Thousand Pieces of Gold
by Ruthanne Lum McCunn
Ruthanne Lum McCunn has written several books about the role of the Chinese in American history. A Chinese American herself, McCunn lived in Boise, Idaho-the state in which her novel is set-with her father's family. She later moved to San Francisco, where she wrote Thousand Pieces of Gold. The well-researched biographical novel serves as a depiction of the life of a typical female Asian immigrant in Idaho during the gold rush era.
Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place
Prostitution. While McCunn's novel does not expressly state that its main character Lalu had to work as a prostitute, many Chinese barmaids did. Chinese prostitution became common in the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century. While whites entered the profession too, conditions for the Chinese were vastly different from those of their white counterparts. White prostitutes usually worked independently or for wages, whereas Chinese prostitutes were bought and sold as slaves. In 1860, approximately 85 percent of the Chinese women in San Francisco worked as prostitutes, and by 1870 the figure had dropped only slightly-to 71 percent.
Most of the Chinese prostitutes came from rural families in China. Chinese families sometimes sold their daughters into slavery when they could no longer afford to keep them. Others were captured or tricked into immigrating. Using deceit and bribery, importers smuggled these women into the United States. Some women signed contracts in China that bound them to a life of prostitution for a particular owner or brothel. Mostly illiterate, these women often misunderstood the contract, believing they had signed a marriage agreement. Other women were simply auctioned off without the formality of a contract. They were taken to a barracoon, a large auction room that held up to a hundred women, and sold to the highest bidders as prostitutes, mistresses, or concubines. Some, like Lalu, wound up in mining camps, where they
Ruthanne Lum McCunn has written several books about the role of the Chinese in American history. A Chinese American herself, McCunn lived in Boise, Idaho-the state in which her novel is set-with her father's family. She later moved to San Francisco, where she wrote Thousand Pieces of Gold. The well-researched biographical novel serves as a depiction of the life of a typical female Asian immigrant in Idaho during the gold rush era.
Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place
Prostitution. While McCunn's novel does not expressly state that its main character Lalu had to work as a prostitute, many Chinese barmaids did. Chinese prostitution became common in the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century. While whites entered the profession too, conditions for the Chinese were vastly different from those of their white counterparts. White prostitutes usually worked independently or for wages, whereas Chinese prostitutes were bought and sold as slaves. In 1860, approximately 85 percent of the Chinese women in San Francisco worked as prostitutes, and by 1870 the figure had dropped only slightly-to 71 percent.
Most of the Chinese prostitutes came from rural families in China. Chinese families sometimes sold their daughters into slavery when they could no longer afford to keep them. Others were captured or tricked into immigrating. Using deceit and bribery, importers smuggled these women into the United States. Some women signed contracts in China that bound them to a life of prostitution for a particular owner or brothel. Mostly illiterate, these women often misunderstood the contract, believing they had signed a marriage agreement. Other women were simply auctioned off without the formality of a contract. They were taken to a barracoon, a large auction room that held up to a hundred women, and sold to the highest bidders as prostitutes, mistresses, or concubines. Some, like Lalu, wound up in mining camps, where they