As more Chinese seamen began to settle in ports such as London and Liverpool, so a powerful set of myths began to develop about “Chinatown”.
The 1913 publication of the first Sax Rohmer novels about the evil genius Dr Fu Manchu kick-started a near-hysterical interest in London’s Limehouse, turning it from a few drab streets of shops and restaurants to the most infamous patch of land in Britain - which supposedly harboured cunning “Chinamen” who lured white women into their opium dens.
Dr John Seed describes how this exotic netherworld was featured in countless novels, films and songs and put the stereotype of the Chinese as inscrutable criminals firmly at the heart of western popular culture.
Connie and Leslie Ho, who grew up in Limehouse in the 1920s describe the more prosaic reality of Limehouse.
Source: The English Illustrated Magazine July 1900
Further reading
Limehouse Blues: Looking for Chinatown in the London Docks,1900-1940, Dr John Seed.History Workshop Journal, No. 62 (Autumn 2006), pp.58-85
A talk on the same topic at the Museum in Docklands in January 2007 can be found on the Museum of London website.
__________________________________________ YOUR COMMENTS:
The second episode of another marvellously informative programme from BBC Radio4 - and a large part of what made this one so interesting was how the media in those days portrayed this part of London - as mysterious, frightening and dangerous - and the media was altogether sensationalist, and just plain WRONG - well, luvaduck - the more things change, the more they stay the same - journalism as creative writing - just plain barmy ..... J. Miller
