Original Author and Researcher: Jin Manlou (金满楼)
(Translated By Adrian Chan-Wyles PhD)
On April 14, 1912, the Titanic – the largest passenger ship with the most luxurious interior facilities in the world at that time, suffered a disaster on its maiden voyage from Southampton, (England) to New York, (USA) – when it struck an iceberg! It sank into the sea in the early morning of the next day, killing 1,517 of the 2,224 crew members and passengers. According to records, there were eight (8) Chinese people on board at the time, six (6) of whom survived the sinking and were rescued. Recently, “Six Human-Beings: Chinese Survivors on the Titanic” – a historical film created by British Director Arthur Jones (Chinese name ‘Luo Fei’ [罗飞]) debuted at the 3rd Hainan Island International Film Festival. This documentary is designed to rectify the deliberate omission of the eight Chinese passengers from James Cameron’s 1997 epic film entitled ‘Titanic’ and similar accounts!
The Chinese People on the Titanic—
Third Class Passengers
On April 18, 1912, the Carpathia, carrying 710 survivors, arrived in New York Harbor, and the stories of the survivors then dominated the front pages of newspapers, including reports of six (6) Chinese survivors. Sadly, though, reports about the latter were mostly negative.
According to some of the media reports at the time, less than one-third of the survivors in this sinking were men – with men possessing a lower survival rate (due to the ‘women and children’ first policy of filling the lifeboats) – and yet six (6) of the eight (8) Chinese men travelling in third-class cabins managed to survive! Papers in the US and UK asked why it was that valuable spaces in lifeboats were given to ‘heathen’ cowards instead of ‘White’ women and children – or ‘White’ men who had bravely done their duty?
Due to the chaotic scene surrounding the sinking, together with the language barrier, the Western media did not bother to interview the six (6) Chinese survivors – with most of the stories consisting of racist hearsay and false allegations. Nonetheless, some information is certain, that is, the eight (8) Chinese men were legitimate workers travelling in third-class on the ship and certainly were not stowaways.
According to the New York Times of June 14, 1911: “Despite the efforts of the strike leaders, the White Star’s Olympic ship left the port of Southampton this afternoon on her maiden voyage to New York. This was following an agreement made between the management and the crew that prevented strike action.” The Olympic was the sister ship of the Titanic – both being owned by the White Star Line. Later, the Titanic’s maiden voyage would also be delayed by strike action.
Similar to White Star Line, the UK-based Donald Steamship Company was facing a shortage of seafaring labourers! Before the Titanic set sail – the Anat – owned by the Donald Steamship Company, was moored in New York Harbour. The main business of this ship was the transport of tropical fruits from the Central American West Indies to the United States. The Donald Steamship Company arranged for eight (8) sailors to be sent from the UK – but the only men available were ‘Chinese’ – because they were excluded (as ‘non-White’ people) from Union membership in the UK and were therefore ‘exempt’ from the requirement to participate in strike action! Furthermore, as they were only ‘transiting’ through American docks (loading and unloading) their presence did not violate the US ‘Chinese Exclusion Act’ which prohibited Chinese workers from entering the United States at that time. To reach the Anat – these eight (8) Chinese men (all ‘Boiler Room Workers’ or ‘Stokers’) were placed aboard the Titanic as a means to reach New York!
To this end, the Donald Steamship Company bought these eight (8) Chinese people a third-class group ticket – numbered 1601 – price £56, 9 shillings and 11 pence. The ‘Chinese’ names registered on this collective ticket are written in phonetic English. All eight Chinese passengers were originally from the Jiangman area of Taishan (pronounced ‘Toisan’ in the local dialect) situated within Guangdong province. These people are often ‘Hakka’ and speak a mixture of the Hakka and Cantonese dialects – exactly like the Hakka people do (our ancestors) throughout the New Territories Area of Hong Kong!
1) Fang Lang (Survived) – Worked on a cargo ship (8 years) and illegally entered US. Possibly identified as ‘Fang Sen’ (方森) – also known as ‘Fang Rongshan’ (方荣山).
2) Choong Foo (Survived) – Fate unknown.
3) Ali Lam (Survived) – Continued as mariner – disappeared in 1920 (Hong Kong).
4) Ling Hee (Survived) – Continued as mariner – disappeared in 1920 (India).
5) Chang Chip (Survived) – Contracted lung disease on voyage – died 1914 (London).
6) Lee Bing (Survived) – Migrated to Canada and opened a Coffee Shop.
7) Lee Ling (Drowned)
8) Len Lam (Drowned)
Amongst them the youngest was 24 years old whilst the oldest was 37 years old. As dispatch workers (who were sent anywhere at anytime with no Union support or protection) – these Chinese men were made to work more than 12 hours a day in terrible conditions – whilst receiving only one-fifth the pay of that earned by White (Umionised) workers doing exactly the same job!
