LIU ZIGUANG
Extracts from Memoir of an Old New Zealand Chinese
translated by Ouyang Yu
Passengers stood on the beach, waiting
to be picked up in carriages to go to the town. This place was five kilometres
from the Chinese residence. They waited from morning till night because there
were no carriages to get. Helplessly, they had to look for mud-carrying vehicles.
When they found the vehicles, their bellies were utterly empty. They waited
on the beach till the sun set in the Western hills when cool wind turned cold
and there were no lights. Suddenly, the government dispatched several policemen,
together with two Chinese, to escort (us) into the town. When the vehicles
arrived at the place where Chinese gathered and resided, there was no place
for a peaceful sleep. Late at night, we raised our heads but there was no
solution. Each carried his own luggage to the gambling house and cooked food
to eat. That night, gambling stopped. After eating, (we) made the bed on the
floor and slept till the next morning when each one of us went in search of
a place. I had good luck. An uncle from the same town heard my name and came
to see me. He bought me clothes and got me to put on the Western suit. Then
he found me a place for peaceful residence. It was really luck one would only
have in three lifetimes. I met with various uncles. One said: You are young
and should stay home studying. It’s not appropriate for you to come here to
bear bitterness. However, since you are here, we as uncles should plan your
livelihood. In your youth, you should learn how to do business and make it
grow from small to big, without much capital. You can give it a try some day
by taking a small square canvas bag containing some tea leaves and peddling
along the street and from door to door. If business is good, keep doing it.
If it is not good, it won’t be too late to change to something else. I did
as they told. From then on, I did the sale for one day but it was all empty
business. The second day, I went selling again and sold a little, not enough
to cover a day’s expense. The third day was still empty business. The fourth
day I reported I’d stopped the business. An uncle said: You can’t get tired.
You need to go to the market again. How can you just stop? Helplessly, I went
out for another day. Again empty business. I said to all the uncles: I determine
to change from selling the tea. One day a Westerner drove a fast horse to
pick up his clients. This person could speak Chinese. He asked me: Are you
a new chum?[4]
I said yes. And I said: You are intelligent because you can speak my language.
He said: I’m not intelligent but I learnt. He asked me what line of business
I was engaged in. I said selling tea leaves on the street but I was unemployed
and did not know where to place myself in the future. I wondered if he could
introduce myself. He said: I take pity on you but the agitation isn’t good
at the moment because workers have the ambition to exclude the Chinese. This
is why tea is impossible to sell and this business is also dangerous as there
is real fear that one may get hurt. I have several horses, looked after by
a Westerner who drinks a lot and is not responsible. It’s light duty that
is better than selling tea. If you are willing, please come and work. I asked
how much was the work silver.[5]
He said: weekly work silver 10 yuan,[6]
including meals. I agreed at once, work beginning on Monday, and worked for
four years. The master and his wife treated me well. From then on, I went
out at night to learn English, from 7 to 9pm. After finishing study, I went
to learn martial arts because my compatriots were often hurt or killed by
Western Chinese-excluding elements. For this reason, I concentrated on learning
martial arts in order to protect myself. Once Chinese-excluding elements went
out of their way to beat up Chinese in a Chinese street and the Chinese dodged
them in a panic but I went forward to fight and scattered them. This happened
again several times and I was praised for being courageous by my compatriots.
I would often sigh that I couldn’t
cope with the enemy alone and would often publicize my opinion that we compatriots
had been suffering from this great shame for years and that if we did not
find a solution it would become endless. Fearful of their great force, the
government was not in a position to forbid it. The weak government of our
country did not send any diplomats to come here to deal with it. It would
be better for us compatriots to find a way to cope with it. Some said that
Chinese people were habitually servile from birth and were no fighters by
nature, and it would be hard for them to unite. Mr Zhong Qian said that it
all depended on human effort and that even though Chinese, like meat, were
on the chopping block, they would have clean feet even when they died. (He
proposed that) the two martial arts clubs in this city should gather all the
martial artists, choose a spot and advise all the Chinese to attend a meeting,
which might be a solution. So, a guideline was drafted. Mr Chen Xinghua was
at once told to write a leaflet and people were sent out to distribute the
leaflets to various Chinese houses and shops. A meeting was held in the Kong
Chow Society where everyone agreed that Mr Chen Xinghua be elected temporary
Chairman. Chen Xinghua was a big businessman in the Xing Family business.
First, the chairman announced the reasons. The chairman said: It is a good
day today, a day in which we compatriots urgently need salvation. Please can
anyone suggest what is the best way to deal with the Chinese-excluding elements?
