Bow Kum (1888 – August 15, 1909) known as Sweet Flower was a Chinese-born slave girl who belonged to the
Hip Sing Tong and later to the
On Leong Tong around the turn of the 20th century. Her murder was one of the most well-publicized and notorious crimes in New York's history and was the cause of the year-long
Tong War between the On Leong Tong and its rivals the Hip Sings and the
Four Brothers.
Early life
Bow Kum was born in
Canton, China, in 1888.
Chinese Tong slave girl
As a young girl, she was sold by her father for only a few dollars and brought to San Francisco around 1907, where she was purchased for $3,000 by Low Hee Tong. Tong, a high-ranking member of the Hip Sings and Four Brothers, lived with her for four years until he was arrested by police.
When he was unable to produce a
marriage license
A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdictions ...
for Bow Kum, she was placed with
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
under
Donaldina Cameron, a Scotswoman who spent much of her life helping young Chinese slave girls escape from
tongs
Tongs are a type of tool used to grip and lift objects instead of holding them directly with hands. There are many forms of tongs adapted to their specific use. Design variations include resting points so that the working end of the tongs d ...
.
[Bonner, Arthur. ''Alas! What Brought Thee Hither?: The Chinese in New York, 1800-1950''. Madison, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1997. (pg. 144-146) ] Bow Kum eventually married Tchin Len, a truck gardener and member of the
On Leong Tong, who took her back to New York as his wife.
[Klein, Alexander. ''Empire City: A Treasury of New York''. New York: Rinehart and Company, 1955. (pg. 63-64) ][ Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the New York Underworld''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. (pg. 289-290) ][Lewis, Alfred Henry. ''The Apaches of New York''. New York: G.W. Dillingham Company, 1912. (pg. 181-197)]
Murder and 1909 New York Tong War
Len was eventually confronted by Low Hee Tong, who demanded compensation for the money he had "invested" in the girl, but Len refused to pay him. Low Hee Tong then petitioned the Hip Sings and the Four Brothers in a letter explaining his grievance. The Tong leaders felt his claim was justified and made demands upon the On Leong Tong on Low Hee Tong's behalf. When the On Leong Tong ignored them, the Hip Sings and the Four Brothers declared war.
A few days later, a Tong hatchetman slipped into the
Mott Street
Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Stre ...
residence of Tchin Len on the early morning of 15 August 1909, and brutally murdered Bow Kum. Her body was found in their bedroom, stabbed three times in the heart, badly mutilated, with some of her fingers cut off. The war between the Chinatown Tongs would continue for over a year before a truce was arranged through mediation by the US government and the
Chinese government
The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...
s.
Notable Chinese tongs
*
Bing Kong Tong
*
Hip Sing Tong
*
On Leong Tong
*
Suey Sing Tong
*
Hop Sing Tong
See also
*
Hui
*
Tong Wars
*
Triad (underground society)
A triad ( zh, t=三合會, s=三合会, hp=sān hé huì, cy=sāam hahp wúi) is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations.
The tri ...
*
Tiandihui
The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihu ...
*
List of Chinese criminal organizations
*
List of criminal enterprises, gangs and syndicates
References
Further reading
*Crouse, Russel. ''Murder Won't Out''. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1932.
*Hall, Bruce Edward. ''Tea That Burns: A Family Memoir of Chinatown''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kum, Bow
1888 births
1909 deaths
Chinese emigrants to the United States
Cantonese people
People from Guangzhou
People murdered by Chinese-American organized crime
American murder victims
Chinese slaves
Deaths by stabbing in the United States
People murdered in New York City
People murdered in 1909
20th-century Chinese women
20th-century Chinese people
20th-century American people
20th-century slaves
20th-century American women