report released last year by the Ministry of Education, the number of returnees seeking jobs in China rose by nearly 34 percent year-on-year in 2020.
Over the years, many outbound students beat their brains out trying to secure admission at top universities especially in countries like the US and UK because diplomas from elite universities will easily guarantee them a decent job or substantially boost their prestige.
More than 100 years ago, however, it was rare for Chinese to study at overseas universities at a time when the country was torn apart by poverty, civil disruption from local warlords, and of course multiple foreign invasions. In hope of a brighter future, young people immigrated to the US to work as laborers. Between 1849 and 1853, the Gold Rush enticed about 24,000 young Chinese men to seek their fortune in California, but they were forced to suffer discrimination, overt racism, and segregation.
Many of the inspirational stories of those young men, whether they ultimately stayed in the US or returned to China, have gone completely unknown to Chinese people today, but one exception is a man called Dean Lung who is, to this day, still remembered by many Americans.
Dean Lung was a Cantonese “piglet”, which refers to Chinese men who were abducted and sold to do hard labor abroad before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
To understand Dean Lung’s story a little better, let’s start with Horace Walpole Carpentier. Born in 1824, Carpentier was famous in the US not only for his great wealth but also for his bad temper. After graduating from Columbia University, Carpentier joined the Gold Rush and soon made his first fortune. As his wealth soared, Carpentier founded and acquired a number of companies in the information and transportation industries, and his influence was widespread. At the tender age of 28, the fresh-faced New York lawyer became Oakland’s first mayor - though his legacy is brimming with stories of corruption.
One day, Carpentier attended a banquet. After the meal, he noticed a Chinese servant there, a man of about 1.7 meters in height, with dark skin, typical of southern Chinese farmers. He was courteous, and though his English was poor, he had no difficulty communicating with others.
And as it turned out, Carpentier needed a servant, and upon explaining his intention to his host, the servant was called over. The 23-year-old young man introduced himself as Dean Lung and said that he had been in America for five years. After the banquet, Carpentier took Dean Lung home and made him his personal valet.
From the other servants, Dean Lung learned that Carpentier was generous and never deducted wages, but was bad-tempered and often drank too much. Hearing this, Dean Lung silently learned the rules of Carpentier’s house, not saying much and keeping his head down to avoid Carpentier’s temper tantrums and verbal abuse. It didn’t take long for him to adapt to his new job.
One night, a drunken Carpentier called all the servants together and flew into a rage before firing them all including Dean Lung. Tired from all the scolding, Carpentier went back to his bedroom and fell asleep.
The next morning, Carpentier woke up to find the large mansion empty and the servants gone, something that had happened to him more than once. Carpentier sat down in his chair, a little lost. At that moment, there was a noise from the kitchen – it was Dean Lung, who came carrying a breakfast tray for Carpentier. A little embarrassed, Carpentier asked Dean Lung why he didn’t leave like the others.
Dean Lung replied that his Confucian teaching tells him that a man should be loyal to the person he is associated with. He further explained the Confucian wisdom about loyalty and forgiveness, saying: “Do not do unto others as you do not want others to do to you.”
Carpentier was caught off guard and thought that his servant was a scholar, but Dean Lung replied that he was illiterate, and neither his father nor his grandfather had read much.
After that, Carpentier felt that Dean Lung was different from the Chinese he had met, which also made him more curious about Dean Lung. Not long after, Carpentier hired another group of servants, and Dean Lung taught them how to do their jobs. Carpentier paid more attention to Dean Lung and was willing to chat with him from time to time.
Carpentier later learned that Dean Lung was born in 1857 in a place called Taishan in south China’s Guangdong Province. Dean Lung grew up at the time of the Movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which is when an unrecognized rebel kingdom had swept across southern China. Without a proper education to help them find suitable jobs, many people from Taishan came to the US to do hard labor in the mines or along the railroads. And at the age of 18, Dean Lung traveled to the US west coast following the footsteps of his compatriots.
At first, Lung worked at various construction sites laying rails. And although slavery was prohibited in the US at that time, the treatment of these Chinese workers was no better than that of slaves – toiling away with the lowest wages while enduring harsh treatment from the foremen. Plus, the job of laying rails naturally took place in the wilderness most of the time, so living conditions and access to medical care were not guaranteed: in fact, many of the workers died and were buried there.
