竉 鍾 (aka 大王竉 ,鹹魚竉) [????-????]

Submitted by lausanching on
Names
Given
竉
Family
鍾
Alias / nickname
大王竉 ,鹹魚竉
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Birthplace (country)
China
Died
Died in (country)
China
Cause of death
Beheaded

PREFERRED DROWNING TO BEHEADING.

Eastern Daily Mail And Straits Morning Advertiser, 9 August 1906, Page 1

Preferring drowning to beheading, a Chinaman named Li Wong Cheung, a political offender and murderer, was among the passengers when the S.S. Hanoi, captained by Merlees, departed Haiphong on Wednesday. Li Wong Cheung was being deported under extradition proceedings, as he was greatly sought after by the Chinese authorities to answer for his crimes and suffer the penalty for his offences. Having, no doubt, a very good idea of the fate that awaited him as soon as he set foot on Chinese territory, and pondering his situation, he apparently preferred death by drowning (unless picked up by a junk) to beheading. He seized a moment when his guards – two French gendarmes and a Chinese detective – were off their guard, and when the Hanoi was off St. John's Island, he sprang overboard.

The weather was very bad at the time, and the sea very rough. Nevertheless, Captain Merlees, who was on the bridge and observed the occurrence, immediately stopped the vessel, turned her around, and ordered a boat to be lowered. This was promptly done, while life-buoys were flung to the man. The latter turned on his back and floated, taking on the semblance of death and making no effort to secure either of the life-buoys flung to him. However, the boat, in charge of Mr. J. Hanson, Second Officer, and four sailors, soon reached its quarry and brought the man, still feigning death, aboard.

Arriving back at the ship's side was a somewhat difficult matter owing to the condition of the sea. Once alongside, the boat was hauled up, and the culprit was very soon brought back to the consciousness he pretended to have lost. He was then clapped in irons and confined in a cabin until the vessel's arrival in port, when he was transferred, in charge of his guards, to the Canton boat last night. His further history is a blank. The boat itself was somewhat damaged owing to the rolling of the S.S. Hanoi as it came alongside, and, of course, the two life-buoys were lost. The delight of the gendarmes on recovering their lost prisoner was exuberant, and they rushed to thank the captain for their salvation from the degradation that would have awaited them had they lost their prisoner.

From the time the man jumped overboard to the time he was rescued and the S.S. Hanoi was able to go full speed on her course again was just twenty-five minutes, which was certainly a remarkable performance considering the condition of the weather. This marks the second rescue that Captain Merlees has effected at sea in the last few years; the first involved 44 Chinamen and two Germans in 1904. His prompt action and strong humanitarian spirit are certainly deserving of recognition in the proper quarter.

Hong Kong Telegram

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Incident Overview
  • The Prisoner: Li Wong Cheung (大王竉), a Chinese national labeled by authorities as both a murderer and a "political offender" (likely an anti-Qing revolutionary). [1]
  • The Setting: S.S. Hanoi, a French steamship sailing out of Haiphong, French Indochina (Vietnam). [1]
  • The Location of the Leap: Near St. John's Island (Shangchuan Island / 上川島, located off the coast of Guangdong, China).
  • The Extradition: Li was being escorted back to China by two French gendarmes and a Chinese detective to face trial and certain execution.
 
 
his event took place during a boiling point in Chinese revolutionary history:
  • The Safe Haven of Indochina: Anti-Qing revolutionaries (such as those aligned with Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui) frequently used French Indochina (Vietnam) and British Hong Kong as bases to plot uprisings in Southern China.
  • Extradition Pressure: The Qing government heavily pressured colonial powers (the French and British) to extradite these "political offenders," often tacking on criminal charges like "murder" or "banditry" to ensure the colonial courts would hand them over.
  • The Fate at Canton: Li was transferred to a "Canton boat" upon arrival in port. Canton (Guangzhou) was the regional administrative capital where the Viceroy of Liangguang dealt ruthlessly with insurgents. The reporter notes his "further history is a blank" because a political prisoner delivered to Canton in 1906 was almost certainly executed shortly after arrival.
 
 

1906, by lausanching

香港華字日報 1906-07-27

中外新聞

◎國事犯豈能提解 (龍州訪函) 東官人鍾竉混名大王寵又口鹹魚寵初從馬王海大盜充先鋒敗遁赴越南革命黨愛其勇羅而養之越四五年矣安分操商賈爲粵督電飭莊 道密購府經吳信宜素以能獲要匪著功績 自赴越地購線緝獲將起解矣

黨人 延律師 抗議卒以國事不能破解遵解己墜之頭復安頸際幸哉

**News from the Hong Kong Chinese Daily News (1906-07-27): The Question of Extraditing a Political Offender**

**Chinese & Foreign News**

**(Letter from Longzhou)**

This fascinating report from Longzhou details the case of Zhong Chong (鍾竉), a man from Dongguan known by the colourful nicknames 'Big King Chong' (大王竉) and 'Salted Fish Chong' (鹹魚竉). His past was certainly eventful: he initially served as a vanguard for the notorious great pirate Ma Wanghai (馬王海).

After a defeat, Zhong Chong fled to Vietnam, where his bravery caught the attention of the Revolutionary Party (likely referring to anti-Qing revolutionaries of the era). They recruited and supported him for four or five years, though the report states he had since settled into life as a peaceful merchant.

