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Abstract
Since the late nineteenth century, millions of Chinese laborers have left their hometowns in search of better lives overseas; many died before returning home. those close to the deceased expatriates strived to repatriate their remains, believing that it would bring peace to their souls. Most repatriated remains were first transported to Tung Wah Hospital until their townsfolks or relatives claimed them. In 2020, Tung Wah published 300 letters it received between 1929 and 1936. With these new materials, this article reveals details in the daily operations of the hospital's coffin home and the motivations of overseas Chinese nationals to repatriate remains. Although some remains were lost or unclaimed for various reasons, Tung Wah Hospital generally fulfilled its mission as a benevolent association and facilitated the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of deceased compatriots. The hospital served as a critical node of the network connecting overseas Chinese nationals to their homelands.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The total number of emigrants departing from Xiamen, Shantou, and Hong Kong between 1869 and 1939 is 14,721,450, and the number of returning migrants is 11,653,831. See Kaoru Sugihara, “Patterns of Chinese Emigration to Southeast Asia, 1869–1939,” 247–250, cited from Elizabeth Sinn (Xian Yuyi, 冼玉仪), Pacific Crossing, 323n17.
2 The phrases “benevolent association” and “charitable association”, which I use interchangeably, can be translated into different terms in Chinese, such as huiguan (会馆), gongsuo (公所), shantang (善堂) etc. Many benevolent associations own a coffin home to temporarily hold human remains before their burial or repatriation. Such a coffin home is usually referred to as yizhuang (义庄); the coffin home managed by Tung Wah Hospital is therefore called donghua yizhuang (东华义庄).
3 In 1931, Tung Wah Hospital became Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (东华三院) after it merged with two other hospitals. This name change is irrelevant to this study.
4 According to Yip Hon-ming's estimate, approximately one hundred thousand sets of remains were handled by Tung Wah Hospital between 1900 and 1950. See Hon-ming Yip (Ye Hanming, 叶汉明), “Huiguan (会馆) as an Overseas Charitable Institution: Homebound Burials and the Global Chinese Diaspora, 1850–1949,” 91.
5 It warrants a historiographical study to trace the research of the Chinese diaspora. For some recent monographs of importance, see Mae Ngai, The Chinese Question; Beth Lew-Williams, The Chinese Must Go; Gregor Benton and Hong Liu, Dear China; Shelly Chan, Diaspora's Homeland; Jason Oliver Chang, Chino; Sue Fawn Chung, Chinese in the Woods.
6 For example, Prasenjit Duara, “Nationalists among Transnationals: Overseas Chinese and the Idea of China, 1910–1911,” 39–60; Adam McKeown, “Conceptualizing Chinese Diasporas, 1842 to 1949,” 322–326.
7 For example, Liu Jin (刘进) and Roland Hsu, “Chinese Railroad Workers’ Remittance Networks: Insights Based on Qiaoxiang Documents,” 90–99.
8 A few works discuss the death rituals of Chinese expatriates. One such book is Sue Fawn Chung and Priscilla Wegars, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals.
9 Liu Pei-chi (Liu Boji, 刘伯骥), History of Overseas Chinese in America, 173. Scholars have also paid attention to the role of benevolent associations in transporting the dead within China, for instance, Christian Henriot, Scythe and the City: A Social History of Death in Shanghai, 43–93.
10 Marlon K. Hom (Tan Yalun, 谭雅伦), trans. Shu Fen, “Falling Leaves to the Roots: the Xinhui Charity Cemetery of 1893 (Excerpt)”, 56–61; Gao Weinong (高伟浓), “Overseas Chinese's Shantang and Luoye Guigen of American Chinese in the Earlier Period,” 50–54.
11 Most of the relevant studies are only collected in the hospital's journal Tung Wah Communication 《东华通讯》. Also see Ko Tim-keung (Gao Tianqiang, 高添强), “Funeral Service and Home Burial,” 80–113. Some scholarly studies discuss the medical service offered by the hospital, like Shu-yun Ma (Ma Shuren, 马树人), “The Making and Remaking of a Chinese Hospital in Hong Kong,” 1313–1336.
12 Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home and Global Charity Network.
13 Elizabeth Sinn, The Pacific Crossing, 265–295; Elizabeth Sinn, Power and Charity, 30–49. The chapter of Yip about huiguan also discusses the coordination of benevolent associations and Tung Wah during the repatriation of the remains.
