A Chinese Savannah Story

Gerald Chan Seig a member of the first Chinese family to settle in Savannah and poet

One of Savannah’s strongest ethnic groups is the Chinese. Although there were Chinese before 1889 that is the year that the first Chinese ‘settler’ came to make Savannah home. When Chung Ta-Ping came to Savannah he was fleeing the hostile racial environment of San Francisco and on his way to New York. He had fled China seeking political freedom only to find racism and immigration laws discriminating against Chinese in San Francisco. So he had packed his bags and was headed to New York hoping for a better world. But along the way he stopped in Savannah and pinned his hopes here.

He started a laundry business because it was partly what he knew but also could supply jobs for what he hoped would be the boom of Chinese immigration to Savannah. The boom never came. But a population of a little over five hundred Chinese did come. Part of the reason Savannah never had a Chinatown which presumably would have brought more Chinese immigrants was Ta-Ping’s belief that it would be better for the Chinese to not gather in one district. This belief was obtained by watching the suspicion of the white population of San Francisco’s racist nervousness toward the Chinatown there. In the early days to accommodate Savannah’s Chinese rarely spoke Chinese in public and wore western-style clothes.

Today, Savannah has Chinese families with five generations. Some of them no longer speak Chinese and have even developed Southern accents. The Chinese of Savannah have had and continue to have a remarkable influence on Savannah especially considering their small numbers.

The Chinese community began to make a mark in the mid-20th century. In 1945 the Chinese Benevolent Society was formed. Up until the 1950’s Savannah’s Chinese sought to move upward economically through small businesses. At this time the Wus, opened a Canton Restaurant that became a local hot spot and while filming here actor Gregory Peck was a frequent patron. The business ran for more than six decades. TS Chu the patriarch of the Chu family started over ten local 7-11 stories and Chus department store on Tybee Island. This latter business helped him gain the title "Mr. Savannah Beach" for his engaging personality and businessman acumen.

It was the arrival of Dr. Shaw Shu who would portend the end of the small business economy and bring the professional economy. Dr. Shu was one of the leading doctors who helped form the Urological Associates of Savannah. His son Dr. Claude Su founded the Cardiology Associates of Savannah.

The daughter of Ta-Ping was Gerald Chan Sieg. She would help start the Georgia Poetry Society and become a nationally recognized poet. The Poetry Society established an award in her honor. Her stories were published in The New York Times and The Washington Post. She was also a writer for the Savannah Morning News & Evening Press. She wrote children's stories and science fiction as well.

The education field was enhanced by the presence of the Chinese-American educators. Some such educators were Frances Wong,  who served as the principal at Myers Middle School, Windsor Forest High School and H.V. Jenkins High School (Jenkins won an award as a National School of Excellence during her tenure) and she later served as a student services vice president at SCAD. Shelia Woo served as a Pooler Elementary School Principal. Lancy Jen was a professor at Savannah State University and the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Today, Savannah’s connections with China are significant. Savannah College of Art and Design in 2009 opened a Hong Kong location. It is the first and only university exclusively focused on art and design education in Hong Kong. SCAD’s library is named after a Chinese donor Jen. Gulfstream has offices and hangar to repair their planes in China. China has become one of their fastest growing markets. The city of Savannah in 2009 became a sister city of JiuJiang. This led to Savannah State University’s (in 2014) non-profit Confucius Institute. The Institute’s aim is to serve as a platform that promotes intercultural understanding as well as the study of Chinese language and culture (including art, music and literature), and to enhance educational exchange between the US and China. The connections continue to grow daily.

I leave you a poem from one of Savannah’s great poets:

Reincarnation
By GERALD CHAN SIEG
Throughout the ages I have known
Your lovely laughter and your tears,
Your fingers locking with my own.
I saved you from a dinosaur,
Then lost you till the spinning years
Returned you in the Trojan War.

Together we endured the whips
Of pagan Rome and, singing, died;
Together watched the Tartar ships
Unloading silk from dim Cathay
Which softly robed you as my bride.
(A thousand years are but a day.)

I found you next in Aragon,
A maiden hid in costly lace;
And later—ah, sweet Puritan
In your prim bonnet, sober dress,
Who went with courage in your face
To dare with me a wilderness!

Your mind cannot recall the past.
You would be frightened if you knew
What powers, dark, eternal, vast,
I have controlled throughout the years
to keep the essence that is you:
Your lovely laughter and your tears!
​

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Scene from Savannah's Asian Festival