Tong War video-1875 san francisco

[Kaylun]

in "Genche's" photographs of San Francisco's old China Town the man is said to be Mountbanks Pekin Knife man called Sung Chi Liang nickname Da Niu (big Ox) and that he sold Dit Da Jow

[Mano Mano]

in "Genche's" photographs of San Francisco's old China Town the man is said to be Mountbanks Pekin Knife man called Sung Chi Liang nickname Da Niu (big Ox) and that he sold Dit Da Jow

If he entered the US legally, should there be some official record of him with more information of maybe where he came from.

[GeneChing]

One of our forum lurkers sent me this via email. He bought the book just for that photo, just like I was going to do but didn't have the money at the time.

GENTHE'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF SAN FRANCISCO'S OLD CHINATOWN
Photographs by Arnold Genthe, Selection and text by John Kuo Wei Tchen

P. 28 is the photo of the man with the butterfly knives

p.29 has this description of Plate 9 (picture on p. 28):
"The Mountainbank," "The Peking Two Knife Man," "The Sword dancer" - Genthe's various titles for this portrait of Sung Chi Liang, well known for his martial arts skills. Nicknamed Daniu, or "Big Ox," referring to his great strength, he also sold an herbal medicine rub after performing a martial art routine in the street. The medicine, tiedayanjiu (tit daa yeuk jau), was commonly used to help heal bruises sustained in fights or falls. This scene is in front of 32, 34, and 36 Waverly Place, on the east side of the street, between Clay and Washington Streets. Next to the two onlookers on the right is a wooden stand which, with a wash basin, would advertise a Chinese barbershop open for business. The adjacent basement stairwell leads to an inexpensive Chinese restaurant specializing in morning zhou (juk), or rice porridge.

Arnold Genthe was a German photographer who took extensive photos of S.F.'s Old Chinatown. I wanted to share this information because I too love the historical nature of this picture. Too bad we have no such records of New York City's Chinatown.

[hasayfu]

let me clarify this.........in regards to Lau Bun and his arrival to the United States in the 1920's, there were NO gung fu SCHOOLS or it being taught to anyone here in america.

since the after the mid 1850's many chinese have come to our country, with gung fu being as old as it is, it would be a rediculous idea to believe Lau Bun was the first on american soil to know gung fu..........

but he was the first to begin teaching it here. There are NO other schools prior to Lau Bun's arrival.

in saying that, i believe that it was more southern, because my sigung is Say Yup.

Lau Bun was Toi San. and sorry, I don't believe Lau Bun was invited to come here.......

hsk

Sounds reasonable to me. I have no knowledge of SCHOOLS in SF. My Si-dai's grandfather was trained in China and did not teach here. For Lau Bun's "invitation" you are the historian so I'll go with your version. I may have gotten my stories mixed up from other Lau Bun folks.

As for slurring words, that would be Say Yup. It's the "peasant" language according to the Sam Yup folks. You still hear a lot of it in SF and Oakland. There is a saying that there are more Toisanese outside of Toisan then inside.

The photos are cool.

[Chosen-frozen]

Wow, it`s hard to imagine no one was teaching kung fu here before the 1920`s. I guess I always assumed that with all the social organizations and the tong activity that went on before then someone was teaching organized groups, even if it was behind closed doors.

That picture of police confiscated weapons reminds me of a pair of long daggers I saw at the Birdcage Theatre Museum in Tombstone AZ. They were basically narrow-bladed butterfly knives w/o the knukle guard. They had been used by a Chinese immigrant who`d killed a man in a fight in the late 1800`s.

[hskwarrior]

ALL the old masters will tell you that prior to lau bun, there was no one teaching.

but, as i said, its rediculous to think that no one from china here i the states during that period didn't know gung fu. if they did, no one was teaching it.

no one has EVER said, so and so was here teaching here before lau bun.......

anyways, i read a tond war story that said hatchet men were chopping this dude up, on the corner right behind this street vendor. the chinese are soo much "its not my business" the street vendor had blood all over his back and acted like he didn't know what happened.

[GeneChing]

Have you seen the new Ken Burns The War doc yet? There's this segment where an American vet talks about liberating a concentration camp and how you could smell it for miles. Nevertheless, the neighboring village, who were all well within the stench range, all denied they knew anything about what was happening there. Even the village pastor denied any knowledge, despite the intense odor of disease and death wafting through the entire area. In a later segment, the American vets talk about forcing a neighboring village to bury all the dead from the camp right in the middle of their town square, so they wouldn't forget.

[jigahus]

Have you seen the new Ken Burns The War doc yet? There's this segment where an American vet talks about liberating a concentration camp and how you could smell it for miles. Nevertheless, the neighboring village, who were all well within the stench range, all denied they knew anything about what was happening there. Even the village pastor denied any knowledge, despite the intense odor of disease and death wafting through the entire area. In a later segment, the American vets talk about forcing a neighboring village to bury all the dead from the camp right in the middle of their town square, so they wouldn't forget.

This can also be seen in an episode of Band of Brothers.

[The Xia]

I wonder what his Kung Fu was like.