Hong Taechawanit,, . born Zheng Yifeng (18515 March 1937) and also known as Zheng Zhiyong or Er Ger Feng (lit. 'Second Brother Feng', rendered in Thai from Teochew as ), was a Chinese businessman, philanthropist, and

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

member who was active in early twentieth-century

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

Early life

Zheng Yifeng was born in 1851 in Qiyuan Village,

Chaozhou Chaozhou (), alternatively Chiuchow, Chaochow or Teochew, is a city in the eastern Guangdong province of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the Sou ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. His father, Zheng Shisheng (), was a peasant who fled China during the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

but died en route to Thailand. His mother subsequently remarried and Zheng Yifeng himself moved to Thailand, settling down in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Career

While working for gambling magnate Liu Jibin (), Zheng became a member of the clandestine Chinatown-based 'Tian Di Hui' () or 'Heaven and Earth Society'. Zheng would become commonly referred to as 'Er Ge Feng' () or 'Second Brother Feng', because of his becoming the secret society's second-highest authority; he eventually became its leader after the death of his predecessor. Zheng successfully petitioned for King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

to grant him tax farming rights over gambling houses. In 1909, he dissented from the popular Chinese sentiment against the king's most recent tax reforms and refused to partake in a three-day-long strike action. In June 1918, Zheng was granted the surname Taechawanit (Tejavanija) and conferred the title of Phra Anuwatratchaniyom () by King

Vajiravudh Vajiravudh ( th, วชิราวุธ, , 1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth monarch of Siam under the Chakri dynasty as Rama VI. He ruled from 23 October 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts ...

. Hong Taechawanit began to build a conglomerate in Thailand, which comprised pawnshops, a printing press, a shipping line, a theatre, and the biggest gambling house in the country. His mansion in

Phlapphla Chai Phlapphla Chai ( th, พลับพลาไชย, ) is the name of a road in Bangkok's Pom Prap and Wat Thep Sirin sub-districts, Pom Prap Sattru Phai District, and also the five-way intersection of the road with Luang and Maitri Chit Roads. I ...

also served as his company headquarters. In addition to being a founder of schools in both Thailand and China, Hong Taechawanit bankrolled newspapers and charities. He made significant donations to his hometown in Guangdong, such as in 1918 when he gave 380,000 silver dollars to flood relief efforts.

Final years and legacy

Hong sympathised with the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

led by

Sun Yat Sen The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radia ...

; following the collapse of the imperial government in 1911, he gifted Sun with an unspecified amount of

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

. Following a series of financial setbacks, most notably the loss of his tax farming license, Hong died on 5 March 1937, aged 84. Taechawanit Road, whose construction he financed, is now named after him. His mansion was donated to the state and became the present-day Phlapphachai Police Station. Because of his stature as a 'gambling lord', Hong was deified as a 'luck-bringer' after his death and is popularly worshipped by Thai gamblers.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taechawanit, Hong 1851 births 1937 deaths 20th-century Chinese businesspeople Businesspeople from Guangdong Hong Taechawanit Chinese philanthropists People from Chaozhou Hong Taechawanit Hong Taechawanit