[00:00.00]Yip Sang, born in Canton
[00:03.04] in 1845, left China
[00:06.76]at the age of nineteen to
[00:08.51]seek his fortune in America.
[00:11.69]After arriving in San Francisco
[00:14.42]in 1864, he earned a living
[00:18.14]by working first as a dishwasher,
[00:20.87]then as a cook, and finally
[00:23.72]as a cigar roller.
[00:26.13]From the outset, he perceived
[00:28.86]that if he was patient
[00:30.61] and could represent the best
[00:32.25] of his race, his merits
[00:34.44]would be recognized.
[00:36.63]Possibly the attraction of
[00:39.03]high wages rumored to
[00:40.57]be offered by Canadian
[00:42.10]railroad companies roused
[00:43.96]Yip Sang to leave San Francisco.
[00:47.68]He arrived in Vancouver in 1881
[00:51.19] and worked on the western portion
[00:54.46]of the Canadian Pacific Railroad
[00:56.76]from 1882 until 1884,
[01:01.90]first as a bookkeeper,
[01:03.54]then as a timekeeper,
[01:05.08]and finally as a paymaster,
[01:06.61]before being promoted to
[01:09.34]Chinese superintendent
[01:11.09]for the supply company.
[01:13.83]This promotion made him responsible
[01:16.89] for hiring on contract and
[01:19.63]transporting thousands of men
[01:21.49]from China to work
[01:23.56]on the railway line
[01:24.77] in British Columbia.
[01:26.52]He supervised some six
[01:29.15]to seven thousand Chinese workers
[01:31.77]during the peak of the construction.
[01:34.62]In 1885, he returned to China
[01:39.10] using the money he had saved
[01:41.29] from his CPR job.
[01:44.24]He remained there from 1885 until 1888,
[01:48.07]while there he married
[01:50.91] four different wives, a regular occurrence
[01:53.76] at that time for wealthy young men.
[01:56.50] He and his first wife, Lee Shee,
[02:00.22] had a son and a daughter.
[02:03.06] Lee Shee became gravely ill
[02:06.23]after their marriage and
[02:08.09] urged Yip Sang to take
[02:10.72]another wife, one who would be
[02:13.23] able to take good
[02:14.55]care of their children.
[02:16.30]Wong Shee, Yip Sang’s second wife,
[02:19.58]was very young with
[02:21.44]“sensitive” eyes, but did not
[02:24.06]meet with the approval of Lee Shee.
[02:26.14]She insisted he should
[02:29.10]marry a third time, and
[02:31.07]this time choose someone
[02:32.60]more suitable to care
[02:34.57]for the children.
[02:35.99]Dong Shee, wife number three,
[02:38.94]was more mature and
[02:40.69]had the capacity to supervise
[02:42.99]the household and the children.
[02:45.84]Dong Shee convinced Yip Sang
[02:49.78]to take a fourth wife, Chin Shee,
[02:53.17]whose primary role was
[02:55.36] to be Dong Shee’s companion.
[02:57.33]With his four wives,
[03:00.61]Yip Sang had 23 children,
[03:02.69]one of whom became
[03:05.43]the first Chinese Canadian doctor
[03:07.50] to be recognized in Canada.
[03:09.80]In 1888, Yip San returned to
[03:14.61] Canada with three wives—
[03:16.36]Lee Shee died before they left |