What did Lea do?
“ To speak of the end of all wars is like speaking of the end of all earthquakes.”
“ Whenever there is fighting, there are opportunities for leadership.”
“ Battles are no longer the spectacular heroics of the past. The army of today and tomorrow
is sombre, gigantic machine.”
“ The most promiscuous murderer in the world is an ignorant military officer.”
“ The only justifiable war is revolution.” - Homer Lea
Discoveries and discussion.
The more I research, the more findings I discover. Once I find a new piece of the puzzle that fits together, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and bring myself into the scene and time during which the historical figures were alive and present. It is the most enjoyable moment!
Do you know where the name “ Big old country “ comes from?
In the old days, cablegrams were the only speedy form of communication. In order to keep a secret, code names were created. “ The old country “ refers to China. Yes, you know this from the Welcome page. This is a code name from the ‘ Red Dragon ‘ scheme. When Yung Wing and W.W. Allen on the east coast communicated to the west cost with Homer Lea and Charles B. Boothe, they used those secret codes in their cablegrams. Gingo is a code name for Manchu (if I remember it right!). Each conspirator has his own code name. These four men entered into a conspiracy to finance the Chinese Revolution. The initial goal was to raise 5 million U.S. dollars, then ultimately 7 million. Allen estimated that the idealistic goal should be at least 10 million. Did you know Charles Boothe was the Mayor of South Pasadena from 1909 to 1910? He was a government official and secretly assisted Dr. Sun’s Chinese Revolution.
For the first time, we know General Otis and General Chaffee were involved in the planning of the Chinese revolution.
When I discovered the address of where Dr. Sun Yat Sen secretly stayed for two weeks in South Pasadena, I was curious to find out more about it. It was Charles Boothe’s nearly four-acre estate which was torn down in 1970 (the structure was unsafe to withstand the earthquake). In October 1950, it was dedicated to the Oneonta Congregational Church. After the Red Dragon scheme had failed, Dr. Sun asked Mr. Boothe to return all the documents which gave him the power of sole foreign financial agent or power-of-attorney. Boothe told Dr. Sun he would soon return the documents that had been stored in a safe (which is still in use at the Oneonta Church today).
When I arrived the church office, I asked a lady: “ Did you know Dr. Sun Yat Sen used to come here? “ She looked perplexed and said: “ No, I did not know that at all! “ I was disappointed and left. Suddenly I heard another lady’s voice behind me say, “ Yes! Sun Yat Sen came here before! This was the Chinese Revolution Headquarters! “ She was an elderly lady and she told me to come back sometime and show me pictures of the old mansion being torn down. While driving home, I was somewhat puzzled what she had said: the Chinese Revolution Headquarters? A headquarters is the high command center where plans and orders were given. I remember Captain O’Banion said that Homer Lea, General Otis and General Chaffee often met in Westlake Park with wide open maps to discuss military strategy. I have no doubt when Dr. Sun was in Boothe’s house, they were there to discuss the revolutionary war plans. This is a secret must be kept, because the U.S. generals were involved in plotting to overthrow another government. It was the last visit of Dr. Sun in America.
The Chinese Revolution Headquarters, Charles Boothe’s mansion before and after.
Reports from Community Pride Through Triumphs & Tribulations, Eagle Rock, California: Then and Now.
Another famous farm, the Gates Strawberry Ranch, covered Eagle Rock from Eagle Rock Boulevard to Maywood Avenue, from Yosemite Drive to Colorado Boulevard. The Gates Strawberry Ranch hired Chinese Laborers who trained to become officers for the Chinese Revolutionary Army on weekends from 1903-1909. “What is interesting is that O’Banion with his blue uniformed Chinese would often ride the big red street cars of the Pacific Electric to Highland Park and then hike up what is now Figueroa street to hills of Eagle Rock for some of their field training (Smith & Friezer 4).” These soldiers contributed to the creation of the Chinese republic in 1911, resulting Dr. Sun Yat Sen as China’s first president.
Are you still skeptical about Homer Lea’s efforts to assist Dr. Sun’s successful Chinese Revolution?
Dr. Sun’s ten revolutionary attempts were all failed and the last one, the only one that Homer Lea was involved in, became success. All Dr. Sun’s uprisings were in the South. The failure was mostly due to premature, ill-planned, under-funding, unable to fortify and contentious efforts. Lea had planned a network of agents (his own soldiers) in Manchu’s army and government offices, which had begun when he was with Kang Yu Wei. As soon as the revolution came, the army became the revolution army overnight. It was the bloodless revolution of History. Homer Lea praised his well trained Chinese soldiers. You can imagine before the revolution that Dr. Sun reported to Homer, saying that even the Manchu Navy Admiral was their man.
