>Zhang Zhaohong: The contribution of the Deng Xiangyuan family to the history of the Chinese in Alberta (1)

>Zhang Zhaohong: The contribution of the Deng Xiangyuan family to the history of the Chinese in Alberta (1) Zhang Zhaohong With the in-depth excavation of the information about "The First Chinese Tombstone in Alberta", it was discovered that Deng Xiang...

Zhang Zhaohong

With the in-depth excavation of the information on "The First Chinese Tombstone in Alberta", it was discovered that the Deng Xiangyuan family has made very positive contributions in the history of Chinese people in Alberta, whether in economics, politics, law, and culture. Looking into Deng Xiangyuan’s family history, his grandfather Deng Dingyuan had four sons, and his third son Deng Tianfang (Deng Xiangyuan’s father) He was a playboy disciple. According to the data, "When Tianfang was in his prime, he still did not do his job and lived in casinos all day long." And "his father, Ding Yuan Gong, taught him strict lessons and personally went to the casino to flog him with a stick." According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty at that time, no one was held accountable for such tutoring in broad daylight and in public. This shows that Deng Dingyuan was a powerful man. However, in the end, Deng Tianfang still had a good temper and was able to "immediately change his ways and declare that he would build a shrine" and "changed his mind from then on, determined to start a business, and open a shop that steams wine, grinds rice and raises pigs." "After years of hard work, diligence and frugality, I finally achieved this achievement. In my later years, I built a shrine one after another, and finally realized what I had hoped for back then." "It is true that a prodigal son never changes his fortune. This ancestral hall is a testimony to this and has profound educational significance for our descendants." (Note 1) It was already the middle of the 19th century, which was the beginning of the wave of immigrants from coastal areas of Guangdong, China. First, they went to California to "dig gold" and later to build railroads. After the completion of the railway, some Chinese workers returned to the country, and the rest scattered to open mines and cultivate farmland. Some also settled in Phoenix to open laundries, restaurants, and do business. Deng Tianfang has four sons, namely: Fanyuan, Zaoyuan, Xianyuan and Xiangyuan. Deng Xiangyuan is the youngest among the four brothers. His eldest brother Fanyuan is taking care of the property left by his father Deng Tianfang in Kaiping and will not come to the United States in the future. The second brother Zaoyuan married his wife Yu, and his son Deng Sheng was born in 1889. In 1910, 21-year-old Deng Sheng came to Phoenix from Guangzhou via San Francisco. His English name was Shing Tang. He took over the grocery store business opened at 529 South and 7th Avenue from his uncle, who returned to China soon after. In 1912, he opened a new grocery store at 622 South 7 Avenue in Phoenix. In 1914, he married Lucy Sing, who was born in the United States. With the help of his good wife, he continued to run the grocery store for nearly twenty years, and Deng Sheng became a successful businessman. He established the "Sun Mercantile Company" (Sun Mercantile Company), which provided many groceries to surrounding towns (Note 2). In April 1929, Sun Commercial Company moved into a new warehouse at Jackson Street and Third Street in Phoenix. The entire large warehouse was worth $80,000 and was equipped with a sprinkler system and fire alarm connected to the city's alarm system. Located in the heart of a developing warehouse district in the early 20th century, this building is significant as it is the first and only warehouse known to have been built and owned by a Chinese-born businessman in Phoenix. Sun Commercial was the number one seller of Del Monte, Arizona products at the time and supplied food goods to companies such as Safeway and Basha's, allowing many other businesses to be established. He is not only a leading Chinese citizen, but also respected by other ethnic groups (Note 3). Sun Commercial became the largest wholesale grocery business in Phoenix, not only supplying locally but also expanding into Arizona. The "Arizona Republic" reported: "This newspaper notes that Sun Commercial Company is the general merchandise wholesale warehouse with the largest variety of goods in the state" (Note 4). The company's remarkable growth history has been called an outstanding chapter in the business and development of Phoenix and the Salt River Valley (Note 5). In the 1920s and 1930s, the Chinese Exclusion Act seriously affected Chinese people in the United States. Most of the information found about Chinese people was negative. However, Deng Sheng was a successful Chinese entrepreneur and was respected by mainstream society. This was the positive contribution made by the Deng family to the economic field of Alberta. Deng Sheng died in 1954 at the age of 65. His wife Lucy Sing. He died in 1980 at the age of 84. Because Deng Sheng and his wife were Roman Catholics, they were buried in St. Francis Cemetery. Through constant searching, I collected the above information. In the linked information, you can also see simple English information about Deng Sheng’s parents: his father’s name is Chou Yeun Tan (Deng Zaoyuan), and his mother’s name is Shee Yee. Abt. Deng Sheng was born in Guangdong, China in 1850. He died in Guangdong in 1910 (Note 6). In addition, Deng Sheng's name after his marriage was "Ye", and his name in the Deng family tree was "Deng Anye", but it was no longer used after Deng Sheng came to the United States. The Deng Sheng couple had 10 children, the sixth of whom was son Deng Xinping, who also made very active contributions to the politics and military affairs of the province.

Remarks Note 1: "Letter to the Ancestors of Phoenix" (2001), preserved by Deng Xibang, Phoenix City; Note 2: Lucy Sing Tang and Judge Thomas Tang, interviewed by David Yamamoto, 25 October 1976, Note 3: Brief history of Phoenix抯 Sun Mercantile Building. Source: Kevin Weight, ; City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office, October 12, 2005; Note 4: Gary Tipton, 揗en Out of China, Journal of Arizona History, 1977; Note 5: Arizona – Find A Grave Search Results

>Deng Sheng’s Sun Commercial Company is the earliest and only local Chinese food wholesale enterprise

Deng Sheng, his wife and his children