Product Code Database
Chun Lung (; c. 1852 – August 11, 1889) was a Chinese businessman in the Hawaiian Kingdom. He sometimes used his father's Hawaiianized surname and was known as C. L. Afong. He was also known as Alung or Ah Lung using the common Cantonese diminutive prefix () before his given name.
His father Chun Afong and half-brother Toney (Chun Chik-yu) returned to China in June 1862. Chun Afong left his Hawaiian-born son to live with Lee Hong and his family in Meixi and took Alung back to Hawaii to raise in each other's respective culture for the next seven years. Afong returned to China in 1869 with Alung to retrieve Toney.
Both brothers were prepared for college at Hartford Public High School in Connecticut. Alung later enrolled in Yale University under the tutelage of Yung Wing. He was part of the class of 1879. During his junior year at Yale, Alung won an oratory prize with his essay titled "The Educational Element in Chinese Civilization".; ;
Around 1884, Alung returned to Hawaii to help his father manage his Hawaiian business interests. In 1886–87, he was involved in the so-called Aki opium scandal, an infamous bribery scandal involving King Kalākaua and his subordinate Junius Kaʻae who promised a government license to sell opium to Chinese businessman Tong Kee (Aki) after a bribe of $75,000. Despite the bribe, Alung was awarded the license and Aki demanded the return of the money. When the king refused Aki brought a lawsuit against the king.
Alung became seriously ill while on a business trip between Honolulu and the Pepeekeo Plantation on the island of Hawaii. Although given medical treatment on Maui, he died on August 11, 1889, of peritonitis, after he returned to Honolulu.
Alung married Ung See Soy and had three children: Chan Mui-Ngan, Chan Wing-On and an unnamed child.
|
|
