The Trip To Chinatown

     Last Friday,  February 2nd, I was assigned to go and venture through Chicago's Chinatown area, northwest of IIT.  A well-established community in Chicago, it is, however, not the first Chinatown that the city had. The Original Chinatown was located at the intersection of Clark St. and Van Buren St. and was established by the first city-recognized Chinese citizen, T. C. Moy. "Mr. Moy arrived in Chicago from San Francisco in 1878. Finding Chicago fairly hospitable, he settled in the Clark and Van Buren community, and wrote to friends and family back in China, encouraging them to come to Chicago" ( Doerksen).  Moy was able to convince about 80 of his fellow men to come to Chicago by the end of 1878; this small group would expand to around 567 in the year 1890. Due to the rampant racism at the time, the immigrants had very few options for work, but the Chinese did find jobs doing laundry or opening restaurants. Food was a major factor in normalizing the new Chinese presence in the city; after-theater crowds would flock to near-by Chinese restaurants such as King Yen Lo to try the "exotic" dishes of the east.

Image 1. A picture of the interior of  King Yen Lo taken around 1990.

Image 2. A picture of the old Chinatown.

     This area went unscathed until around the early 1900's with the rising rents and anti-Chinese sentiment; "In 1912, the On Leong Merchants Association purchased property in the area around 22nd Street-now Cermak Road-and Wentworth" to properly set-up a community for Chinese Immigrants (Doerksen). As the area grew in the Chinese population, the local Italian and Croatian population slowly declined until the area became exclusively Chinese and Eastern Asian.

THE TRIP

     My trip started on a very rocky start. My original plan was to meet up with Andrew around 9AM, drop off my bookbag in his room here on campus,  then head to Chinatown via the CTA red line, arriving around 10AM. However, Andrew got sick last minute and couldn't go. Not wanting to go to an area I'm not familiar with alone, I was able to partner up with Kevin G.; the downside to this though was that he was planning on going there later than I planned to. I decided to head to Chinatown and wait for him somewhere close to the red line station. I ended up getting to Chinatown at around 10:30 AM. Seeing the new Chicago Public Library from the station, I waited in there until Kevin could come. 

 A photo of the exterior of the library from the Red Line Platform

The library was very new looking and clean.  The first floors seemed to house the children's books and a community room.  Definitely felt like it was built post-2010 due to the interior colors and architect.  While I waited for Kevin to come pick me up, I took some pictures and printed a make-shift map of the area to plan the next place to go. 

 The Upper-level is where the teen and adult collection is stored. Notice that there is signage in both Chinese (possibly Mandarin?) and English. 

 A picture of the 1920's boy scout  Chinatown chapter that was on display in the library.

A Picture of the Chinatown gate during the supper festival circa 1930's. Below that is was a set of Biographies of political figures, such as Hilliary Clinton and Nelson Mandella, that seemed to be written in one of the Chinese dialects. 

An exhibit of what the Emperor wore during the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368). At this time, Kublai Khan of the neighboring Mongol Empire had rein of over China.

    Kevin came to the library around 11:20AM or so. Everything we did after that would have to be done rather quick due to me having to go back to IIT for a class. So we quickly traveled down Wentworth to the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago on 238 W. 23rd St.

The entrance of the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago.  I proud of this picture due to that 1990's  camera angle.

A male Foo (Shi) statue in front of the Museum. These statues are commonplace in Chinatown. There are always two in front of a building to protect said building from negative energy. Oddly the male is on the right side of this building and not the left.

A close-up of the inscription of the male Shi statue. Though I can't read it, it probably is a dedication to the original location or the reopening.

A close-up of the female Shi statue. My guess is that this one is dedicated to a specific person or to the re-opening due to being only one date on it opposed to the male's dedication.

     Once inside the museum, Kevin signed the register for us. We then browsed the first floor that held traditional Chinese clothes. 

 A row of Chinese shirts on display. 

