波利比
爱达荷州's most famous Chinese woman resident, 波利比, arrived in 爱达荷州 Territory in 1872. She has received widespread attention since the publication of a biographical novel, 千金, by Ruthanne Lum McCunn, and the release of a movie with the same title, loosely 根据这本书. Since 波利比 was inducted into the 爱达荷州 Hall of Fame in August 1996, it is important that we both celebrate the known facts about her and allow the stereotypical, undocumented legends to die out.
波利比's life has been greatly romanticized by many people who have written about her. There is no evidence for the truth of the most persistent legend, that she was "won in a poker game." As she neared death in 1933, both Polly and C. J. Czizek, "one of her most intimate friends from the Salmon country," vehemently denied the rumor.
Another common misconception, not in McCunn's book, is that 波利比 was once a prostitute. Again, there is no evidence for that assumption. Although a Chinese resident of Warrens (now Warren), 爱达荷州, 花了2500美元买她, and had her brought to that community by an old Chinese man (alas, 不是帅哥, young "Jim" of book and movie), Polly's owner undoubtedly purchased her as his concubine. 在当时的中国, a wealthy man might have one or more wives, 加上一个或多个妾, all living in the same household. Our term "mistress" most closely approximates the term, but it does not equate with the concept as it existed in China, where a concubine held a legally-recognized position as a family member, and whose children were considered legitimate offspring of the man and his primary wife.
Chinese custom decreed that if a man immigrated to the United States to work, his wife should remain at home in China to look after his parents. 在国外, 然而, 他可能会带走, 或获得, a concubine to perform "wifely duties" (see 《贵妃的孩子们(邓丽娟). A Chinese man fortunate enough to have a concubine would not use her as a prostitute because he would "lose face" through sharing her with others.
Other myths about Polly include the use of the name "Lalu Nathoy" for her; there is no evidence for that being her name. Also, there is no evidence that her owner's name was "Hong King."
We do not yet know how Polly managed to extricate herself from her Chinese owner; perhaps he died. Whatever happened, it occurred before mid-1880 since that year's U.S. Census lists her as living with, but not married to, Charlie Bemis. In September 1890 a "gambling affray" resulted in Bemis being shot. He hovered near death for some time, and Polly nursed him back to health. 他们于1894年结婚, and moved down to the Salmon River where they took up a mining claim, 不是宅基地, 正如人们普遍认为的那样.
For over two decades Priscilla Wegars collected documentary information about 波利比 in preparation for several, 更准确的, 关于她生活的作品. 它们包括 波利比: A Chinese American Pioneer (2003), a brief biography for 4th graders; the lengthy chapter "波利比: Lurid Life or Literary Legend?" in 老西部的野女人, edited by Glenda Riley and Richard W. Etulain, 45-68, 200-203, (2003); and 波利比: The Life and Times of a Chinese American Pioneer (2020). Wegars has also taught a summer school/enrichment class for the bet365亚洲官网 in which participants compare both the book and the movie with what is known about the real 波利比, while visiting Polly's restored cabin, now easily accessible only by jet boat. For more information about this class, see 旅游. A slide lecture is also available, as are 四年级课程 根据这本书. A recording of Priscilla Wegars' slide lecture on 波利比, presented for the Lemhi County Historical Society and Museum on February 10, 2021, 可以在 YouTube.
请电子邮件 pwegars@moscow.com to schedule a PowerPoint presentation and/or a book signing.
