[
    {
        "id": 211412,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1988",
        "page_number": 128,
        "title": "RAS-1988",
        "content_text": "104\n\nFirst Paternal Aunt I joined him in 1897. She was surnamed Ching and was born on 16 August 1869 in the village of Tin Bin. A kindly, passive and not well-educated lady, she was anxious to be liked, but did not have the authoritativeness, shrewdness, and skill necessary to manage a large Chinese household. Because she bore no children, Uncle asked Cousin George Goon Sun Chan to bring a 'bought' girl with him into the United States as his own wife, when in reality she was to be Uncle's concubine. This was in 1903. Her name was Wong Lin Hing, a native of Soochow, and she was born on 7 February 1887. Although she was addressed by the family as Ngee Nai, namely, Second Concubine, I called her Small Paternal Aunt, to give her more status. In San Francisco, these two women, by shelling shrimp in the home, were able to use their earnings for investment that gave them some income of their own. During the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, it was a very difficult experience for Uncle when he had to flee with Aunt on his back because she could not run with bound feet.\n\nIn response to one of Uncle's letters bemoaning the fact that he had no children by either spouse, Father responded, without realizing the full impact, that if they lived near each other, he would let him have one of his children. Uncle immediately wrote that friends passing through Honolulu on their way to California could take the child to him. Fortunately for me, it was my younger sister, Me Yuk, still an infant, who was presented to Uncle. I have never discussed with Mother what her feelings were, but I suspect that she had little say in the matter and had dutifully acceded to a husband's decision and that she carried a great burden of guilt over it. When Me Yuk was about four or five, Small Aunt took her along to visit friends in Sacramento, and on the way back by boat, she developed convulsions and died. She was described as a sweet, appealing, and talented child, a little performer, whom Uncle proudly showed off to his friends. He doted on her and lavished her with fine clothes, some of which were sent to us after her death. It was traumatic for the family. Small Aunt contemplated suicide as she felt that she was to blame for the child's death. Me Yuk's remains were later taken to Hong Kong for reburial, and in 1932, she was buried a third time by Mother to rest next to Father and Ruth in the Pokfulam Christian Cemetery, Hong Kong.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211447,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1988",
        "page_number": 163,
        "title": "RAS-1988",
        "content_text": "139\n\nAs reasonable as these amounts seem to us today, Father could not continue without financial help. Highly motivated, he again turned to his brothers for assistance, because he felt that men without an education were like 'dumb cattle driven by others.' First Uncle replied on 6 July 1898 that he felt 'miserable' because he could not help. He compared himself to a well, drawn dry and needing time to be refilled, because his responsibilities had increased with so many relatives dependent upon him. However, he promised to do what he could. Second Uncle, who had gone to Shanghai, wrote on 29 August 1898 that he was in no position to assist and added that he was glad Father was earning money by teaching and that Father should go on to college and study law, medicine or dentistry.\n\nThe next year, on 3 May 1899, First Uncle again wrote, urging Father not to discontinue his schooling until the end of the year unless he had the consent of Grandfather, even though the job offer he received from a local newspaper might be tempting. Father must have finished the school year, for on 7 July 1899, First Uncle wrote to congratulate him on his graduation, noting that he had accepted a position with the Honolulu Chinese Times Bar as translator and reporter, and regretted that he was unable to advise him about going into business because conditions were not the same in different places. Second Uncle also wrote on 19 July 1899, commending Father for choosing a 'good' subject to deliver at the graduation exercises and encouraging him to continue to study while working.\n\nFather probably was looking for a job and business opportunities at the same time. He corresponded with friends in Kauai, in Hilo, and as far as Australia. A friend, Au Goon Bick, who had gone to Kapaa, Kauai, wrote in July that he was working for Lum Keed and that Yim Goon Siu of Honolulu was visiting him then. (Yim was the uncle of Cousin George Yim and was also working for the Honolulu Chinese Times. He later went to Shanghai where he ran a printing business.) Yim also wrote several times to Father about this Kauai trip - how he became seasick as soon as the boat passed Waianae and how he forgot his discomfort as soon as he met a number of young ladies with whom he had much fun singing. He expressed surprise that one of them, a sister of Wong Fat and a student at Kamehameha School, could speak English as well as both the Heong Shan and Nam Long dialects. (I suspect that",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q",
        "rank": 0
    }
]