Some said that it was impossible to avenge themselves, having suffered bullying
and humiliation for years; that it was really impossible for us to solve this
great enmity as we were not in a position to cope with the dealings plus the
fact that our motherland had failed worse than a dead worm; and that the only
hope was that heroes from the two martial arts clubs would come forward which
might be able to achieve some success. At this, everyone clapped their hands
in a cheering voice that sounded like a thunder. Someone else said that in
this adversity one could not fight unless by force and he wondered if one
should not engage two coaching masters to teach how. All applauded and shouted
‘Good!’ One master was Chen Xiong and the other one was He Yun. Chen Xiong
stood up and spoke first. He said that he was resentful over the great humiliation
sustained for many years and that he would wreak vengeance for his compatriots
now that they had woken up and pointed out the way out of the maze. After
he finished speaking, Master He Yun stood up and spoke. He said that the compatriots
were enthusiastic and compassionate, vowing to forge ahead with their fists
held high, and that he hoped that everyone was so single-minded that success
was complete. In the end, Masters Chen and He assumed the leadership of the
Martial Arts Protection Team.
For evidence, there was a poem that
goes, ‘My compatriots are tortured for no reason,/But there’s nothing one
can do as one’s own country is weak and provides no protection./Let’s gather
together to practice martial arts and beat back the bandits,/Hoping
the Sleeping Dragon will fight for the mountains and rivers.’ After Masters
Chen and He made
a proper plan and arrangement, all the disciples got ready to set out, 20-odd
people in total. Every team walked in pairs side by side. They set out at
6 every evening, at fixed route and fixed time. And they would take turns
changing the teams. The Chinese-excluding elements came at no fixed times
and went with no traces. This went on till 7 on a Saturday night when a beating
suddenly occurred in Chinatown, involving 30-odd Chinese-excluding elements
that bore down ferociously. Zhong Qiang and I first struck down a few Chinese-excluding
elements. When the Chinese-excluding elements saw the situation wasn’t good
for them, they ran away like rats. A team of our helping heroes gave them
a chase, tailgating them.[7] That
night, a group of young heroes gained success for the first time. You know
who Zhong Qiang was? Zhong Qiang was from Xinhui. His grandfather was a school
teacher and his father sold martial arts in the rivers and lakes.[8] Because Father passed (his
skills) to his son, so the son was fearless. It was subsequently quiet for
two weeks. One night, at around 10, loud cries for help were heard in Chinatown,
at which a group of heroes came striding over. The Chinese-excluding elements
used rocks to attack, one rock hitting a young hero on his leg and one hitting
the other on the hand. Both fell to the ground with a cry. I instantly changed
tactics by shouting out loud for them to go to the gambling house to avoid
them. I went into the gambling house and saw a shoulder-pole which I took
hold of in my hand. Some others saw the flour-beating sticks[9] in the kitchen, so they grabbed
them and went out to assist in the fight. As soon as an order was issued,
some stood at the top end of the street and others stood at the bottom end
of the street, blocking both ends. At first, the Chinese-excluding elements
strutted about and gave themselves airs as they thought we dared not come
out to fight because we had dodged them. When we blew the whistle outside
the street, sticks and batons knocked the Chinese-excluding elements till
they were scattered here and there, all fallen weakly to the ground. It was
not till the police patrolled there that they learnt about this. The police
reported this to the Cross Station for the Wounded which came to cart all
the wounded to the hospital. Subsequently, there were detectives that went
to Chinatown to find out about whether the Chinese had got involved in the
fighting the previous night. The Chinese said that they did not know anything
as it was late at night. The newspaper the next morning reported that 30-odd
Chinese-excluding elements had all been wounded in Chinatown, including three
dead.
Rocks
were found on the dead and the wounded. Detectives found no Chinese evidence
even when they checked the locals. It was found that (this was) the most tragic
occasion in which the Chinese-excluding elements and the anti-Chinese-excluding
elements suffered the most in terms of the dead and the wounded. If a way
was not found to chase this party out of the state,[10] there would be no peace.
The party’s riots were caused by the white women not properly brought up who
went to Chinese houses and shops and when Westerners saw this they spread
the news to the masses’ ears. Some with hot eyes took the opportunity to spread
the rumour. Reporters from the newspaper agencies put sufficient spirit in
their descriptions so that the newspaper agencies took the opportunities to
expand the sales and make a buck. The majority of the ignorant people believed
in these things and those licentious ones got so tricked that they formed
a party and jumped thousands of zhang
high. This is the main reason for excluding the Chinese although not everyone
necessarily believed in the party and most men of letters wrote books to criticize
the party. The party willfully made trouble, deliberately blaming Chinese
for disobeying the law here. They in fact disrupted businesses such as industry
and commerce, causing people to lose jobs, and they were people who wreaked
havoc on the civilized system of our country.