Escape from chaos—
Six (6) Chinese human-being survive!
As the ship began to sink, the Captain of the Titanic implemented the principle of “women and children first” or “only” for the port (left) side lifeboats – whilst the starboard (right) side lifeboats operated for “men and women”. Several surviving Officers confirmed this protocol. Like ALL other third-class passengers – the eight (8) Chinese men were released from the lower decks at the last minute and strictly followed the racist and class-based rules – with none of them entering (or attempting to enter) the lifeboats on the port side.
According to the prevailing practice at the time, after a sinking, the lifeboats were used to mainly ferry people to rescue ships returning empty to pick-up more survivors who might be in the water – but there were NO ships in the immediate area and the passnegers already in the boats could not be taken or deposited anywhere for some hours! The Titanic was equipped with only 20 lifeboats – enough to accommodate a maximum of 1,300 people when fully loaded – which meant that nearly half of the people on board were doomed to die even if everything had gone according to plan. The situation was even more dire for third-class passengers, who were released from the lower decks last and who were allocated very few lifeboat spaces to fill.
During the chaos, Choong Foo boarded lifeboat No. 13 – the seventh starboard lifeboat to be launched into the sea! At the last minute, Ali Lam, Ling Hee, Chang Chip and Lee Bing were lucky enough to board folding lifeboat designated ‘C’. As these four men were small in stature – they were able to sit on the floor of the boat and not the seat boards – thus not taking-up any of the available seats. As they were quiet and small, they were not discovered for quite sometime until after the launching!
Not long after the folding lifeboat ‘C’ was launched, the Titanic – which was by now tilting alarmingly – began to sink! Lee Ling, Len Lam, and Fang Lang were still on board at the time and fell into the water! Fang Lang managed to cling to a large plank of wood as a means of survival – whilst Lee Ling and Len Lam sank beneath the freezing waves and were soon drowned!
In the final scene of the 1997 movie “Titanic”, lifeboat No. 14 is correctly depicted as being the only lifeboat which returned in an attempt to save people. This boat manages to extract the ‘White’ heroine ‘Ruth’ from the freezing water in the 1997 movie “Titanic” – who has survived by floating upon a door! However, this is pure fiction and sentimental nonsense! In reality, this boat rescued Fang Lang – the last person to be rescued, and it was he who had survived whilst floating on a wooden door! The White people in the boat thought he was ‘Japanese’ with one or two suggesting he be left to die whilst the search for European survivors continued!
According to the testimony of Charlotte Coye – a Titanic passenger and survivor on that boat: “When we first saw this Japanese man, we thought he was dead, but we could not be sure. We called to him – but there was no response. Officer Lowe pulled him onto the lifeboat and within five minutes he regained his strength, stood up, stamped his feet and outatretched his arms! In fact, the Sailor sitting next to the Japanese man could not row anymore from exhaustion – and this Japanese man took over and rowed continuously toward the Carpathia like a true hero – where we were all rescued!”
Whilst White survivors were treated as heroes upon reaching the United States – a different fate awaited the six (6) Chinese men! Indeed, they were immediately arrested and transported to the Manhattan Detention Center – before being transferred to the Concentration Camp (termed the ‘Immigration Station’) for Chinese people run by the US Authorities situated upon Ellis Island. On April 19, 1912, the six (6) Chinese men were handed-over to staff of the Donald Steamship Company – and were immediately taken aboard the Anat. The six (6) Chinese men received no empathy, no medical care, no compensation and were treated like little more than slaves. They were not allowed to speak to reporters and had no way of knowing what was being said in the Western world. They were immediately extracted from the location of America and disappeared back into the shipping industry!
Centennial (2012) Movie Version
In the movie “Titanic”, Director James Cameron (probably more famous for his Sci-fi work) did shoot the scene featuring Chinese passenger Fang Lang being rescued whilst floating on a door – but this footage was later cut in both the 1997 version and the 2012 3D version. There are a number of usually unexplored reasons for this but primarily the truthful history featuring the survival of an ethnic Chinese man was ‘replaced’ with the fictional ‘White’ heroine of the movie (Ruth) being placed on the floating section of door, as this was felt more palatable for Western audiences! If the observor is careful, however, there are several scenes featuring Chinese people still remaining in the background of the film, but with most flashing by without attracting the attention of the audience (as if they did, the chances are they would also have been cut from the finished movie).
