(East-West question) Schwank: On the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, what kind of honor and disgrace did a piece of wood carry?
China News Agency, Beijing, June 10th, Question: On the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, what kind of honor and disgrace did a piece of wood carry?
——Interview with American maritime historian Schwank
Author Ren Yumeng
This year marks the 110th anniversary of the Titanic disaster.
On April 15, 1912, it was still dark as a lifeboat sailed in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, and the crew searched in the darkness for faint signs of life in the rubble.
Hours ago, the "unsinkable" giant cruise ship Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank slowly to the bottom of the sea.
That night, hundreds of passengers on the cruise boarded the lifeboats to escape, but more people sank with the ship, only one lifeboat returned to the scene to search and rescue the survivors, and the last person they found was a young man, he was the Titanic One of the six Chinese passengers who survived on board.
In the past 110 years, countless books, films and documentaries have depicted the group portraits of the survivors of the giant ship, but only these six Chinese faces have been erased.
The racially hostile environment towards the Chinese in the West in the early 20th century resulted in the absence of this historical narrative.
Taking history as a mirror, in the 21st century, how has the image of Chinese immigrants changed under the Western narrative framework?
Recently, Steven Schwankert, an American maritime historian, published his new book "Six: Chinese Survivors on the Titanic" published in China. The group portraits of overseas Chinese immigrants and the 110 years since the Titanic shipwreck have changed the depiction of Chinese in the Western narrative system.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: In April this year, your book "Six People: Chinese Survivors on the Titanic" (hereinafter referred to as "Six People") was published in China, and it aroused enthusiastic responses. As an American, why are you particularly concerned about the Chinese survivors of the Titanic?
Schwank:
I am familiar with the history of the Titanic, and I also know that there were Chinese passengers on the Titanic.
However, little information is available about them.
From this, I have a question, why are the stories of most of the Titanic passengers known, but the clues about the Chinese passengers are buried in the dust of history?
Why didn't the Chinese who experienced the shipwreck disclose their experiences to others?
What happened to these survivors?
I worked with British director Arthur Jones on the documentary Six to follow this lost history.
When I first talked with Luo Fei about shooting ideas, he was not very interested.
He believes that the story of the Titanic is well known, and there are many films about the shipwreck, and the story is too mainstream.
Later, he asked Chinese friends around him if he had heard of Chinese on the Titanic, and the answer was no.
Since then, we've been digging deeper.
Cover of Six: Chinese Survivors on the Titanic.
China News Agency reporter: In your book, you use "a piece of wood" to tell the story of Fang Rongshan, a survivor, who survived the shipwreck with his unyielding will. This is the source of inspiration for the classic part of the hero and heroine in the movie "Titanic". Why is Fang Rongshan said to be the prototype of the heroine Ross?
Schwank:
Director Cameron accurately restored the historical scene where the survivors were finally rescued by floating planks.
After the Titanic sank, lifeboat No. 14 commanded by fifth officer Harold Lowe of the cruise ship returned to the accident site to search for survivors. At that time, only four people still had signs of life, including Fang Rongshan.
After Fang Rongshan escaped for many years, he once described the experience of that night in a letter to his hometown: "The sky is high and the sea is wide and waves are wide / A stick saves me / I see three or four brothers / Wipe away tears and laugh."
Cameron knew about the rescue, knew the history, and decided to film it.
While Fang Rongshan's prototype didn't end up in the film, his rescue inspired Cameron to adapt it as a Jack and Rose story.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the "Titanic", the film "Titanic" remade into a 3D version was released.
Photo by Fajing Wei of China News Agency
In order to understand Fang Rongshan's situation and feelings in seawater at that time, I once did a simulation experiment in a university in the UK. For safety's sake, I immersed in water at 12 degrees Celsius for up to 35 minutes.
The actual water temperature in Fangrong Mountain should be 1 to 2 degrees Celsius.
After calculation, it may only take 15 to 20 minutes for him to fall into the sea water to climb on the floating board, which shows his mood of surviving in a desperate situation.
China News Agency reporter: In this sinking tragedy, although the Chinese passengers escaped, they encountered ups and downs. What happened to their lives after they were rescued?
Schwank:
Survivors of the Titanic scattered within two years of being rescued.
