Six Chinese on the Titanic survived, but why have they been humiliated for the rest of their lives

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Author: Drum Wave Hermit

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Illustration: Developed mosquitoes

#01.

On April 14, 1912, the luxury passenger ship Titanic was on its maiden voyage when it hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean and sank. The disaster killed 1,517 people and is a sad memory in the history of world shipwrecks.

With the global hit of the Hollywood blockbuster "Titanic" at the end of the last century, this event has become a household story, and people are all moved by the unfortunate encounters of the ship's passengers and their legendary stories. But what is less well known is that there were eight Chinese passengers on board the Titanic, six of whom survived and disappeared from people's sight for a long time after being blamed by Westerners, so who are these Chinese? What happened to them?

In the late Qing Dynasty, a man named Fang Rongshan went overseas to work as a sailor in order to make a living. In the spring of 1912, he and seven other colleagues' employers bought them a ticket numbered 1601 to work on a cruise ship in the Americas, and they boarded the Titanic. According to the boarding records, the eight Chinese were called "Fang Lang" (Fang Lang), Li Bing (Lee Bing), Zhong Jie (Chang Chip), Ah Lam (Ah Lam), Yan Xi (Ling Hee), Hu Zhong (Choong Foo), Lin (Len Lam), Li Lin (Lee Ling)", and the names were transliterated.

As ordinary workers, the eight Chinese entered the third class for the underclass, huddled with poor immigrants from Ireland and other countries. Of course, because the Titanic is a luxury cruise ship, even if it is a third-class cabin, its living and eating conditions are still good, better than the usual living standards of many people, and for the eight Chinese who have suffered a lot, it is a short-term enjoyment of rare comfort.

#02.

On the evening of April 14, after the Titanic hit an iceberg, the hull gradually sank. The third class cabin where the eight Chinese passengers are located is at the bottom of the cruise ship, and the chance of escape is very low. According to post-mortem statistics, of the 710 people who survived, the first class had the highest survival rate, while the vast majority of the third class were swallowed up by the cold sea.

Lin Lun and Li Lin quickly disappeared from the vision of Wanrong Mountain and the others, leaving them forever. The six surviving Chinese were all sailors, more familiar than other passengers with the way to deal with the shipwreck, except for Wanrong Mountain and Hu Zhong's other four people, who swam to the C folding boat to escape, and Hu Zhong climbed into the No. 13 lifeboat.

Fang Rongshan's experience is the most legendary, he found a wooden board, climbed to float on it, until he was found by the No. 14 lifeboat. He wrote in a letter to his family afterwards: "The sky is high and the sea is wide and the waves are waves, and a stick saves me." Brothers together a few, wiped away tears and smiled huh. Cameron, director of the film Titanic, confirmed: "The plot inspiration for Ruth's salvation from a plank at the end of the film came from a surviving Chinese on the Titanic." ”

The six Chinese luckily escaped and were not treated like other rescued passengers. After arriving in New York, they were unable to disembark or even get proper medical examinations due to the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States at the time. Instead, he was sent to Cuba by another ship and started a new job.

What they did not expect was that at that time, the White Star Company, the operator of Titanic, and some British and American media, in order to divert the attention of the public, tried their best to portray the "gentlemanly demeanor" displayed by white people when the shipwreck occurred, such as letting women and children get on the boat first, and men calmly accepting death. It should be said that these stories are real and touching, but when it is necessary to pursue responsibility, such publicity seems to have ulterior motives.

#03.

With heroes, it is natural that the back pot man is indispensable, and the Asians on the ship, including six Chinese, have become the targets of attack. Some Western media have carried out various attacks and slanders against them. A newspaper and periodical spread such a rumor: "Greed for life and fear of death, unruly, pretending to be a woman to steal the survival opportunities of women and children..." This became the basic interpretation of the Western media for the escape of Chinese at that time.

The New York Times even shamelessly reported: "Several Chinese furnace workers rushed into lifeboats before the women could board." And tried to occupy at least one seat, even ripping off the life jacket of one passenger around. ”

What is even more frightening is that some Chinese media have seen foreigners' newspapers and periodicals write this, and instead of investigating in depth, they will follow the trend and attack their compatriots. At that time, an article titled "The National Shame on the Titanic" wrote that "four Chinese sneaked into the bottom of a lifeboat ... Chinese spirit of not being accustomed to order is fully expressed here. This is our great shame. China has one more national shame!"

Of course, the surviving Chinese are not aware of these overwhelming rumors and attacks. Because they are almost illiterate and busy with hard work, they have no idea what is happening, let alone stand up and clarify and seek justice.

However, some upright Westerners spoke fairly, and survivor Carolyn Gore recalled: "After Fang Rongshan was rescued, he tried to communicate with the people on the boat, and found that they could not understand, so he took the initiative to push away a sailor who was struggling to paddle, picked up the oar and rowed. He was like a hero until we were rescued by a big ship. Historian Tim Martin points out that "there is no evidence that the Chinese survivors have ever disguised and hidden, these are stories made up by the media and the public after the fact." ”

It is worth mentioning that there was a survivor on the ship at that time named Hosono Masamune, who worked at the Japan Railway Academy. Like the six Chinese, he was "encircled and suppressed" by the Western media after being rescued, and he was also slandered as a man dressed as a woman and mixed into a lifeboat. The Japanese media criticized him, causing him to spend the rest of his life in humiliation. It can be seen that at that time, some media in britain and the United States were full of discrimination against Asians, and used all kinds of vicious words to attack and spread rumors.

Among the survivors, Fang Rongshan was relatively lucky, he later returned to the United States to work hard and became a businessman; Li Bing went to Canada to open a coffee house for a living; Yalin has been a sailor for the rest of his life is unknown; Yan Xi finally returned to live in Hong Kong; Zhong Jie fell ill with lung disease shortly after being rescued and died in Britain; and Hu Zhong's information is still unknown.

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