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Ah Toy

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Not to be confused with Lily Ah Toy.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Ah.
Ah Toy
Born(1829-05-18)May 18, 1829
Canton, Guangdong, Qing China
DiedFebruary 1, 1928(1928-02-01) (aged 98)
San Jose, California
NationalityQing Chinese, American
Other namesAtoy, Attoy, Achoi, Achoy
Occupation(s)Prostitute, madam

Ah Toy (亞彩 Taishanese: /a˧ tʰɔi˥/, Standard Cantonese: Aa3 Coi2, [1] May 18, 1829 – February 1, 1928)[2] was a Chinese American[3] prostitute and madam in San Francisco, California during the California Gold Rush, and the first Chinese prostitute in San Francisco.[4] Arriving from Hong Kong in 1848,[5] she became the best-known Asian woman in the American frontier.[6]

When Ah Toy left China for the United States, she originally traveled with her husband, who died during the travel. Ah Toy became the mistress of the ship's captain, who gave her so much gold that by the time she arrived in San Francisco, Ah Toy had a good amount of money. Before 1851 there were only seven Chinese women known to be in the city, and noticing the looks she drew from the men in her new town, she figured they would pay for a closer look. Her peep shows became successful, and she was known to charge an ounce of gold (sixteen dollars) for a "lookee".[7] Afterwards, she became the most famous Chinese prostitute, and one of the highest paid and most famous in San Francisco. Due to her romantic relationship with the brothel inspector James A. Clarke, Ah Toy's brothel escaped shut-down by San Francisco authorities during a Committee of Vigilance investigation.[8]

Ah Toy was described as a determined and intelligent woman; she frequently used the San Francisco Recorder's Court[9] to protect herself and her business from exploitation.[10] Ah Toy proceeded to open a chain of new brothels in 1852 and 1853, importing girls from China in their teens, 20s and 30s to work in them - some were as young as eleven. Ah Toy also faced pressure from male Chinese leaders, specifically Yuen Sheng, also known as Norman As-sing, who did not like the idea of a woman leading the brothel industry in the city.[11] By 1854 however, Ah Toy was no longer able to take her grievances to court. In the case People v. Hall, the California Supreme Court reversed the conviction of George Hall, who had murdered a Chinese man, extending a California law that African Americans and Native Americans could not testify in court to include the Chinese.[12] While this law was not directed at prostitutes, it handicapped Ah Toy's ability to protect herself from the domineering Chinese tongs that had for long sought to control her and her business. Coupled with the anti-prostitution law of 1854, which was carried out mainly against the Chinese, the pressure to stay in business became too great, and Ah Toy withdrew from San Francisco's prostitution business in 1857, announcing her departure to journalists.[8]

In 1857,[13] she returned to China as a wealthy woman to live the rest of her days in comfort,[14] but she returned to California by 1859. From 1868 until her death in 1928, she lived a mostly quiet life in Santa Clara County, often living with her numerous different partners over the decades, many of whom she was unable to marry because of anti-miscegenation laws in California which at the time prevented people of East Asian descent from marrying white people. Ah Toy returned to mainstream public attention upon dying in San Jose on 1 February 1928, aged 98,[15] about three months before her ninety-ninth birthday.[16][17]

Olivia Cheng portrays Ah Toy in Cinemax's Warrior, set during the Tong Wars in late 19th century San Francisco. The series begins in the late 1870s.

References

  1. ^ Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: the Qing Period, 1644-1911
  2. ^ Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Lau, Clara; Stefanowska, A. D. (2015-07-17). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: v. 1: The Qing Period, 1644-1911. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-47588-0.
  3. ^ Stephens, Autumn (1992). Wild Women: Crusaders, Curmudgeons, and Completely Corsetless Ladies in the Otherwise Virtuous Victorian Era. Conari. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-943233-36-9.
  4. ^ Asbury, Herbert (2002). The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-56025-408-9.
  5. ^ Espiritu, Yen Le (1997). Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws and Love. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 32. ISBN 978-0-8039-7255-1.
  6. ^ Okihiro, Gary Y. (2001). Common Ground: Reimagining American History. Princeton University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-691-07007-0.
  7. ^ Curt Gentry, The Madams of San Francisco: A Highly Irreverent History. (New York: Signet, 1964.) 1-109.
  8. ^ a b Sinn, Elizabeth. “Bound for California: The Emigration of Chinese Women.” In Pacific Crossing: California Gold, Chinese Migration, and the Making of Hong Kong, 219–64. Hong Kong University Press, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2854ct.13.
  9. ^ Gentry, Curt (February 1977). The Madams of San Francisco. p. 59. ISBN 9780891740155.
  10. ^ Jacqueline Baker Barnhart, The Fair but Frail, p. 47
  11. ^ Taniguchi, Nancy J. “Weaving a Different World: Women and the California Gold Rush.” California History 79, no. 2 (2000): 141–68. https://doi.org/10.2307/25463691.
  12. ^ SCOCAL, People v. Hall, 62 Cal.2d 104, last visited Tuesday May 7, 2013
  13. ^ Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Lau, Clara; Stefanowska, A. D. (2015-07-17). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: v. 1: The Qing Period, 1644-1911. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-47588-0.
  14. ^ Pryor, Alton (2006). The Bawdy House Girls: A Look at the Brothels of the Old West. Stagecoach Publishing. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-0-9747551-7-5.
  15. ^ Gentry, Curt (1964) The Madams of San Francisco; p. 65
  16. ^ Yung, Judy (1995). Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco. University of California Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-520-08867-2.
  17. ^ Smith, James R. (2005). San Francisco's Lost Landmarks. Quill Driver Books. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-884995-44-6.
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