The “Chinese” person who flashes past many times in “Titanic” is not a random extra, but a man named Lin Fan (林凡) or ‘Van Ling’ in the West – a friend of Director James Cameron and a famous Chinese-American Digital Image Producer in Hollywood. The inclusion of Chinese people by James Cameron was not accidental, as he knew a lot about the situation of the Chinese people on board the Titanic – although outside pressure finally led to much of this footage being cut. Compared to the racist and bias Western media reports of a hundred years ago, however, the movie “Titanic” did not vilify the Chinese people and did attempt to present their existence objectively, albeit in a way that was not easily discoverable or accessible in the final cut.
In recent years, some people have been attempting to reconstruct this long-lost Chinese history, and British Director – Arthur Jones – is one of them. During the filming of the documentary “Six Human-Beings: Chinese Survivors on the Titanic”, Jones and his team assembled dozens of experienced researchers and spent several years seeking clarification regarding the details of the six (6) Chinese survivors from various sources around the world. To this end, the shooting team visited more than 20 cities including Beijing, Taishan, Hong Kong, London, Southampton, New York, and Toronto.
Almost all the survivors from the Titanic are now famous, well-known and possess historical records, but the experience of the six (6) Chinese people who also became “survivors” is unknown (written out of history – as if they were never there). Reasons for this vary, but include the fact none of them could speak or understand the English language and could not communicate effectively with the outside world; the other was due to the racist and bias attitudes prevalent at the time (and afterwards), as there were no reporters who asked them for the truth. After all, they were just humble ship stokers.
In the opinion of Director Arthur Jones – there should be no gaps in the history of “Titanic” and the stories of these six (6) Chinese survivors should be better known and recorded just like the other survivor stories. Arthur Jones said that the documentary is not only a story of the survivors of the Titanic, but also a story of a group of eight (8) brave Chinese people exploring the outside world. More than 100 years ago, the adventurous spirit and the drive to pursue a better life should be recognised in the pioneering example set by these eight (8) Chinese people who ventured into an uncertain world – with two (2) giving-up their lives in the process! There example to face danger squarely in the face and proceed into unknown waters (quite literally, it would seem) should be admired by all for future generations to come!
Chinese Language Article:
