大芝加哥地区华侨华人
纪念辛亥革命一百周年征文专辑
(大芝加哥地区华侨华人联合会编辑)
2011年11月
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Help China andSupport Sun Zhongshan’s Revolution Efforts
Darryl Tom
Inever met my grandfather. He died many years before I was born. Butfrom what I have read in old newspaper articles and been told by my relatives,I know he was a great man.
TomYoung Chan was born on September 24, 1881 in the village of Ya’kou, Zhongshancounty, Guangdongprovince, the same county in which Sun Zhong-shan is from. In America, hislegal surname was “Chan” because the officials in the U.S. failed torecognize that Chinese people give their surname first when introducingthemselves.
Whenhe was 17, he travelled to Honolulu, Hawaii and worked for the LungChi Pao, a weekly newspaper that reported for Sun Zhong-shan. He became a United Statescitizen as a result of the annexation of Hawaiion July 6, 1898.The Lung Chi Pao reorganized into the Min Sheng Daily in 1906, and later intothe Tan Shan Hsin Pao. In 1907, he helped raise funds to establish the Tzu YuHsin Pao (Freedom News).
In1908, he moved to the mainland, traveling first to New York City, where he learned how to makenoodles from a “sing sang” master, and then to Chicago. He believed that industry andcommerce were essential to financing the revolutionary cause.
In1909, he joined the T'ung Meng Hui (Revolutionary Alliance), which Dr. Sunestablished during his visit to Chicagothat December.
In1911, he founded the Chinese Noodle Company, Chinese Trading Company, and MinSun Company. During this year, he gave financial support to Dr. Sun’srevolutionary movement, which experienced a setback with the Canton uprising in April. After the WuchangUprising on October 10, he helped raise money so that Dr. Sun could return to China from the United Statesthrough Europe.
Mygrandfather continued to support Dr. Sun for the rest of his life. Thenoodle company began in a one-room shop and he delivered his noodles fromstreet cars, while repairing his worn shoes with newspapers. That companyand the others grew into thriving businesses that supported two moregenerations of the Tom family.
Hemarried my grandmother, Lillian, in 1922, after his first wife died frominfluenza. She said that she spent her honeymoon in Niagara Falls decoding messages from Dr.Sun. Even after Dr. Sun’s death in 1925, he continued to help China byraising money during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Thoughmy grandfather died in 1944, he left behind a legacy that carried through theTom family. My uncle, father, and three aunts helped run and expand thefamily businesses through 2000. They became very involved in variousChinese business, cultural, and social service organizations in Chicago’s Chinatown.
Myuncle was quoted in a 1965 newspaper article as saying of his father, “he had aburning desire to help China.”That desire could only have come from one person: Dr. Sun Zhong-shan.
