The Money Dragon

by Pam Chun

In this stunning work, Pam Chun brings a new and powerful voice to the traditions of Chinese-American fiction. The Money Dragon brings to life the saga of L. Ah Leong, the Money Dragon, one of the legends of Hawai`i and the founder of Honolulu's Chinatown. At the turn of the twentieth century, Ah Leong rules over his Hawai`ian home, a legendary man so proficient in the martial arts he has brought himself back to life; a man who beguiles many wives, sires dozens of children and is driven by money and greed. He builds a financial empire, establishing himself as a leader both on the exotic islands and in his Chinese homeland. But when Phoenix, the wife of his first son Tat-Tung, arrives in Hawai`i, she becomes witness to how the values Ah Leong holds dear begin to tear him and his family apart.

The Money Dragon is a fascinating and important first novel, a tale of a family struggling between love, greed, jealousy and loyalty. Pam Chun reaches into her family history to deliver a story that shows the tumult and opportunity that occurs when the deep-rooted traditions of the Chinese people meet the sweeping advance of the Western world.

Genres: Historical Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Best-selling author Pam Chun's award-winning first novel, The Money Dragon, was named one of 2002's Best Books of Hawaii. Her second novel, When Strange Gods Call, won a 2005 Ka Palapala Po`okela Award for Excellence. She has been featured on NPR, at the Smithsonian and the National Archives, and in the documentary Hawaii's Chinatown, which premiered on Hawaii PBS. She is a veteran storyteller at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Pam lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area, where her tropical flowers bloom despite fog, drought, and frost. She has one son, a U.S. diplomat stationed overseas with his family.

Praise for THE PERFECT TEA THIEF
"The Chinese have a saying, "You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been." The Perfect Tea Thief takes the reader back to the source of the tensions today between China and the West in a fast-paced and captivating read based on the real life and letters of Robert Fortune."
—Barbara Bundy, PhD. Founding Executive Director Emerita, University of San Francisco Center for Asia Pacific Studies

Praise for WHEN STRANGE GODS CALL
2005 Kapalapala Po'okela Award Winner
"Chun vividly evokes the lush, sensual land and effectively dramatizes the conflict between old traditional and fast-paced modernity."
--Booklist Reviews

Priase for THE MONEY DRAGON
2003 Kapalapala Po'okela Award Honorable Mention
"Fast-paced and utterly addictive..."
--Kirkus Reviews

Reviews

[Danial Tanvir · Rating 5 out of 5]

this first novel was actually brilliant.
i bought it from a small book shop in bangkok,thailand.
it was very well written.
it is a book was pam chun.
it is actually about a man called lau ah leong.
he is from china and is living in china.
it is based in china in 1917.
he then goes to hawaii in search of freedom , opportunity.
over there he hopes of having a much better life than he had in china.
this is his dream.
he goes to hawaii and he has four wives and then he ends up having a relationship with first sons wife phoenix who is beautiful and head strong.
he then has another wife.
there are details of hawaii are given in thoes days.
there was a fire at the china town in hawaii.
the chinese are treated as second class citizens in the hawaii and are looked down upon.
things are different here in hawaii or the united states of america.
you can not have more than one wife there and this causes a problem for him who has many wifes.
what happens in the end is that lau ah leong dies and he is then called the money dragon.
this novel was great and i loved the details the author has given of hawaii and about thoes times and it did not get the attention it deserves and i would recommend people to read it and i cant wait to read the authors next book.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was chosen for the Honolulu Museum Book Club, and we're taking a tour of Chinatown in conjunction with it, which I'm looking forward to. The book didn't entirely work for me, though I was interested in the background of an area I'm familiar with. Maybe it's just polygamy overload, with another group reading Lisa See's Lady Tan, about polygamy AND foot binding. The author is unsparing towards her powerful ancestor, who comes across as a willful tyrant. His first son and his second wife, the author's grandparents, are more sympathetic, despite ill treatment by sister wives and the patriarch himself. Monogamy seems like a flawed institution, but serial monogamy and polygamy have real disadvantages for women. Rich men are the ones who gain, especially in terms of sexual politics. And wealth is more likely to coincide with greed and cruelty than wisdom and kindness.