Is the following a straight quote from the Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto after his attack on Pearl Harbor? “ I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve”?
The subtitles in the film Tora! Tora! Tora! read “I fear all we have done is to awaken the sleeping giant,” which is what we remember the most. The second part, “and fill him with terrible resolve,” is barely left in our minds.
No, Admiral Yamamoto did not say that directly after his attack on Pearl Harbor. He did express his feelings about this attack and he said some words to express his concerns. However, in a movie we always use a simple sentence to sum up the whole expression. This is a simple, strong, and straight to the point dialogue. It is a great and powerful dialogue for the ending that helps us remember this movie. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!“ is another great example.
What did Homer Lea do for the Chinese People?
In the early days, Homer Lea recognized the Chinese as a peace-loving and hardworking people. He studied Chinese History and learned how to read and write Chinese. He knew China would someday become a powerful nation again like their ancestors were. Even when there was a so-called “ Yellow Peril “ and the Exclusion of Chinese Law to discriminate against Chinese, Homer still stood by them. He wrote a book, The Vermilion pencil to tell the Chinese what he would do for them and asked for their acceptance. He often wrote articles to tell the world about China.
Homer gave Chinese soldiers a good education. Besides the military training, he taught them English and other subjects. He was helping Kang Yu Wei and Liang Chi Chao to reform China. When the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi died just one day after the emperor’s mysterious death, Homer knew Kang’s slogan (“ Save the Emperor and Reform China! “) would never work. The five-years-old emperor was just a joke! He denounced Kang who had misused the hard earned Chinese revolution funds. It was the turning point for Lea’s reform to Dr. Sun’s revolution. Homer Lea knew he would be in the center of battle with Sun. Lea and Sun became great friends and understood and respected each other. They both were self-make revolutionists, and they both never dissuaded after a failure. Homer would do anything to help Dr. Sun. One example was when Lea donated his money to Sun after the sale of his book The Valor of the Ignorance in Japan. Homer helped to raise money from the Chinese communities for the Chinese Revolution. He never misused any Chinese donation money. In fact, he always used his own money whenever possible.
When Dr. Sun arrived in the U.S., Lea was always concerned for Dr. Sun’s safety. He used Captain O’Banion as Sun’s bodyguard and took care Sun’s need. During the stage of planning the revolution, Lea promised Sun he would give him full military, financial, and political support. He would lobby the politicians in Washington with his best friend senator Elihu Root for U.S. recognition and financial support.
After the revolution success, he was in London meeting his two friends Sir Sinclair and Lord Roberts to ask for the British government assistance for the new Chinese Republic. He was recovering from medical treatment for his eyes and was also hard at work writing his book The Day of the Saxon for the British people. Yet, at the same time, he was writing a military training manual and planned to form a strong army on behalf of China. He believed that if China had a powerful army to defend the country, then their industry and economy would grow.
In the old days, traveling from London to China would take about 25 to 30 days depending on the weather. One needed physical strength to overcome these rough seas. Homer ignored his doctor’s advice not to go to China. It would prove fatal for him. When he was in China, he and his wife, Ethel, took care of new Chinese Republic English documents.
Only Dr. Sun Yat Sen would know how much Lea had done for the Chinese people. He rewarded him the title Chief of Staff. Homer knew that as a foreigner, he might create dissension between the generals. So instead, he settled for the title of Military Advisor. Selfish, rich, and power-seeking did not describe Homer Lea at all. Only a person who had a genuine and tremendous passion for the Chinese people would do what he did. He represented Dr. Sun to negotiate a Sino-Anglo-Saxon alliance with the America and British governments to ensure a good relationship between China and the West for world peace.
Homer had a stroke and felt into coma for five days after Dr. Sun’s abdication, leaving his left side paralyzed. He felt heartbreak at not being able to do anymore for the Chinese people. He came back to America to recover. As he felt a little better, he asked his wife to write Dr. Sun that he would come back to work and take whatever position he had for him. Later, he had another fatal stroke. He passed away. Due to Lea’s efforts for a bloodless revolution, many Chinese lives were saved.
All Chinese should regret that they did not fully know how much Homer Lea had done for them. Now is the time to honor him! Before Homer Lea died, he had a wish that he would be put to rest next to his best friend, Dr. Sun Yat Sen.
Here, I appeal to the Chinese people and the Chinese Governments in the Mainland and Taiwan to grant Homer Lea’s wish and give him a full military honors. They should not be kept apart by this invisible political wall that separated them for so many years.
General Homer Lea and Mrs. Lea were laid to rest at Yangmingshan Cemetery, Taiwan.
