The Chinese Giant Who Toured the World
During 1800, a century before Yao Ming, the West was conquered by another Chinese giant, Chang Woo Gow (Zhan Shichai, 詹世釵).
Part of our China History Archive
Known by the stage name of Chang, the Chinese giant, he was born in Fuzhou (福州) (although on several of his business cards Beijing (北京) was reported as a place of birth) between 1840-50 (dates more likely 1841, 1844, 1846 or 1847). His first public appearance dates back to the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly in London when he was nineteen, with his wife, Kin Foo (Foo King or King Fow, known as the Golden Lily or Lily Fair), in 1865-66, along with a Chinese dwarf called Chung Mow.
According to someone, the “wife” was nothing but a Chinese actress hired to play the role of a devoted wife. Others claimed the young woman was actually his wife. In the following years, he began a tour of Europe. It is said he was already able to speak at least ten languages. According to some accounts, Chang, after several years of career and after having traveled the globe, was able to speak 26 languages.
Language and Legend
Probably the number is an exaggeration derived from the biographies used to promote shows, however, numerous witnesses remembered him as an avid reader. It’s difficult to produce an accurate account since often episodes of his life are mixed up with imaginative biographies written to meet the needs of the public.
The American Tour
His agent P.T. Barnum convinced him to tour around the United States by offering him a salary of $500 a month. He arrived in New York on December 1, 1880, where he began to pose as a Mandarin, Mongolian warrior, and French soldier. But before arriving in the United States, Chang also performed in Australia. His wife, before performances, entertained the audience talking and selling pictures of the crew. When she performed at the Benevolent Asylum, he donated half the proceeds to patients. On that occasion, a wax effigy was made, which was exhibited during the Bendigo Easter Fair until almost ten years later, in 1895.
Australia and a Second Marriage
During his visit to Sydney, the mayor of the town gifted him a gold watch that from that moment he always wore. According to another witness, the watch was a gift from Queen Victoria. During his stay in Australia, his wife died. Chang met Catherine Santley, whom he later married. According to research by Philip Brambie, Chang met the woman through a friend, John Rodgers, secretary of Sydney School of Arts Hall, where Chang had performed. Catherine was a young girl born in Liverpool in 1847.
Later Life
They were married in the Congregationalist Church by the Rev. John Graham. The two had two sons, Edwin, born in Shanghai in 1877, and Ernest, born two years later in Paris. In the period 1877-78 Chang returned to China, and later they moved to England. Here he opened an Oriental Bazaar in Bournemouth and a tea room, where they sold chinoiserie, bronzes, silks, and Chinese tea. Chang died four months after his wife’s death, in 1893, at age 50.
SOURCE:
The Human marvels
Chia – Chinese Museum
via CinaOggi.it
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