The art “Chinese Exclusion Act” which was first created on May 6,1882, is popularly known as an act of the US government to strictly limit the amount of Chinese people entering the United States at the end of the nineteenth century, which and lasted about 50 years (Barde 11-12). It was a special period in American immigration history. Quok Shee, a typical Chinese young woman from Hong Kong, was brought by her husband to America at that time. Quok’s experience exemplifies is a strong example of how harshly the Asian immigrants were treated on Angel Island and her case was also the longest known detention at that time on the island. Some people hold the idea that Quok Shee was not the legal wife of Chew Hoy Quong and that he brought her here just for some “immoral purposes.” such as prostitution. However, from my point of view, I strongly believe that Quok was the legal wife of Chew and she should have been allowed to enter the United States after the initial examination.
Some people doubt that Chew could not afford to pay so much money for Quok’s ticket to America considering his financial condition at that time and that Quok did not come to America to do “immoral” work. Chew paid for Quok’s tickets to America and all her legal bills during her two- year detention.. He paid this money because he was her husband and he really wanted his wife to be able to successfully enter the US and live with him (Barde 35). Some people believe that he must have had a prostitution group or someone else behind him to pay the bills for Quok. They think that the reason why the group or the person did that was because they wanted Quok to enter the US to do something “immoral” things , like prostitution, so that they could make a profit from that. Looking at it this way, it seems that Chew was not Quok’s legal husband. He was just someone who helped Quok to get into America. However, I hold a totally different view here about Chew paying the bills for Quok. Firstly, Chew was willing to pay all of Quok’s bills. That is how a man treats his wife. He really wanted her to come to America to live with him. She was very important to him. Even though it was a great amount of money and it might have been very difficult for Chew to afford to pay it, do not forget at that time there were many organizations in America that helped Chinese immigrants ((Barde Barde 37). Chew might have gotten help from these organizations. What is more, Chew, at that time, was a merchant himself. He had a job and he had a stake in a company. He had some money. Thus, actually, it might not have been too difficult for Chew to pay the bills. At that time it was very difficult for Chinese people to enter America (Barde 11-12). It is very likely that many girls who were willing to come to America would take an “immoral” opportunity be willing to become prostitutes if they could not get into America legally. Chew waited and helped Quok for almost two years, which . Two years was really not a short time. He could absolutely have found some other girls to substitute Quok if the reason he had only wanted Quok to come to America to dowas doing “immoral” things for him, but he did not. He waited for the result of Quok’s appeal for almost two years. and he paid her legal bills during those two years. Because Quok was his wife, he really wanted her to enter America so that they could live together. Secondly, in China, there is an old saying: Time tells everything. In this case, we can see that both Chew and Quok did not change what they said about their marriage even a little bit in their testimonies during the whole two years. During these two years which, Quok spent all the time in the station. She received torture both physically and emotionally (Barde 40). In the end, she almost could not suffer the pain and even asked the officials to send her back to Hong Kong. However, even at that difficult time, she still said that Chew was her legal husband. If “Time tells everything,.” Time proved that they were legally married.
Many people state that Quok was not Chew’s actual wife because Chew did not even bring Quok to visit his family once after their marriage and during the two years when Quok stayed on Angel Island, Chew did not pay a single visit to Quok. He just sent ten10 dollars to her when she was on the island. It is true that it is indeed a little bit strange for a husband not to take his wife to his family even a single time after their marriage, but that needs clarification (Barde 22). In China, at that time, men dominated their family and society. Most of the women’s parents thought that there was no need for the girls to go to school, because they thought that men were the pillars of the family. Most of the parents assumed would think that their sons would support the whole family after they grew up, but daughters would just leave the family after they got married. Therefore, due to this discrepancy in how parents treated boys and girls, it is not hard for us to understand that most Chinese women at that time were uneducated and unworldly. Traditional Chinese women thought that all the things they could do or needed to do were just cooking for their family and doing all the housework so that their husbands and children could have a warm home. Not only in their husbands’ minds but also in the women’s minds, women did not need to go out to socialize with people not living in the same house with them, even their relatives. Therefore,, after knowing the situation in China at that time, now it is not hard for us to understand why Chew did not even introduce Quok to his family once. That was not because they were not legally married. Conversely, in fact, that was because they were married and Chew really treated Quok as his legal wife in the traditional Chinese way. Another argument here is that Chew did not pay a visit to Quok when she was detained on the island. However, I think that was totally possible at that time due to money issues. Chew was not rich himself at that time and he spent a lot of money finding good lawyers for Quok’s and on Quok’s appeal. What is more, he needed to sentd her money instead of visiting hersome money to Quok during the two years, probably because so at that time, it is very likely that he could not afford a trip to Angel Island to see his wife. It is ridiculous to conclude that Chew and Quok was not a legal couple because of the fact that Chew did not visit Quok when she was detained on Angel island.