https://www.163.com/dy/article/FTPSGNKF053469JX.html
泰坦尼克号上的失语者
2020-12-14 07:49:49 来源: 南海网海南新闻
文\本刊特约撰稿 金满楼
1912年4月14日，当时世界上体积最庞大、内部设施最豪华的客运轮船泰坦尼克号，在它从英国南安普敦出发驶向美国纽约的处女航中遭遇厄运——它与一座冰山相撞，于次日凌晨沉入大海，2224名船员及乘客中，1517人丧生。据记载，当时船上有8名中国人，其中6名获救。近期，由英国导演亚瑟·琼斯（中文名罗飞）执导的《六人：泰坦尼克号上的中国幸存者》登陆第三届海南岛国际电影节，这部纪录片重新聚焦这段沉船往事，并还原了这6位国人的逃生经历。
泰坦尼克号上的中国人——
三等舱乘客
1912年4月18日，搭载着710名幸存者的卡帕西亚号抵达纽约港，生还者的故事随后占据各报头版头条，其中也夹杂了6位中国幸存者的报道。不过，让人遗憾的是，有关后者的报道大多是负面的。
在当时的一些媒体看来，这次海难中的幸存者还不到三分之一，尤其男性生还率更低，而这8位来自三等舱的中国人竟然活下来6位，这无疑是一种“奇迹”。由此，很多人难免嘀咕了：这8位中国人，他们是怎么上的救生船？
由于海难场面过于混乱，加上语言不通等原因，媒体并没有去采访这6位中国幸存者，道听途说的信息和故事也大多以讹传讹、前后矛盾。尽管如此，有一些信息是可以肯定的，那就是这8位中国人并不是偷渡客，也不是泰坦尼克号上的司炉工，而是正儿八经的三等舱乘客。
据1911年6月14日《纽约时报》报道：“尽管罢工领导人极力阻止，但白星公司的奥林匹克号仍于今日下午离开了南安普顿港，开始其目的地为纽约的处女航，公司方面已与船员达成协议。”奥林匹克号是泰坦尼克号的姊妹船，同属于白星航运公司，后来，泰坦尼克号的处女航也曾因船员罢工而被推迟。
和白星航运公司相似，英国唐纳德轮船公司也面临海员短缺的局面。泰坦尼克号启航前，唐纳德轮船公司名下的阿那特号正停泊在纽约港，该船的主要业务是从中美洲西印度群岛往美国运送热带水果，他们因为缺少司炉工而由公司安排8名人手从英国赶来，而后者正是泰坦尼克号上的这8名中国人。由于他们只是在纽约转船至阿那特号，所以并不违反当时美国禁止华工入境的“排华法案”。
为此，唐纳德轮船公司为他们买了一张三等舱的集体票，票号为1601，价格56镑9先令11便士，登记姓名为Fang Lang、Choong Foo、Ali Lam、Ling Hee、Chang Chip、Lee Bing、Lee Ling、Len Lam。他们8人中，最小的24岁，最大的37岁。作为派遣工，他们每天要工作十几个小时，但薪水只有同样工作的白人船员的五分之一。
混乱中的逃生——
6人幸存
海难发生后，泰坦尼克号执行左舷救生艇“唯有女士方可入艇”或“妇孺优先入艇”、右舷救生艇“男女均可入艇”的原则，几位生还的指挥官证实了这点。和其他三等舱的乘客一样，这8名中国人也是在最后一刻才被放出，他们严格遵守规定，没有一个人是从左舷进入救生艇的。
按当时的通行做法，海难发生后，救生艇主要将人员摆渡到救援船。泰坦尼克号上只配备了20艘救生艇，最多只够容纳1300人，这意味着船上近一半人只能等死。对于三等舱乘客来说，情况就更加严峻了，因为他们是最后被放出的。
混乱当中，Choong Foo上了第13号救生艇，该艇是第七只被放下海面的右舷救生艇。在最后关头，Ali Lam、Ling Hee、Chang Chip、Lee Bing这4人幸运地登上了C号折叠式救生艇。由于坐在艇底而不是坐在船板上，加上他们很可能身材瘦小，所以在黑夜的混乱中，这4人一度没被发现而被误认为之前就躲在那里。
C号折叠式救生艇放下没多久，已极度倾斜的泰坦尼克号就沉没了，还在船上的Lee Ling、Len Lam、Fang Lang三人随之落水。当时，Fang Lang死死抱住一块大木板拼死求生，而Lee Ling、Len Lam两人就此沉入海中。
电影《泰坦尼克》的最后场景中，唯一返回救人的第14号救生艇将女主角露丝从冰海中捞起，但这个生还经历其实是Fang Lang的，他是最后一位被救回的幸存者，当时还被误认为是日本人。据随船去救人的女乘客夏洛特·科耶回忆：“我们看见他时，还以为他死了。我们朝他喊，没有回音。艇长洛伍将艇划回来，这个‘日本人’被拉上了救生艇……一眨眼工夫，他勉力站起来，伸着手，跺着脚，五分钟就恢复了力气。他身边一个水手累倒了，再也划不动桨，这个‘日本人’就把他从桨手位置挪开，自己拿着桨划起来，真像个英雄，一直划到我们被卡帕西亚号救起。”
上岸后，这6位中国幸存者被带到曼哈顿拘留所，随后被转至厄利斯岛移民站。4月19日，在唐纳德公司人员的陪护下，这6人被带上了阿那特号。在没有见过任何记者，也根本不知道外面报道的情况下，他们重新驶入大西洋，从这一历史大事件中脱身了。
百年续影——
电影中他们的故事
在电影《泰坦尼克号》中，导演卡梅隆实际上拍摄了Fang Lang被救的镜头，但后来考虑到和露丝被救的情节重叠，所以在1997年版和2012年3D版中都被剪去。此外，如果观众细心的话，电影中其实出现了好几次中国人的镜头，只不过大多一闪而过，没有引起人们的注意。
《泰坦尼克号》中多次闪现的“中国人”并不是群众演员，而是导演卡梅隆的好友、好莱坞著名的华裔数码影像制作师林凡。卡梅隆安排这样一条线索并非偶然，这是因为他对泰坦尼克号上中国人的情况了解甚深。和百年前的媒体报道相比，电影《泰坦尼克号》并没有对他们进行丑化，而是客观地展现了他们的存在，虽然用的是一种不被轻易发现的方式。
近年来，也有人在不断追踪这段被湮没已久的历史，英国导演亚瑟·琼斯就是其中一位。在拍摄纪录片《六人：泰坦尼克号上的中国幸存者》的过程中，琼斯和他的团队集结了数十位研究员，并用了数年的时间在世界范围内寻找这6位中国幸存者的踪迹。为此，拍摄团队造访了北京、台山、香港、伦敦、南安普顿、纽约、多伦多等20多个城市。
泰坦尼克号上的幸存者几乎都有故事记录，唯独中国幸存者的经历无人知晓。这其中的原因，一是他们不懂英语，没办法和外界交流；二是当时的时代背景下，也没有任何记者找他们追问真相，毕竟，他们只是地位卑微的船上司炉工。
在导演琼斯看来，这6位中国幸存者的故事不应该存在空白，他们理应和其他幸存者一样被记录下来。琼斯表示，这部纪录片不仅是讲述泰坦尼克号幸存者的故事，更是讲述一群勇敢的中国人探索外部世界的故事。在一百多年前，这些闯荡世界的中国人，他们身上的冒险精神和对美好生活的追求也应该得到后人的钦佩。
THE SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 