However, his past caught up with him. The Governor of Guangdong (粵督) dispatched a telegram, instructing Zhuang Dao (莊 道) to secretly arrange his capture via Wu Xinyi (吳信宜), an official renowned for successfully apprehending major bandits. Wu Xinyi journeyed to Vietnam, obtained intelligence, and succeeded in arresting Zhong Chong, who was then slated for extradition.

But the story doesn't end there. Members of the Revolutionary Party quickly hired lawyers to protest his extradition. Fortunately, the report concludes that "due to the political nature of the case (國事), the extradition could not be enforced." In a vivid metaphor, it states that "his already fallen head was put back on his neck," implying he narrowly escaped severe punishment or death. A lucky outcome indeed!

---

 

"This brief but dramatic report from the *Hong Kong Chinese Daily News* in 1906 offers a glimpse into the complex political landscape of early 20th-century Southern China and Southeast Asia. It highlights the Qing government's efforts to apprehend revolutionaries and their sympathizers, even across borders, and the counter-efforts by the revolutionary parties to protect their members.

The reference to 'Big King Chong' and 'Salted Fish Chong' gives a colourful touch to a figure who transitioned from piracy to revolutionary connections before trying to settle into a quiet life as a merchant. His escape from extradition underscores the early legal and diplomatic challenges surrounding 'political offenders' in an era of growing nationalist sentiment against the Qing dynasty.

In the provided text from the Hong Kong Chinese Daily News (1906), "Zhuang Dao" (莊 道) is a typographical error or a slightly corrupted phonetic transcription of a title, rather than a person's name.
In late-Qing dynasty Chinese administrative records and newspaper syntax, it actually refers to a specific regional government official: the Circuit Intendant (道台 / 道員) stationed at Longzhou, Guangxi.
Here is the breakdown of why this error occurred and who it actually refers to:
 
1. The Linguistic Correction: "Zhuang" is a typo for "Zhuang" (莊 vs. 庄)
In early 20th-century printing (especially in Cantonese newspapers like the Hong Kong Chinese Daily News), characters were type-set manually.
  • The character 莊 (Zhuang) was frequently used interchangeably or mistakenly written for 庄 (Zhuang), which in this geographical context refers to the Zhuang ethnicity (壯族) of Guangxi.
  • "道" (Dao) is short for "道台" (Daotai) or "道員" (Daoyuan), a prominent late-Qing imperial official rank (the Circuit Intendant) who controlled a specific geographic and military administrative circuit.
 
2. The Contextual Proof from the Text
The letter itself is explicitly marked as a "(Letter from Longzhou)" (龍州訪函).
  • Longzhou (龙州) is a critical border town in Guangxi, China, directly neighboring Vietnam (then French Indochina).
  • The text states: "The Governor of Guangdong (粵督) dispatched a telegram, instructing Zhuang Dao (莊 道) to secretly arrange his capture..."
  • Because Longzhou was the primary Chinese administrative and military gateway to Vietnam, the Governor of Guangdong would naturally send an official telegram to the Longzhou Circuit Intendant (龍州道台)—referred to locally in shorthand as the "Zhuang [Border] Intendant" (壯道 / 龍州道)—to coordinate an intelligence operation across the border into Vietnam.
 
3. Who was the actual person?
The actual Longzhou Circuit Intendant at that precise time (mid-1906) was a Qing official named 庄蘊寬 (Zhuang Yunkuan).
  • In a historical twist, Zhuang Yunkuan—while serving the Qing dynasty as the Longzhou Intendant tasked with catching bandits—was secretly sympathetic to anti-Qing revolutionaries. He later officially joined the Xinhai Revolution and became a prominent figure in the early Republic of China.
  • When the newspaper wrote "instructing Zhuang Dao (莊 道)," it was either referring to the "Zhuang/Longzhou Circuit Intendant" by his official title shorthand, or it was a direct phonetic slip-up for "Intendant Zhuang" (庄道) using the official's actual surname.
 
 

they are almost certainly the same person.
While the two news reports spell the names differently due to translation and phonetic Romanization systems of the era, the critical overlapping details confirm they are reporting on the exact same individual and event.
 
Timeline & Narrative Alignment
  • The Date: The Hong Kong Chinese Daily News article was published on July 27, 1906, reporting on his recent capture and pending extradition. The Eastern Daily Mail piece was published shortly after on August 9, 1906, detailing his actual deportation and dramatic mid-sea escape attempt "on Wednesday." [1, 2]
  • The Location: Both reports explicitly tie the individual to Vietnam (Haiphong/Hanoi) where he was arrested by French authorities acting on behalf of the Chinese Qing government. [1, 2]
  • The Profile: Both profiles highlight a man who was simultaneously classified as a "political offender/revolutionary" and a "murderer/pirate" (a former vanguard for the pirate Ma Wanghai). [1, 2]
  • The Name Equivalence: "鍾竉" (Zhong Chong / Chung Choong) in Cantonese is phonetically very close to how a Western observer or French official might mishear and Romanize a name like "Li Wong Cheung" or "Cheung" (with "Li Wong" potentially being an error, an extra alias, or a corruption of his nickname "大王竉" / Tai Wong Chong).