Los Angeles author Lisa See has shed new light on the 1871 Chinese Massacre, a pivotal yet often overlooked episode in the city’s history, through extensive archival research conducted at California’s Huntington Library. The event, also known as the “Night of Horrors,” saw a mob of approximately 500 white and Latino individuals attack the city’s Chinese community, resulting in California's largest mass lynching.
The violence began near the Wing Chun store, operated by Sam Yuen, a leader of one of Los Angeles’ tongs—secret societies often linked to criminal activity. Yuen’s legal actions against the mayor, along with court records, provide detailed accounts of the events that unfolded, including instances of sex trafficking, kidnapping, torture, robberies, gunfights, and lynchings.
Though official records list 18 fatalities, See’s research suggests the number may be higher. Among those uncounted are a tong assassin killed in a noodle shop and a woman named Butterfly, entrusted to a man for safekeeping but never seen again. Others reportedly succumbed to injuries or disappeared without official documentation, highlighting the complexity and scale of the massacre.
See’s interest in the history of Los Angeles’ Chinese community is longstanding. Her great-grandparents, Fong See and Letticie Pruett, settled in the city in 1897, and her first book, “On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family,” became a national bestseller more than three decades ago. She has continued to explore the lives and struggles of Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles through her historical fiction, including the 2009 novel “Shanghai Girls,” which depicted pre-World War II Chinatown and China City, a film-set attraction styled after a traditional Chinese town.
Her most recent work, “Daughters of the Sun and Moon,” follows the intertwined lives of three women—Dove, Petal, and Moon—living in late 19th-century Los Angeles. Each character represents different facets of Chinatown's social hierarchy: Dove, a bound-foot daughter of an imperial scholar; Petal, a peasant’s daughter sold into sex slavery; and Moon, the spouse of a respected Chinese medicine doctor. Through their stories, See examines the varied experiences of early Chinese immigrant women confronting violence, discrimination, and cultural isolation in a city of about 5,000 residents, where only 179 were Chinese.
See recounts that Chinese women, often confined to their homes, found rare moments of solidarity during community events, likening these gatherings to birds twittering together—brief escapes from strict social constraints. She emphasizes her connection to this history and the layered cultural fabric of the area now known as Downtown Los Angeles, which encompasses Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, Croatian, Japanese, and Chinese influences.
By bringing these stories forward, See aims to deepen understanding of the resilience and contributions of Chinese immigrants in shaping Los Angeles, highlighting a chapter marked by tragedy yet rooted in perseverance.