Once,
also a Saturday night, at 7, there were so many pedestrians there was no standing
room. Brother Zhong Qiang and I were walking in Chinatown side by side when
two Westerners came to us face to face and spat into my face. I spat back
in the same way. Suddenly, I turned round with my friend to walk to the middle
of the road. When we reached the middle of the road, I turned round to look
and saw the two Westerners following very close at our heels. At this time,
there was a sea of people. This guy was angry and he raised his fist to hit
me in my eye. He kept hitting me five times but I dodged all of them. Then,
when I saw that his force was far less powerful than before, I hit him on
his right face with my left fist. He fell onto the ground, his four feet [sic]
skywards, unable to get up again, fresh blood spurting out of his mouth. Suddenly
I heard someone calling from the upstairs: Leave quickly, Liu Ziguang. I turned
to go but couldn’t go because I was encircled by many people. I lost temper
and raised my fists, telling the masses to move. Then I took the opportunity
to leave. I got close to the gate of the Xing Family Business where their
workers shouted: Liu Ziguang, come in quickly! You’ve killed someone. Go to
another street via the end of the shop. But there was no access to another
street at the end of the shop, only a timber factory. So, I climbed over the
timber, across the street, to walk to a small diagonal street where I knocked
on the door of Zhong Yingyou’s house. Zhong Yingyou opened the door to let
me in. Fifteen minutes later, there came two Westerners: one a police detective
and the other someone I had wounded. This person pointed at me and said that
I had beaten him. The detective asked if I had beaten him. I admitted straight
away (that I did). The detective said that you had to go together to see the
sergeant. So we went together to the police station. The police chief asked
why we fought.
I
answered as stated above. The sergeant asked the plaintiff whether it was
the cause of the incident. The plaintiff admitted that it was. The sergeant
directly chastised the plaintiff that he should not have been so impudently
unreasonable by spitting at people and then hitting people first. (He said
that) this case was so serious that no decision could be made at this station;
that it must be handed over to the court to deal with but not till 10 the
next Monday morning when the court was open for the hearing; that both the
plaintiff and the defendant first must go to the court to wait for the trial;
and that you two must have someone to give you surety so that you could freely
go home but that if there was no-one to bail you out you would have to stay
in the police station for one day and two nights. As he spoke, Chen Xinghua,
assurer for Liu Ziguang the defendant, came. Chen Xinghua was chairman of
Chinese Business Chamber. The Chamber had the regulation that if Chinese fought
with Chinese and went to the court, it would not intervene. However, if it
was the Chinese who fought with Westerners, the Chamber would of course guarantee
fees for protection. Chairman Chen telephoned a solicitor to deal with this
case. By 10 the next Monday morning, both parties had already solicitors dealing
with their cases. In the end, Liu Ziguang won, all the solicitors’ costs and
the court fees paid by the plaintiff; the plaintiff had lost a front tooth.
There was a Westerner with a camera looking for Liu Ziguang. I said: What
do you want to see me for? He said that he had read in the news one day in
which you were fighting with a Westerner. Fishting at Little Brick St. With
a white man.[11] The Westerner continuously
hit five punches but you did not hit back, dodging every fist, till it was
the fifth or the sixth fist, when you raised your hand and hit him on the
mouth. The person fell to the ground, with blood running out of his mouth
and unable to fight again. Later, the court gave the person a heavy penalty
as he did not obey the nation’s law and had to be doubly fined. You adopted
the attitude of a high-minded civilized man and earned respect from people
because you used etiquette before resorting to force.[12] Could I take a photograph
of you as a memento today and send it to another city for my relatives and
friends to see? I had to agree. After the photograph was taken, he left me
his residential address, his business card, shook my hands and said ‘Many
thanks’ before he left.
After
we won this fight, we became bolder, our only concern being that there was
not enough peace. As the ancient saying goes, if you want to get rid of the
weeds you must take them by the roots. Since the Chinese-excluding elements
made a big loss, they would not easily give up. We had to be prepared in case
their dying embers glowed again. One day a Western newspaper published a letter
by the Chinese-excluding elements that they were ready to chase all the Chinese
out of the country one day, to be confined to an island of lepers. All the
Chinese in the state were so concerned that they could hardly sleep peacefully.
There were many with a conscience among the Westerners who sighed about such
things for the Chinese. Incidentally, a Christian priest was resentful about
this and wrote a letter to the government on behalf of the compatriots asking
to maintain security for the Chinese. A general had 30,000 solders in reserve
who trained daily, ready to set out to fight with the Chinese-excluding elements.
When the news was out, all the waves went quiet, all the concerns gone, with
people from all walks of life rested on high pillows[13] and feelings of enmity towards
each other wiped out since.