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Chinese guilds in the apparel industry of San Francisco.

Article Excerpt
The following descriptions of guild organizations and operations in the San Francisco apparel industry was based primarily on (1) the author's interviews with 75-year-old Bing Lai during the months of March through June 1967; (2) interview of 69-year-old Park Hong Ng by Gilbert Woo, Victoria Chun, and the author on Nov. 10, 1974; and (3) the author's follow-up interview of Park Hong Ng on Jan. 5, 1975. Bing Lai immigrated to San Francisco in 1910 and joined the guild soon afterward. He was a sewing machine operator during practically his entire working career in the United States until his retirement. Park Hong Ng immigrated in 1923 and soon became a sewing machine operator. He was an officer of the guild for many years until its closing. The information they provided was supplemented by documentation published in government reports and in the news media.

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Three guilds were known to have been formed covering different aspects of the apparel industry in San Francisco. Tailors formed Tongye Tang (Cantonese Tung Yip Tong). This guild was similar in nature to guilds formed by craftsmen and artisans in China. It was alleged to have had a membership of 100 to 200 in its heyday. Many were said to have been immigrants originating from the Xiqiao (Saichiu) region in Nanhai County near Guangzhou, China. As the population of the bachelor society declined during the Chinese Exclusion era, so did the guild, and one of its last surviving members Ou Ming led a bachelor existence in the same rooming house as the author's parents and is remembered by the author as Elder Uncle Ming (Cantonese Ming Baak) who retired to China during the early 1930s. (1)

Workers sewing shirts and undergarments (so-called baiyi ("white-colored clothing"; Cantonese baak-yee) formed Jiongyi Hang ("bright clothing guild"; Cantonese Gwing Yee Hong). This guild apparently ceased to exist at the beginning of the twentieth century. One explanation was that this sector was dominated by immigrants from Xiangshan County, who brought their families into the United States (probably as merchant's wives) and introduced them as workers into their factories at lower wages than the male workers. (2) This guild apparently did not exist long enough to leave much of an impression in Chinatown, and there was little mention of it in literature. The lack of a strong workers' organization in this sector of the industry that could bargain with employers to win better working conditions perhaps explains why it had been the target of several major organizing efforts during the first half of the twentieth century.

Workers making overalls and workingmen's clothing formed the third guild, Jinyi Hang ["Brocaded Clothing Guild," Jean-Clothes Makers' Union; Cantonese Gam Yee Hong; also variously spelled in English as Kam Yee Hong, Kan Yee Hong, Cum Yee Hong]. It should be noted that the guild's signboard exhibited in the Chinese Historical Society of America museum shows in gold characters the name Jinyi Hang (Cantonese Gam Yee Hong) on a black background; however, the English name on the bottom of the signboard reads "Kum Yee Tong." (3)

Very little had been written on any of these guilds. Gam Yee Hong came to the public's attention in news items at times during its existence. Also, this writer was fortunate enough to have been able to have participated in interviewing two old, former male sewing-machine-operator members, Bing Lai (also known as Mak Yook Bing) and Park Hong Ng (also known as Ng Shing Din). These bits of information are included in this essay to give the reader an idea of the history and organization of this guild, which was influential during its heyday and which also became one of the longest-lived Chinese labor guilds in America. It is hoped that this historical sketch will stimulate others to do more definitive in-depth studies into the subject.

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It was uncertain when Gam Yee Hong was founded. Park Hong Ng indicated that he had heard from older guild members that an earlier guild may have already emerged in the 1870s that was replaced by Gam Yee Hong. (4) According to Bing Lai, after labor disputes had led to some bloody incidents, efforts of Consul General Huang Gongdu led to the formation of Gam Yee Hong. (5) It soon became an influential institution in Chinatown, and in 1888 Gam Yee Hong, together with Tongye Tang (Tailors' Guild, Tung Yip Tong), Tongde Tang (Cigarmakers' Guild; Tung Duck Tong, Tung Tak Tong), Dongqing Tang (Laundrymen's Guild; Doong Hing Tong, Tung Hing Tong) and Lusheng Tang (Shoemakers' Guild; Lei Shing Tong) were considered the major labor organizations that, together with the "operatic, lottery and fantan" professions, were responsible for passing donation books to...