14 Tan Jinhua (谭金花), “Fallen Leaves Returning to Their Roots: Repatriating the Bones of Overseas Chinese, 1850–1949,” 530–601.
15 A few studies in Mainland China also discuss the hospital's critical role in body repatriation. Fu Jian (傅健) The Charity Cemeteries of Overseas Chinese from Wuyi and the Trans-Pacific Body Repatriation, 111–130; Hu Shuiyu (胡水玉) and Zeng Guilin (曾桂林), “A Study of the Repatriation and Burial of Overseas Chinese in Modern Times: A Research Focusing on the Tung Wah Coffin Home of Hong Kong,” 283–297.
16 All letters cited in this article, unless footnoted otherwise, are from Fallen Leaves Returning to Their Roots, books A and B. Book A comprises the photocopies of original letters, while book B contains the transcription of the letters in book A and their English translations. The Chinese and English versions of those letters have minor differences, and all the information cited in this article is based on the English version. All letters are cited by their English titles (as are in the book, even they contain irregular spelling) and their numbers in this collection.
17 Shu-yun Ma, “The Making and Remaking of a Chinese Hospital in Hong Kong,” 1324; Yang Xiangyin (杨祥银) and Wang Peng (王鹏), “The Hospital System of Hong Kong in the Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century,” 92–94.
18 Tan Jinhua, “Fallen Leaves Returning to Their Roots,” 571–572; Ting Sun-pao (Ding Xinbao,丁新豹), Benevolence for Me and Others: The Development of Tung Wah Groups of Hospitals with Hong Kong, 1870–1997, 120, 122.
19 Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 175, 185–187.
20 Letter from Lai Pak-hei, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 12 November 1930 (no. 26).
21 Hu Shuiyu and Zeng Guilin, “A Study of the Repatriation and Burial of Overseas Chinese,” 286–287; Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 396n15. The exchange rate between HKD and USD was determined based on a hospital employee's note on the letter from Colonia China, Guatemala to Tung Wah Hospital on 23 August 1930 (no.19).
22 Beth Lew-Williams, The Chinese Must Go, 225–226.
23 Public health regulations and cost issues left overseas Chinese communities few options other than sending only bones home. See Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 269.
24 Adam McKeown, “Transnational Chinese Families and Chinese Exclusion, 1875-1943,” 88. Several rosters of the dead delivered to Tung Wah also prove the gender-imbalance.
25 Letter from Mui Yiu-man, USA, to Tung Wah Hospital on 12 June 1929 (no.98).
26 Letter from Cha Li Chan Kee, Australia to Tung Wah Hospital on 23 July 1929 (no.241).
27 Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 266.
28 Letter from Casino Chung Wah, Habana, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 12 June 1935 (no.80).
29 Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 125; Tung Wah Hospital's Response to Kwong Cheung Po regarding the Procedures for Transporting Caskets and Remains to Mainland China on 2 November 1924, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 126.
30 Letter from Lau Shek-kin, USA, to Tung Wah Hospital on 26 May 1932 (no. 144). Suspicion that coffins were used for smuggling was not uncommon, see Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 292.
31 Letter from Luk Ho Sing Kwai Sin Chong, Tsan Kong, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 22 September 1934. This letter is not part of Fallen Leaves Returning to Their Roots but was on the hospital archives’ website, http://www.twmarchives.hk/coffin_home_archives_detail.php?uid=580&sid=1&contentlang=tc&lang=tc [accessed 10 August 2022].
32 Letter from Fook Sau Funeral Service, Hong Kong, to Tung Wah Hospital on 10 September 1932 (no. 270); Letter from Kwong Yan Sin Sei, Pek Hoi, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 21 October 1933 (no. 277).
33 Tung Wah Hospital's Response to Chung Shan Yu Sin Tong, China, on 14 June 1929, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 273.
34 Tung Wah Hospital's Response to Hop Wo Benevolent Association of San Francisco on 3 January 1935, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 196.
35 Letter from Chung Shan Yu Sin Tong, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 10 July 1929 (no. 99).
36 Letter from Madam Yeung-Yuen, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 21 April 1933 (no. 256).
37 Letter from Lam Tak-kam, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 30 August 1933 (no. 225).
38 Letter from Dik Hoi Hang Chun Tong, China, to Tung Wah Hospital in December 1932 (no. 153).
39 Letter from Chui Chow-kan, Hong Kong, to Tung Wah Hospital on 4 October 1932 (no. 273).
40 Coffin Home Rules (1873), cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 79.
41 For example, Announcement of the Tung Wah Hospital on 8 October 1936, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 159.