Even amid such circumstances, Dean Lung did not give up and used his paltry wages to buy books, studying English by the light of a dim kerosene lamp while others slept. Once the railroad was completed, he was recruited into a military general’s home as a servant by virtue of his ability to speak and write in English, that is, until he was picked up by Carpentier.
These experiences made Carpentier respect Dean Lung more, and he began to entrust him with certain business affairs in addition to handling daily routines. Carpentier was very satisfied at Dean Lung’s shrewdness in business and management.
Gradually, as Dean Lung’s confidence grew, he began to offer advice on occasion, and over time, Carpentier became accustomed to hearing it. Not only did it curb his arrogance and bad temper, but he began to accept people on an equal footing. Carpentier also took an interest in Dean Lung’s homeland, and often asked him about the customs and traditions of China.
Although Carpentier had changed his mind about Dean Lung and Chinese people in general, in the eyes of most Americans, Chinese people still represented the “yellow peril”, a racial color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. Back then, the influx of young and strong Chinese workers into the West provided America with cheap and quality labor, but as the gold was mined out and massive infrastructure was completed, Chinese workers began to enter the cities and compete for jobs with the local people.
In 1882, seven years after Dean Lung’s arrival, the US Congress passed the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act, barring all Chinese laborers from entering the country. The act was renewed for another 10 years in 1892. It was the first immigration law passed in the US that targeted a specific ethnic group, and the US subsequently enacted a series of additional regulations, requiring Chinese workers not to enter the US. Those who had entered the country should leave within a certain period of time, and Chinese could not enjoy US citizenship.
Civil society organizations also churned out propaganda to magnify the so-called “shortcomings” of Chinese people, spreading that the Chinese are “ignorant, cunning, dirty, and immoral”.
Whenever he was criticized, Dean Lung wanted to argue and tell everyone that most Chinese people are not like this, but he felt a sense of powerlessness and swallowed his words. Carpentier, despite his high position, would give Dean Lung equal respect in front of everyone and step in to help him when he suffered injustice.
In 1889, at the age of 65, Carpentier returned to his hometown in New York with Dean Lung. By this time, Dean Lung had grown into a qualified assistant, and was given more power and remuneration by Carpentier.
One time, Carpentier took Dean Lung to a reception hosted by an influential New Yorker. The upper-class whites in attendance believed that Chinese were not qualified to be seated. However, Carpentier would not back down and insisted that Dean Lung was a decent, prudent, brave, and friendly man who was fully qualified to be admitted. Eventually, those who objected fell silent in deference to Carpentier, and after that, it was common for Carpentier to bring Dean Lung to events as his “plus one”.
In 1900, the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China, with mobs burning churches, killing missionaries and parishioners, followed by the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty declaring war on 11 countries. At this time, the American public was at its peak of hostility towards the Chinese.
One day, several US government employees knocked on the door of Carpentier’s house to conduct a census. When seeing Dean Lung, they put on unusual alertness and caution, asking in great detail about Dean Lung - his name, height, time of entry, and recent interactions.
When the staff asked about the relationship with the owner of the house, Carpentier, who had been holding back for a long time, shouted back that Dean Lung was his companion. The staff looked at Carpentier suspiciously. But because of Carpentier’s insistence, the staff reluctantly wrote down the word “companion” in the “relationship with the owner” column.
But in Dean Lung’s heart, he knew well he did not belong to this so-called “free and open” country. Although he had been working in the US for 25 years, complied with the law, paid taxes and worked hard, he was still unable to obtain permanent residency. He dreamed of being recognized by the American public and staying in the country, but now it seemed impossible. So, he approached Carpentier and said that in the near future, he would like to return to China and start a family.
Carpentier said as long as he was still alive, Dean Lung would not suffer discrimination from the people around him and could use his power to gain the right to live a normal life. Dean Lung, however, replied that he wanted to return to his roots. Finally, Carpentier agreed and pledged help Dean Lung fulfill a wish as a parting gift.
Dean Lung’s wish went beyond Carpentier’s expectations – to open a department at Columbia University devoted to the promotion of Chinese culture. Carpentier was once again shocked and felt admiration for Dean Lung’s broad-mindedness and noble qualities. In our next podcast, we talk about what Carpentier did to help Dean Lung realize his dream.
Well, that’s the end of our podcast. Our theme music is by the famous film score composer Roc Chen. We want to thank our writer Lü Weitao, translator Du Guodong, and copy editor Pu Ren. And thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please tell a friend so they, too, can understand The Context.