 A Singer sewing machine. A plaque on the side gives an interesting insight into why it's in this collection. Apreatlly in the early 1900's, Singer tried to market their machines to China as it was an untouched market. Aperntlly, they originally did not sell well because the machines could not do a traditional  Chinese stitch. After getting more accustomed to the culture and offering sewing classes, Singer was able to make a model that could do this stitch.

  

 The famous Mao suit that is worn by government officers for special occasions. 

 An Imperial Manchu Dragon Robe. On this robe contains images of the nine dragons of Chinese lore, with one of them hidden in a flap.

     We made our way up the stairs to see the upper part of the museum and the permanent collection.  The lady who was attending the museum put on an informational video about the Chinese heritage in the area and some of the traditions. From this, I learned that Dim Sum (meaning heart) is a traditional Chinese brunch where a table shares multiple entrees, that family ties are a major factor in the everyday life, and on New Years, oranges are placed in every room of the house for good luck. In one of the displays in the video room, there was a dragon with a pearl in its mouth; apparently, this has to deal with a legend in which a boy finds a magical pearl who, after accidentally swallowing it, turn him into a dragon. When the video was done, we both looked at the exhibits that were up on our floor. 

The only diorama fro the Ling Long gallery to survive the 2008 fire. This diorama depicts Prince Mon Wong seeking audience with the sage Chian-hai-kung for advice on how to win over the people of China with the new Chou Dynasty (1122-255 B.C)

The lone surviving singular figure that survived the Ling Long fire.

A copy of the   War Brides act of 1945 with the pen that Harry S. Truman used to sign the act. This act was signed to the allowance of immigrants from Asia, as it allowed any servicemen's bride to become a US citizen. 

A Lunar New Year's dragon made of some sort of paper technique. This is not the one that was in the video room, as it is lacking the pearl.

     We went down the stairs of the museum, gave a small donation, and left. Our next location was the Pui Tak Center, on Wentworth.  

St. Therese Chinese Catholic school was right across the street from the museum. By the looks of it, I'd say it was built around 2000-2005. I'm not surprised that there's a Catholic school, as I do know that there were Catholic missionaries sent to China a few centuries back.

 Someone's backyard close to the museum. The wooden structures are usually for plants that have vines, such as grapes. I wonder what this house and the one next to it grows?

 A dragon engraved in the sidewalk on the corner of Wentworth and 23rd st. around here, I smelled strong garlic from one of the restaurants.

 The priest's house of the St. Therese parish. We took a small detour down Alexander st. to see the church. 

The cornerstone of the church. Written in Italian, this is a relic of a time when the area held a substantial Italian population living here.

     The Pui Tak Center offers adult education classes, youth programs, music programs, and aid for incoming Chinese immigrants to get accustomed to the city. It was originally the called the On Leong Merchants Association Building and was built in 1928.  Because of it's prominence in the community, it was considered the "City Hall" of Chinatown. We were unfortunately unable to go inside, but we did get pictues of the exterior.

I wish I could have gotten closer to these second-floor pillars that looked very detailed.  

 Some beautiful tilework on one of the entrances to a shop. Seems a bit Art Deco mixed with some Chinese influnces.

 A Jade Shi on the top of the overhang.

Beautiful use of jade to mimic the color of the peacock on the side of the Center.

  Our next destination was the Square, but we first stopped at the Gate and Nine Dragon Wall.  There are nine type of dragon in Chinese culture and they are:

"Tianlong, The Celestial Dragon

Shenlong, the Spiritual Dragon

Fucanglong, the Dragon of Hidden Treasures

Dilong, the Underground Dragon

Yinglong, the Winged Dragon

Jiaolong, the Horned Dragon

Panlong, the Coiling Dragon: inhabits the waters

Huanglong, Yellow Dragon, which emerged from the River Luo to show Fuxi the elements of writing

Dragon King"

(Chinese Dragon)

Interestingly, our wall is one of three replicas of the Forbidden City wall that exist outside of China.

