My Life in China and America · Chapter
XVIII: Investigation of the Coolie Traffic in Peru explained
Yung Wing returns to China in 1873 to introduce the Gatling gun, and while in Tientsin, he confronts the Peruvian Commissioner about the brutal coolie trade.
What happens
Yung Wing returns to China in 1873 to introduce the Gatling gun, and while in Tientsin, he confronts the Peruvian Commissioner about the brutal coolie trade. At Viceroy Li Hung Chang's request, Yung Wing travels to Peru to investigate the treatment of Chinese coolies, gathering photographic evidence of their abuse. His report, along with Chin Lan Pin's similar investigation in Cuba, leads to the end of the coolie traffic to those countries.
Themes in this chapter
Corruption and Personal Integrity
Yung Wing's refusal to support the coolie trade and his efforts to expose its abuses highlight his personal integrity against systemic corruption.
Modernization vs. Tradition
Yung Wing's introduction of the Gatling gun represents a push for modernization, while the coolie trade reflects traditional exploitative labor practices.
The West as Model and Mentor
Yung Wing uses Western technology (Gatling gun) and methods (photographic evidence) to address Chinese issues, showing the West as a model for reform.
Characters to notice
- Yung Wing
Returns to China to introduce the Gatling gun, confronts the Peruvian Commissioner, and investigates coolie conditions in Peru.
- Li Hung Chang
Viceroy who orders Yung Wing's mission to Peru and uses the photographic evidence to defeat the Peruvian treaty.
- Chin Lan Pin
Instructed by the government to investigate coolie conditions in Cuba, a parallel mission to Yung Wing's.
- Rev. J. H. Twichell
Accompanies Yung Wing on his mission to Peru.
- Dr. E. W. Kellogg
Accompanies Yung Wing on his mission to Peru; later becomes his brother-in-law.
Key passages
“I wish you to return to Hartford as quickly as possible and make preparations to proceed to Peru at once, to look into the condition of the Chinese coolies there.”
Viceroy Li Hung Chang ordered Yung Wing to go to Peru immediately to investigate the treatment of Chinese laborers.
This marks the beginning of Yung Wing's investigative mission.
“My report was accompanied with two dozen photographs of Chinese coolies, showing how their backs had been lacerated and torn, scarred and disfigured by the lash.”
Yung Wing provided photographic evidence of the brutal whipping scars on coolies' backs to support his report.
The photographs were crucial in proving the inhumanity of the coolie trade.
“Since our reports on the actual conditions of Chinese coolies in Cuba and Peru were made, no more coolies have been allowed to leave China for those countries. The traffic had received its death blow.”
The reports by Yung Wing and Chin Lan Pin led to the cessation of coolie emigration to Cuba and Peru, effectively ending the trade.
This outcome demonstrates the impact of their investigations.