Ah Hoon (died 1909) was a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

comedian, actor, and associate of the

On Leong Tong The On Leong Chinese Merchants Association () or simply Chinese Merchants Association, formerly known as the On Leong Tong (), is a tong society operating out of its territory in Mott Street in New York's Chinatown. Established in November 1893 ...

. A celebrated comic in New York's Chinatown during the

tong war The Tong Wars were a series of violent disputes beginning in the late 19th century among rival Chinese Tong factions centered in the Chinatowns of various American cities, in particular San Francisco. Tong wars could be triggered by a variety o ...

s between the On Leong and Hip Sing Tong, Ah Hoon began insulting the rival Hip Sings during performances at the

Chinese Theater Theatre of China has a long and complex history. Traditional Chinese theatre, generally in the form of Chinese opera, is musical in nature. Chinese theatre can trace its origin back a few millennia to ancient China, but the Chinese opera started ...

on Doyers Street.

Comedian and Chinese Tong connections

Perceiving his insults as an attack of their honor, the Hip Sings declared a death sentence against Ah Hoon. Publicly announcing his death to take place on December 30, Ah Hoon came under the protection of the On Leongs. On December 29, Ah Hoon was under the protection of a police sergeant and two patrolmen as he performed and was escorted back to his Chatham Square boardinghouse where members of the On Leongs stood on guard.

1909 New York Tong War and death

The On Leong began holding parades celebrating their victory over the Hip Sings. However, the following morning, Ah Hoon's body was found after he had been shot in the head and killed. Despite Herbert Asbury’s claim in his 1928 book “The Gangs of New York” that a Hip Sing hatchetman had been lowered from the roof while on a chair and sneaked into the apartment where he shot the sleeping comedian with a silenced pistol, the reality is that Ah Hoon’s body was discovered in the hallway, having been killed after his police escorts had already left him alone and he attempted to wash up in the communal basin. The following day the Hip Sings paraded throughout Chinatown; however, the murder of Ah Hoon remained unsolved by authorities as the war between the On Leongs and Hip Sings continued for another year.

Notable Chinese tongs

* Bing Kong Tong * Hip Sing Tong *

* Suey Sing Tong * Hop Sing Tong

References

* Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005.
"New Tong Murder; Chinaman Killed"
''New York Times'', December 30, 1909, p1 Year of birth missing 1909 deaths American people of Chinese descent American male comedians Comedians from New York City People murdered by Chinese-American organized crime People murdered in New York City Male murder victims Deaths by firearm in Manhattan American murder victims Chinese murder victims {{US-actor-stub

Comedian and Chinese Tong connections

1909 New York Tong War and death

Notable Chinese tongs

See also

References