Wedded Mid Scenes of Splendor
The most spectacular and interesting wedding celebrated in San Francisco’s
Chinatown in many years was consummated in Native Sons Hall, on Stockton Street,
on Saturday evening, January 12, 1924, when Miss Violet Tong, one of the fairest
flowers of Chinatown, became the bride of Henry Chuney Tung, Presiding Judge
Michael J. Roche performing the ceremony. The wedding was international in
scope, inasmuch as at the same time the ceremony was being performed here, a
like ceremony was in progress at the Oriental home of the bridegroom’s mother in
Canton, China, where 700 guests were assembled. The bride was attired in white
for the wedding, but later appeared in the gorgeous and colorful Chinese bridal
costume.
Over 600 persons attended the great banquet and reception following the
ceremony, at which twenty-four courses were served. It was held at Hong Far
Low’s on Grant Avenue, and Dr. N. Wing Mah of the University of California
presided. Addresses were delivered by Judge Roche, P. Maloney, Mrs. Pollock and
Tung Yum.
The traditions of the race were carried out in detail at the wedding and banquet
which followed. It was the mother of the groom in far-off Canton who set the
date, January 12. This was in obedience to the sacred traditions of the people.
On the day before the wedding, all of the bride’s possessions, clothing,
jewelry, furniture, etc., were delivered at the home of the groom, with an
inventory the largest ever offered by any Chinese bride in San Francisco. On
Wednesday, three days after the wedding, the bride, in obedience to traditional
custom, deserted the groom for one day and returned to her parent’s roof, after
which she returned to him, to live happy ever after.
In Canton where the native custom still obtains, the festivities attending the
marriage ceremony were even more elaborate than here, and will continue for a
longer period. As both bride and groom are of ancient and honored lineage,
fitting ceremonials will mark the event in the far-off empire.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Henry Chuney Tung were education in the public schools of San
Francisco, and both are representatives of the best that is in their residential
locality. Mr. Tung is the son of the president of the Quon Chum Company, while
his bride is the daughter of one of Jackson Street’s leading jewelry merchants.
Official life of San Francisco was well represented at the wedding, as well as
the civil and social life of the city.
The WASP
January 19, 1924
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