The principal reason that the people who believe that Quok was not Chew’s legal wife because hold is that many Chinese girls or Chinese women who came to America at that time were just coming for “immoral” purposes .and They thought that Quok was just another one of them. She came to the US not because she was Chew’s wife. However, Chew was 56 years old when he married Quok. Even for a man, 56 is not a young age. It makes sense that at that time he really wanted to settle down from the bottom of his heart, so he went back to Hong Kong and found a nice girl to marry. Quok, the girl herself, was also quite different from the girls who came to America for immoral purpose. She was only 20 years old. She could read and write. Housework was one of her strengths. It seems that Quok would be the perfect choice for a man who wanted to find a traditional Chinese wife,. Chew, at that time, must have also found that out, so he decided to bring Quok back to America to live with him. He really wanted to settle down with her, so even though later Quok was detained on the island for two2 years, Chew still waited and tried his best to help her. It makes no sense for a man to give up a girl like Quok and let her do “immoral” work especially for a man of Chew’s age. From this perspective, Chew must have had married Quok legally.
In conclusion, Quok is the legal wife of Chew and should have been allowed to enter the United States after the first examination. People hold the doubt that Chew could have had so much money to pay the ticket and all the law bills for Quok, but after knowing that there were lots of many organizations at that time to help Chinese immigrants, it was still possible. Another reason why people think they were not a legal couple is that Chew did not stay with introduce Quok a lot to his family, but considering the Chinese tradition at that time, it was still quite reasonable. Lots of people think Some believe that Chew brought Quok to America for “immoral” purposes, but considering the age of Chew and all he did for Quok, we can strongly feel it is likely that Chew indeed married Quok and really wanted to settle down with Quok. From all the arguments I have made Thus, if we can think of Quok’s case in historical context and know the cultural background, it is is not hard for us to bring it to a conclusion that Quok was not Chew’s alleged and but his actual wife.
Works Cited
Barde, Robert Eric. “Exclusion, Detention and Angel Island.” Immigration at the Golden Gate. 10-25. Print.
Barde, Robert Eric. “An Alleged Wife.” Immigration at the Golden Gate. 26-51. Print.
Barde, Robert Eric. "Quok Shee's Interrogation Report." Chinese American Women: A History of Resilience and Resistance. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013
Some people doubt that Chew could not afford to pay so much money for Quok’s ticket to America considering his financial condition at that time and that Quok did not come to America to do “immoral” work. Chew paid for Quok’s tickets to America and all her legal bills during her two- year detention.. He paid this money because he was her husband and he really wanted his wife to be able to successfully enter the US and live with him (Barde 35). Some people believe that he must have had a prostitution group or someone else behind him to pay the bills for Quok. They think that the reason why the group or the person did that was because they wanted Quok to enter the US to do something “immoral” things , like prostitution, so that they could make a profit from that. Looking at it this way, it seems that Chew was not Quok’s legal husband. He was just someone who helped Quok to get into America. However, I hold a totally different view here about Chew paying the bills for Quok. Firstly, Chew was willing to pay all of Quok’s bills. That is how a man treats his wife. He really wanted her to come to America to live with him. She was very important to him. Even though it was a great amount of money and it might have been very difficult for Chew to afford to pay it, do not forget at that time there were many organizations in America that helped Chinese immigrants ((Barde Barde 37). Chew might have gotten help from these organizations. What is more, Chew, at that time, was a merchant himself. He had a job and he had a stake in a company. He had some money. Thus, actually, it might not have been too difficult for Chew to pay the bills. At that time it was very difficult for Chinese people to enter America (Barde 11-12). It is very likely that many girls who were willing to come to America would take an “immoral” opportunity be willing to become prostitutes if they could not get into America legally. Chew waited and helped Quok for almost two years, which . Two years was really not a short time. He could absolutely have found some other girls to substitute Quok if the reason he had only wanted Quok to come to America to dowas doing “immoral” things for him, but he did not. He waited for the result of Quok’s appeal for almost two years. and he paid her legal bills during those two years. Because Quok was his wife, he really wanted her to enter America so that they could live together. Secondly, in China, there is an old saying: Time tells everything. In this case, we can see that both Chew and Quok did not change what they said about their marriage even a little bit in their testimonies during the whole two years. During these two years which, Quok spent all the time in the station. She received torture both physically and emotionally (Barde 40). In the end, she almost could not suffer the pain and even asked the officials to send her back to Hong Kong. However, even at that difficult time, she still said that Chew was her legal husband. If “Time tells everything,.” Time proved that they were legally married.
