The dreams of two yi-min
By: Margaret K. Pai.
Series: A Kolowalu book
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 1989
Place of publication: Honolulu
Language: eng
Number of pages: 200
Subjects: Pai, Margaret K., 1914-; Korean Americans -- Hawaii -- Biography.; Immigrants -- Hawaii -- History -- 20th century.; Hawaii -- Social life and customs.; Hawaii -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1959.
Description: Biographies of Do In Kwon (1888-1962) and his wife, Hee Kyung (Lee) Kwon (1894-1947), parents of the author and immigrants from Korea to Hawaii. Do In Kwon immigrated in 1905, and sent home for a wife in 1912. "Few personal accounts have been written about early Korean immigration (yi-min) to Hawaii ... Margaret Pai recounts the exper- iences of her parents, Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee, while unfolding the rich fabric of Korean society and culture in Japanese-occupied Korea and Hawaii's Korean immigrant community during the early years of this century. Pai tells of her mother's arrival in Honolulu as a 'picture bride' and of her return to Korea and subsequent imprison- ment by the Japanese for her participation in the demonstration of March 1, 1919. Pai also tells of her father--a man deemed odd, intelligent, and even crazy by friends and competitors alike--and of his passion for inventing and talent for business. 'The dreams of two yi-min' is an honest and affectionate portrait of two courageous and strong-willed people. It is the story of the search for a good life, a search that forms a part of the larger history of the Korean experience in Hawaii"--Front fly-leaf of paper cover (attached to front lining paper).

This book also provides a unique view of Youngman Park and Syngman Rhee, each of whom came to Hawaii to lead the Korean immigrants. Park became the head of the Korean National Association, and Rhee was active through the Methodist Board of Missions in Hawaii. Park was deported to Shanghai after he created a military force in Hawaii to aid Korea against Japan. Rhee left the Methodists and began the Korean Christian Church, thus splitting the Koreans in Hawaii into two rival churches. The Kwon family remained Methodist, and sent funds to Park in Shanghai to fight the Japanese in Korea.
Notes: Includes index.