Full Description

In this stunning work, Pam Chun brings a new and powerful voice to the traditions of Chinese-American fiction. The Money Dragon brings to life the saga of L. Ah Leong, the Money Dragon, one of the legends of Hawai`i and the founder of Honolulu’s Chinatown. At the turn of the twentieth century, Ah Leong rules over his Hawai`ian home, a legendary man so proficient in the martial arts he has brought himself back to life; a man who beguiles many wives, sires dozens of children and is driven by money and greed. He builds a financial empire, establishing himself as a leader both on the exotic islands and in his Chinese homeland. But when Phoenix, the wife of his first son Tat-Tung, arrives in Hawai`i, she becomes witness to how the values Ah Leong holds dear begin to tear him and his family apart.

The Money Dragon is a fascinating and important first novel, a tale of a family struggling between love, greed, jealousy and loyalty. Pam Chun reaches into her family history to deliver a story that shows the tumult and opportunity that occurs when the deep-rooted traditions of the Chinese people meet the sweeping advance of the Western world.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Part I
1. China: 1917
2. Honolulu Beginnings: 1918

Part II
3. The Dragon Awakens: China 1871
4. Kaka‘ako Store: Honolulu 1900
5. Rising from the Ashes: 1903
6. Tat-Tung’s Early Years: June 1903
7. The Laus of Kew Boy Village: 1903
8. The Many Wives of L. Ah Leong: 1905

Part III
9. Captive Wives: 1907
10. The Rise of Ming Yang Tong: 1910
11. Tales of the L. Ah Leong Compound: 1918
12. Escape: 1919
13. Circle Lane: 1919
14. The Stolen Can of Curried Chicken: 1919
15. Ah Leong’s Power over Immigration: 1919
16. Tat-Tung’s Motorcar: 1919–1920
17. Ah Leong’s Property Returns: 1920–1921

Part IV
18. L. Ah Leong, Limited: July 1921
19. Betrayal: July 1921
20. The Strategic Divorce: December 6, 1921
21. The Board of Inquiry: December 7, 1921
22. The Two Month Battle: December 1921–February 1922
23. Triumph and Appeal: August 1922

Part V
24. A Family Divided: August 1924
25. Entrapment and Deceit: October 1924–1926
26. Storms of Devastation: 1926
27. Chung Shee Reappears: 1926–1934
28. The Ghosts Return for Ah Leong: 1934
29. Funeral of Honor and Dishonor: 1934
30. Where the Wind Was as Sweet as Wild Gingers: May 1935

Glossary

Photographs and Documents

Maps

About the Author

Excerpt

Editorial Reviews

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