42 Letter from Hong Kong Shun Tak Overseas Business Bureau to Tung Wah Hospital on 17 June 1929 (no. 286); Tung Wah Hospital to City West Ko Kong Fong Bin Hospital, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 325.
43 Letter of Lee Fung-kwong to Long Sai Li Benevolent Association, Cuba, on 8 December 1929 (no.5). The role of the guarantors, either in Mainland China or Hong Kong, is likely to have the financial liability for ensuring the transportation and proper disposal of remains.
44 Letter from Long Sai Li Benevolent Association, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 13 January 1930 (no.6).
45 Letter from Sun Wui Commercial Associations of Hong Kong to Tung Wah Hospital on 16 February 1930 (no.7); Letter from Yan Yuk Tong of Sun Wui, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 28 February 1930 (no.8); Letter from Yan Yuk Tong, Sun Wui, China to Tung Wah Hospital on 6 March 1930 (no.9).
46 Letter from Long Sai Li Merchants Autonomy Learning Office, Cuba to Tung Wah Hospital on 4 June 1930 (no.11).
47 Shu-yun Ma, “The Making and Remaking of a Chinese Hospital in Hong Kong,” 1325.
48 Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 292.
49 Letter from Tin Cho Tong, Hong Kong, to Tung Wah Hospital on 22 July 1929 (no. 287).
50 Letter from Tong Mow Tai, Hong Kong, to Tung Wah Hospital on 18 September 1929 (no. 101).
51 Letter from McKenna & McKenna Attorneys, the United States, to Tung Wah Hospital on 24 November 1933 (no. 164).
52 The benevolent associations offering body repatriation services in Shanghai followed this principle. See Christian Henriot, Scythe and the city, 71, 78, 84.
53 Shu-yun Ma, “The Making and Remaking of a Chinese Hospital in Hong Kong,” 1329.
54 Minute of Sunday Meeting on the Twenty-third Day of the Tenth Lunar Month of 1905, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 111–114. The cost was the author's best guess since neither Yip nor other scholars has given an interpretation of this price list.
55 Letter from Mui Yiu-man, the United States, to Tung Wah Hospital on 12 June 1929 (no. 98).
56 Letter from Lui Ngog Chung Shan Association, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 14 March 1930 (no. 266).
57 Letter from Yan Yuk Tong of Sun Wui, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 28 February 1930 (no. 8)
58 Letter from Lui Ngog Chung Shan Association, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 14 March 1930 (no. 266).
59 Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 275; Hon-ming Yip, “Huiguan as an Overseas Charitable Institution,” 78.
60 According to Elizabeth Sinn's findings, when shipping a large batch of coffins (over a hundred) from San Francisco to Hong Kong in the late nineteenth century, a benevolent association needed to pay two to three USD per coffin as the shipping charge. The price later increased to five USD. See Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 268. However, Tan Jinhua found that in 1911, sending a body of a Chinese expatriate may cost thirty-five to fifty-five USD, depending on its decomposition status; this rate was likely for transporting a single deceased person in a decent casket. It is still much higher than sending remains in batches, even considering inflation. See Tan Jinhua, “Fallen Leaves Returning to Their Roots,” 566.
61 Letter from Lam Lap-dun and Lam Tak-nong, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 24 September 1934 (no. 74).
62 Letter from Wong Wai, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 7 August 1930 (no. 120).
63 Letter from Long Sai Li Benevolent Association, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 13 January 1930 (no. 6).
64 Letter from Chang Weng Chun Tong to Habana, Cuba to Tung Wah Hospital on 18 August 1930 (no. 18).
65 Letter from Hoy Sun Ning Yung Benevolent Association Head Office, Victoria, Canada to Tung Wah Hospital on 10 October 1931 (no. 138); Letter from Mui Chow Ying Fook Tong, San Francisco to Tung Wah Hospital on 18 October 1935, cited from Yip Hon-Ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 198.
66 Letter from Chung Shan Commercial Association of Hong Kong to Tung Wah Hospital on 17 May 1934 (no. 293).
67 Tung Wah Hospital Response to Lui Ngog Chung Shan Association on 12 March 1930, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 303.
