Chang Apana

Chang Apana (December 26, 1871 – December 8, 1933; ) was a Chinese-Hawaiian detective of the Honolulu Police Department. He was acknowledged by Earl Derr Biggers as the inspiration for his fictional Chinese-American detective character, Charlie Chan.

Early life Chang Ah Ping (鄭阿平) was born December 26, 1871, in Waipiʻo, Oahu, Hawaii. Apana is a Hawaiianized version of the Chinese name Ah Ping. His family moved back to China when he was three, but Chang returned at the age of ten to live with his uncle in Waipiʻo. As an adult, Chang was fluent in Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin and Cantonese. He never learned to read, relying on his family to read newspapers and documents for him. where he was inspired to begin to write the novel The House Without a Key. While reading Honolulu newspapers in the New York library in 1924, he read about the exploits of Apana Chang. Biggers then created a new character based on Chang for his novel, inserting him a quarter of the way through the book. The character became popular and Biggers expanded his presence in his novels. Chang met actor Warner Oland, who portrayed Charlie Chan, when The Black Camel was filmed in Hawaii. When Biggers met Chang in 1928 the real detective was already being called "Charlie Chan", and Chang enjoyed watching his fictional counterpart's films.

Retirement and death

After 34 years of service, Chang retired in May 1932 as a detective when he was injured in a car accident. He briefly worked as a watchman at the Hawaiian Trust building. On December 2, 1933, Chang was admitted to Queen's Hospital after a serious month-long illness. On December 7, 1933, his gangrenous leg was amputated and he died the following day. Chang is buried at the Manoa Chinese Cemetery in Honolulu.

Influence Chang's law enforcement career was an influence on other fictional works other than Charlie Chan. Max Allan Collins's 1996 novel, Damned in Paradise, fictionalizes the famous Massie case. Collins included fictionalized depictions of several historical figures, including Chang Apana, who was an active-duty detective at the time of the Massie case (though there is no official record of Chang being one of the investigating officers).

Usagi Yojimbo, a comic book series by Stan Sakai that is set in 17th-century Japan and features a cast of anthropomorphic characters, includes occasional appearances of a character named Inspector Ishida who is partially based on Chang Apana. As Max Allan Collins points out in the introduction to Usagi Yojimbo Book 13: Grey Shadows, Inspector Ishida is, like the real Chang Apana, a more hardboiled character than the mild-mannered Charlie Chan. entitled "Pua A'e La Ka Uwahi O Ka Moe" ("The Smoke Seen in the Dream Now Rises"), which highlighted some of Chang's stories and his successes in solving cases.