Many people state that Quok was not Chew’s actual wife because Chew did not even bring Quok to visit his family once after their marriage and during the two years when Quok stayed on Angel Island, Chew did not pay a single visit to Quok. He just sent ten10 dollars to her when she was on the island. It is true that it is indeed a little bit strange for a husband not to take his wife to his family even a single time after their marriage, but that needs clarification (Barde 22). In China, at that time, men dominated their family and society. Most of the women’s parents thought that there was no need for the girls to go to school, because they thought that men were the pillars of the family. Most of the parents assumed would think that their sons would support the whole family after they grew up, but daughters would just leave the family after they got married. Therefore, due to this discrepancy in how parents treated boys and girls, it is not hard for us to understand that most Chinese women at that time were uneducated and unworldly. Traditional Chinese women thought that all the things they could do or needed to do were just cooking for their family and doing all the housework so that their husbands and children could have a warm home. Not only in their husbands’ minds but also in the women’s minds, women did not need to go out to socialize with people not living in the same house with them, even their relatives. Therefore,, after knowing the situation in China at that time, now it is not hard for us to understand why Chew did not even introduce Quok to his family once. That was not because they were not legally married. Conversely, in fact, that was because they were married and Chew really treated Quok as his legal wife in the traditional Chinese way. Another argument here is that Chew did not pay a visit to Quok when she was detained on the island. However, I think that was totally possible at that time due to money issues. Chew was not rich himself at that time and he spent a lot of money finding good lawyers for Quok’s and on Quok’s appeal. What is more, he needed to sentd her money instead of visiting hersome money to Quok during the two years, probably because so at that time, it is very likely that he could not afford a trip to Angel Island to see his wife. It is ridiculous to conclude that Chew and Quok was not a legal couple because of the fact that Chew did not visit Quok when she was detained on Angel island.
The principal reason that the people who believe that Quok was not Chew’s legal wife because hold is that many Chinese girls or Chinese women who came to America at that time were just coming for “immoral” purposes .and They thought that Quok was just another one of them. She came to the US not because she was Chew’s wife. However, Chew was 56 years old when he married Quok. Even for a man, 56 is not a young age. It makes sense that at that time he really wanted to settle down from the bottom of his heart, so he went back to Hong Kong and found a nice girl to marry. Quok, the girl herself, was also quite different from the girls who came to America for immoral purpose. She was only 20 years old. She could read and write. Housework was one of her strengths. It seems that Quok would be the perfect choice for a man who wanted to find a traditional Chinese wife,. Chew, at that time, must have also found that out, so he decided to bring Quok back to America to live with him. He really wanted to settle down with her, so even though later Quok was detained on the island for two2 years, Chew still waited and tried his best to help her. It makes no sense for a man to give up a girl like Quok and let her do “immoral” work especially for a man of Chew’s age. From this perspective, Chew must have had married Quok legally.
In conclusion, Quok is the legal wife of Chew and should have been allowed to enter the United States after the first examination. People hold the doubt that Chew could have had so much money to pay the ticket and all the law bills for Quok, but after knowing that there were lots of many organizations at that time to help Chinese immigrants, it was still possible. Another reason why people think they were not a legal couple is that Chew did not stay with introduce Quok a lot to his family, but considering the Chinese tradition at that time, it was still quite reasonable. Lots of people think Some believe that Chew brought Quok to America for “immoral” purposes, but considering the age of Chew and all he did for Quok, we can strongly feel it is likely that Chew indeed married Quok and really wanted to settle down with Quok. From all the arguments I have made Thus, if we can think of Quok’s case in historical context and know the cultural background, it is is not hard for us to bring it to a conclusion that Quok was not Chew’s alleged and but his actual wife.
Works Cited
Barde, Robert Eric. “Exclusion, Detention and Angel Island.” Immigration at the Golden Gate. 10-25. Print.
Barde, Robert Eric. “An Alleged Wife.” Immigration at the Golden Gate. 26-51. Print.
Barde, Robert Eric. "Quok Shee's Interrogation Report." Chinese American Women: A History of Resilience and Resistance. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013