Another 90's shot, this time of the Chinatown Gate.

A plaque on the side of the gate explaining that the design is copyrighted. The gate is in dire need of a new coat of paint ,as seen by the chips. 

 A plaque explaining the significance of the symbols on the front of the gate. These symbols are the opening characters of an essay called "Book of Rites", an important Confucian essay. These figures here were handwritten by Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, the founder of the Republic of China.

The front side of the gate, looking southward down Wentworth.

 A pagoda decked in Christmas decorations next to the Nine Dragon Wall.

 A map welcoming visitors to Chinatown, close to the Red Line Station. It is outdated, as it claims that the library is by Wentworth and 23rd St. 

Part of the Nine Dragon Wall.

The other part of the Nine Dragon Wall.

  We then went to the Chinatown Square.  The center of the square contained the twelve animals of the Zodiac. There's a legend that an emperor wanted twelve guards for protection, so he held a race for the animals to detrime what ones should be made guards.  The order of winners was as follows:

 My mom and me are both bulls (1997,1961)

 By the time we got to the square, I had to quickly leave Kevin due to having to go to a class. While sadly I couldn't visit everything or get some local food, I did have an enjoyable day with what I was dealt with.

REFERENCES

“Chinese Dragon.” Chinese Dragon - New World Encyclopedia, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chinese_dragon.

Cora, Casey. “'Forgotten Chinatown' Tour Explores Neighborhood History.” DNAinfo Chicago, DNAinfo Chicago, 6 Aug. 2013, www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130806/chinatown/forgotten-chinatown-tour-explores-neighborhood-history.

Doerksen, Kevin. “THIS MONTH IN CHICAGO HISTORY: A LOOK AT CHICAGO'S CHINATOWN.” Chicago Welcome Home, 22 Apr. 2014, www.choosechicago.com/blog/post/this-month-in-chicago-history-a-look-at-chicagos-chinatown/.

Eltagouri, Marwa. “Here's Why Chicago's Chinatown Is Booming, Even as Others across the U.S. Fade.” Chicagotribune.com, 23 June 2016, www.chicagotribune.com/g00/news/local/ct-chicago-chinatown-growth-met-20160513-story.html?i10c.encReferrer=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jaGljYWdvdHJpYnVuZS5jb20vZzAwL25ld3MvbG9jYWwvY3QtY2hpY2Fnby1jaGluYXRvd24tZ3Jvd3RoLW1ldC0yMDE2MDUxMy1zdG9yeS5odG1sP2kxMGMuZW5jUmVmZXJyZXI9JmkxMGMudWE9MQ%3D%3D&i10c.ua=1.

“Foo Dogs / Fu Dogs - Chinese Guardian Lions.” / Fu Dogs - Chinese Guardian Lions, 16 Jan. 2018, goodlucksymbols.com/foo-dogs/.

Johnson, Amy Friedman and Meredith. “THE DRAGON'S PEARL (an Ancient Chinese Legend), Tell Me a Story.” Uexpress, www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/2001/1/28/the-dragons-pearl-an-ancient-chinese.

Jyoti. “Chicago's Chinatown: The Nine Dragon Wall.” Public Art in Chicago, 16 Sept. 2009, chicago-outdoor-sculptures.blogspot.com/2009/09/nine-dragon-wall.html.

Pkl. “The Chinese Zodiac Story - The Zodiac Rankings Race.” ChinaHighlights, 24 Nov. 2017, www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/story.htm.

Pui Tak Center, www.puitak.org/.

“The Unlikely Boom of Chicago's Chinatown.” Next City, nextcity.org/features/view/chicago-chinatown-development-small-businesses.

IMAGES 

Image 1
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130806/chinatown/forgotten-chinatown-tour-explores-neighborhood-history

Image 2
https://www.choosechicago.com/blog/post/this-month-in-chicago-history-a-look-at-chicagos-chinatown/