From what we were able to track, most ended up going to North American or European countries, maybe one or two back in China.
In the United States and Canada, they have been detained for laws that exclude immigrants, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act.
In contrast, their descendants are now fully integrated into local society.
Fang Guomin, son of Fang Rongshan, owns Cozy Inn, one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in the United States.
Studying history in a way that compares the fate of the survivors and the living conditions of their descendants is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle of 1,000 pieces—small pieces scattered around the world, living in different countries and speaking different languages.
And telling a story from more than 100 years ago is like satellite photography.
Through technical means, you can consult various historical materials and understand this history from a macro perspective.
But the disadvantage is that there is no way to meet or interview survivors in person, and can only rely on existing and subsequent evidence to verify.
Most importantly, we solved some mysteries with science.
After the Chinese passengers survived the shipwreck, there were rumors in the West that they were able to escape by hiding under the seats of the lifeboats.
To this end, we built a full-scale lifeboat for simulation experiments, which proved that this statement was not true.
Along the way, we always believe that we will find what we hope to find.
We scoff at the term "forgotten by history".
If you give up hope in the first place, you will get nothing.
The restoration model of the wreck of the Titanic on display at the Guangdong Provincial Museum.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Jimin
China News Agency reporter: As you said, these six Chinese were smeared and smeared by Western media because of their survival. What was the overall attitude of Western society towards Chinese immigrants at that time? What were the characteristics of the images of Chinese immigrants in Western narratives at that time? What factors lead to these phenomena?
Schwank:
In fact, the public opinion at the time was prejudiced against male passengers, especially foreign passengers in third class, thinking that if they were lucky enough to survive, it must be because of their despicable behavior, such as hiding under the lifeboat seat, or dressing up Adult women fool around.
At that time, the Chinese were regarded as a marginalized race, and 6 of the 8 Chinese passengers survived and became the target of public criticism.
Of course, passengers from other countries suffered the same treatment, including Italian and Middle Eastern passengers.
After the sinking of the Titanic, public opinion was eager to find a window to vent, and the Chinese were easy targets.
In general, people's perception of the survivors of the Titanic is very polarized.
Those who go straight into the lifeboats, whoever they are, are considered shameful.
If the lifeboat rescues the passengers in the water, there is no harm.
When the lifeboat C of the Titanic was launched, it was not fully loaded. It is understandable that anyone on board, including the Chinese passengers, escaped.
Five minutes later, lifeboat D was launched on the other side of the Titanic, at half the capacity.
While many women and children were rescued from shipwrecks, they suffered equally as a result of the deaths of their husbands and fathers.
It is an honor for men to give up their seats for women and children, but it is a terrible waste to leave a lifeboat empty.
China News Service reporter: Although the book "Six People" tells about the tragedy 110 years ago, it reflects the plight of Chinese expatriates at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. What practical significance does this content have for today? 110 years later, has the description of the Chinese in Western narratives changed?
Schwank:
At present, the West is re-examining history and actively incorporating the stories of various ethnic groups, especially ethnic minorities, into the narrative system.
Among them, the contribution of early Chinese workers to the United States and Chinese immigrants to society is also being re-evaluated.
Those who built railways on the North American continent, those who worked in gold mines, or the "paper sons" who bought immigration documents to avoid the "Chinese Exclusion Act", their descendants will now pay for their ancestors. Proud of hard work and grateful for the efforts of those who came before us to create a better life.
This is a good thing, people should be proud of the family history.
"Protecting the World - Overseas Chinese Passport Exhibition" at the Beijing Capital Museum.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jia Tianyong
For me, it's also a good time to write the story of The Six, where we've unraveled some historical mysteries through applied science.
It is worth noting that pure science does not contain racist factors, we just want to show the real stories of Chinese passengers on the Titanic, and they should leave a correct stroke in the annals of history.
I hope, after more than a century of humiliation, they can find their dignity.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Steven Schwankert is an American maritime historian and writer specializing in exploration, technology, media and culture. He has lived in China for more than 20 years.
The chief researcher and star of the documentary of the same name "Six: Chinese Survivors on the Titanic", a member of the Royal Geographical Society, his works are mostly published in "Asian Wall Street Journal", "South China Morning Post" and other newspapers, as well as "New York Times", "Washington Post" Newspapers and other media websites.