68 Letter from Hoy Sun Ning Yung Benevolent Association in America, San Francisco, USA, to Tung Wah Hospital on 17 November 1933 (no. 162).
69 Tung Wah Hospital response to Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Pittsburgh on 11 October 1947, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 317–318. In this case, the remains to be transported arrived in Hong Kong in 1939, and during the wartime, delivering remains to Mainland China was impossible. Delivery charges after the war were much higher than those of 1939.
70 Letter from Ma Wai-po, Hong Kong to Tung Wah Hospital on 25 March 1933 (no.274).
71 Minute of the First Meeting of the Board of Directors, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals to Reorganize the Coffin Home on 13 May 1955, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 93.
72 Letter from Chan Siu-on, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 8 March 1931 (no. 28).
73 Letter from Long Sai Li Benevolent Association, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 20 October 1929 (no. 3).
74 Letter from Sociedad On Ten Tong, Havana, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 25 July 1930 (no. 15); Letter from Sociedad On Ten Tong, Havana, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 28 July 1930 (no. 16); Letter from Chang Weng Chun Tong, Havana, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 17 September 1937 (no. 39); Letter from Chang Weng Chun Tong, Havana, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 5 October 1931 (no. 40).
75 Letter from Ho Pak-wai, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 25 November 1932 (no. 209).
76 Letter from Kwang Tung Association, Nagasaki, Japan, to Tung Wah Hospital on 23 June 1931 (no. 200); Letter from Chang Weng Chun Tong, Havana, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 16 March 1933 (no. 59).
77 Letter from Chong Wa Benevolent Association, Seattle, United States, to Tung Wah Hospital on 16 May 1931 (no. 130).
78 Letter from Yu Sin Tong, Chung Shan, China, to Tung Wah Hospital on 4 June 1935 (no. 235).
79 Letter from Long Sai Li Benevolent Association, Habana, Cuba to Tung Wah Hospital on 2 May 1929 (no.1); Letter from Wong Kong Ja Tong Comision Beneficencia, Habana, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 7 July 1930 (no.14); Letter from Sociedad On Ten Tong, Havana Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 12 October 1930 (no.23).
80 Letter from Long Sai Li Benevolent Association, Cuba to Tung Wah Hospital on 20 October 1929 (no.3); Letter from Wong Chi-sheung, China to Tung Wah Hospital on 12 December 1934 (no.294).
81 Letter from the Chinese Club, Bluefields, Nicaragua, to Tung Wah Hospital on 25 February 1933 (no. 58).
82 Tung Wah Hospital's Response to Ning Young Yee Hing Tong of San Francisco, United States, on 28 February 1928, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 193–194.
83 Tan Jinhua, “Fallen Leaves Returning to Their Roots,” 593.
84 Minute of Wednesday Meeting on the Fifth Day of the Fourth Lunar Month of 1928 and Minute of Wednesday Meeting on the First Day of the Seventh Lunar Month of 1928, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 132.
85 Letter from Tung Wah Hospital to Nam To Lok Sin Tong on 9 September 1926, Nam To Lok Sin Tong's response to Tung Wah Hospital on 14 September 1926, and Letter from Tung Wah Hospital to Nam To Lok Sin Tong on 20 September 1926, all cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 138–139.
86 Letter from the Chairman of Tung Wah Hospital, Tang Siu-kin, and Others to Admiral Tan on 28 June 1928 and Tan Tse's response to Tung Wah Hospital on 30 June 1928, cited from Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 135–137.
87 Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 24.
88 They may be difficult to locate. See Yip Hon-ming, The Tung Wah Coffin Home, 16.
89 Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossing, 269.
90 Letter from Molina, Cuba, to Tung Wah Hospital on 3 October 1934 (no. 76).
91 Letter from Hip Hing Lung Company, Mexico, to Tung Wah Hospital on 29 January [sic] 1931 (no. 27). Judging from the original copy of the letter and its content, the actual date should have been 29 October 1931.
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Zhaokun Liu
Liu Zhaokun is currently a lecturer at the Research Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine, Nankai University. He received his doctoral degree from the History Department, Carnegie Mellon University, and his research interest includes the historical, social, and political values of human remains, modern history of medicine and public health, and U.S.-East Asia relations.