[Linda Chong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Money Dragon Rivetting

being a descendant of immigrants from this era, I couldn't put this book down. as a child have memories of playing and running around the streets and alley says of China town.I recommend this book to everyone. This book have me a better understanding of how China town came to be and evolved.
thank you Pam Chun.
Ron chong

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Money Dragon, a tumultuous story about the author’s Chinese ancestors. I highly recommend this fascinating read for anyone that is interested in the culture and history of Hawaii.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, and insight, into the reasons and consequences of the Chinese in the US.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's a fictionalized account of three generations of the author's family between 1871 and 1935. It includes family members who emigrated from China to Hawaii and others who stayed in China.

Political and cultural changes in both places heavily impacted the lives of family members--some for better and some for worse. Against this backdrop, the impact of financial success on different personalities and the entire family is played out in a fascinating variety of ways. We are allowed to get close enough to a few individuals to really care what happens to them.

The book is not without fault. The story is told through several different family members, changing with chapter or even within a chapter. On rare occasion it wasn't clear who was telling the story now. Some short parts of the story were repeated as someone remembered an already told tale without adding new information. Occasionally this helped us to understand what the person was thinking; other times it added little. These are small complaints about brief problems.

Unlike some books, this one did not compel me to read all night and day. The short chapters have a feel of completion. Perhaps the richness of the cultural and emotional experience it provided made me feel satisfied even before the story was over.

[Citra Mardiati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buku ini bercerita tentang perjalan hidup Lau Ah Leong mulai ia masih menjadi pengemis hingga ia berhasil dan sukses mengjadi pengusaha sukses di Hawai. Selain menceritakan tentang perjuangannya dalam usaha dagangnya, buku ini juga mengulik tentang kebudayaan Asia-Amerika. Dari buku ini aku jadi tau banyak juga tentang kebudayaan dua bagian dunia yang lumayan bertolak belakang ini.
Disarankan buat yang pengen baca, kalian bakal dibuat sedikit bingung karena alurnya yang agak maju mundur dan setting yang berubah-ubah. Tokoh yang muncul juga lumayan banyak, tapi tenang aja di buku ini juga disediain silsilah keluarganya yang bisa membantu kita untuk lebih mudah memahaminya.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look into a Chinese immigrant family in Hawaii 100 years ago. Lau Ah Leong and his several wives (with more back in China) navigate new regulations/culture clashes once the US takes control of Hawaii. It's an epic story based on the lives of the author's grandparents and great-grandparents. Ah Leong was a central figure in Honolulu's Chinatown and a building with his name still stands today.

[Megan Shulby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel will always be one that I can pick up and read again and again. It lays out a compelling story of a Chinese family living and growing in the western dominated world of Hawaii. East meets West in this spellbound tale of one man who rises against all odds told from the POV of his daughter-in-law. It sheds light on old world traditions and how these butt up against western modernisms. A book that keeps on teaching something new with each re-read

[Laurie Tomchak · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fascinating story, based on the author's ancestors. Style a bit hard to follow. Since I live in Hawaii, I read everything I can get my hands on about its culture and history. The characters have trouble communicating, but the most sympathetic ones turn out to be based on the author's grandparents.

[Marinell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this historical account of early Chinese immigrants to HI. It helped me picture my grandfather's journey across the Pacific. It also helped me visualize what my family in China might have been like.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account of a Chinese man who emigrated to Hawaii in the late 1800's and amasses a huge fortune from a small store.It is a little hard to follow at times because there are so many wives, children and an enormous amount of names.

[Rebekah Sheppard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read, rather angering when I read how this man wielded power within his own household to keep his desires fulfilled. In the end, all comes to home to roost with the rewards due to one who focuses on material gain - at the expense of his wives' and children's happiness.

[Bebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this book, just imagining how it was like in the olden days of Hawaii. was an interesting story

[Madalene]

Liked it!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chinese culture in Hawaii. It was based on real people so that was interesting. Easy Read.