Fang Lang

Wing Sun Fong
方榮山
Fong in the early 1970s
Born(1894-06-21)21 June 1894
Xiachuan Island, Taishan, Guangdong, China
Died21 January 1986(1986-01-21) (aged 91)
Chinatown, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Other namesFang Lang
OccupationMerchant sailor
Known forBeing one of the 6 Chinese survivors of the Titanic
SpouseMarrie Shum (m. 1955 or 1957; div. 1966)
Children2

Wing Sun Fong (Chinese: 方榮山;[1] 21 June 1894 – 21 January 1986), better known under the pseudonym Fang Lang, was a Chinese-American merchant sailor and waiter known for being one of six Chinese survivors of the sinking of the Titanic. He was one of the few people to go down with the ship and survive, being picked up later by Lifeboat No. 14.

Early life

Fong was born in Shuiyang village (水洋) on Xiachuan Island, part of Taishan's Chuanshan Archipelago in the South China Sea, on 21 June 1894. The family was poor and had to subsist of vegetables foraged on the island, with Fong leaving in his teens to pursue coolie jobs in Southeast Asia. Although he never returned home, Fong kept a life-long letter correspondence with his younger sister, Fang Shulian (方樹蓮).[2][3]

Titanic

In the Titanic records, Fong was a third-class passenger listed under the pseudonym "Fang Lang".[4] The records also stated his age as 26, although he was 18 at the time.[2]

During the sinking, Fong failed to get on a lifeboat, but he was able to climb onto a floating piece of driftwood, likely a door or table, and use his belt to tie himself to it.[5][6] He was later rescued on Lifeboat No. 14, when he was pulled from the waters by 5th officer Harold Lowe and reportedly even helped with rowing the boat after recovering in order to "keep warm."[a][8][9]

After being rescued aboard RMS Carpathia, Fong and the rest of the Chinese survivors were transferred to the Donald Line's Annetta at Ellis Island, and departed for Cuba on 20 April.[b][10]

Later life

After the sinking, Fong worked on a fruit freighter for eight years.[3] Fong arrived in Chicago in the 1920s where he attempted to become a merchant, with a laundromat and restaurant ultimately failing.[3][11] Eventually, he moved to Milwaukee and became a server at the restaurant Lotus.[12] In 1955, he married Marrie Shum (譚亞鳳) in Hong Kong[3] and had two children with her, John and Tom Fong.[5] The couple divorced in 1966, and Fong moved back to Chicago in 1973.[2][13] Fong died in Chinatown, Chicago, on 21 January 1986, aged 91 and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Stickney, Illinois.[14]

Legacy

Fong's rescue was featured in a deleted scene of the 1997 film, Titanic; its director, James Cameron, stated that his rescue was the direct inspiration of the character Rose.[15][16]

In 2020, his story was told along with those of the other Chinese survivors in the film, The Six, directed by Arthur Jones.[17][18][19] During production, the filmmakers had discovered several posts on Titanic-centred forums through Tom Fong, who connected the passenger Fang Lang to his father. A meeting between Tom Fong and the film crew convinced the latter of the claim, which was further substantiated through research by Chinese volunteers who identified the Fong ancestral home in 2018. The volunteers also uncovered more of Fong's past through local records and letters from his sister provided by extended family.[3]

Fong was also the central figure in Steven Schwankert's 2025 book, The Six: The Untold Story of the Titanic's Chinese Survivors.[2][20]

Notes

  1. ^ An often repeated allegation that Lowe initially refused to help Lang out of the water comes from a magazine article penned by Titanic passenger Charlotte Collyer in May 1912 and is almost certainly false. Lowe's biographer and Titanic historian Inger Shiel notes that Collyer was never in the rescue vessel that went back for survivors, all passengers save one volunteer having been transferred to either boat 10, or 12 before it left Lowe's flotilla; a fact confirmed by several eyewitnesses, including two crew members and Collyer's own daughter. Supporting this are Collyer's further claims that the women in her lifeboat later had to row to the Carpathia once dawn arrived, which happened only to the occupants of boats 10 and 12. Rescue vessel 14 commanded by Lowe approached the Carpathia under sail, meaning Collyer could not have witnessed the events she described.[7]
  2. ^ The documentary The Six made the inference that the seamen were prevented from leaving the Carpathia in compliance with the Chinese Exclusion Act but it is unclear whether this was really the case as they were sailors with the Donald Line and had intended to join the Annetta all along.[10]

References

  1. ^ "寻找泰坦尼克号上"消失"的中国幸存者". BBC News (in Chinese). 15 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Titanic prejudice". chinadailyhk. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "泰坦尼克上的中国幸存者方荣山". 文摘报. 1 May 2021. p. 5.
  4. ^ Reid, Brandon. "Wisconsin Maritime Museum program to highlight lost story of Chinese survivors of Titanic". Herald Times Reporter. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b Tarr, Joe (27 May 2025). "Titanic survivor from China beat the odds and faced racism to land in Wisconsin". WPR. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  6. ^ Lam, Nuala Gathercole. "Titanic's Chinese Survivors Resurface From Depths of History". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
  7. ^ Shiel, Inger (2012). Titanic Valour: The Life of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-0-7524-6996-6.
  8. ^ Fitch, Tad; Layton, J. Kent; Wormstedt, Bill (2012). On A Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the R.M.S. Titanic. Amberley Books. p. 634. ISBN 978-1848689275.
  9. ^ Bjella, Lauren (23 November 2021). ""The Six": an Untold Story of Titanic's Chinese Survivors". Independent Magazine. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Fang Lang (Wing Sun Fong)". Encyclopedia Titanica. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  11. ^ "A Titanic survivor lived and died in Chicago's Chinatown — and inspired one of the 1997 movie's iconic scenes". Chicago Tribune. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  12. ^ Johnson, Neil (22 September 2019). "Janesville man shares untold story of his father, a Titanic survivor". GazetteXtra. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  13. ^ 易, 淑琼 (6 September 2024). "中餐与移民｜从泰坦尼克号幸存者到威斯康辛最古老的中餐馆". Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  14. ^ Chu, Louisa. "A Titanic survivor lived and died in Chicago's Chinatown — and inspired one of the 1997 movie's iconic scenes". The Detroit News. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  15. ^ "Cozy Inn owner shares family history while preserving restaurant's past". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  16. ^ "Titanic: Searching for the 'missing' Chinese survivors". BBC. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  17. ^ "A Century After the Titanic Sank, a Film Tries to Rescue 6 Survivors' Stories (Published 2021)". 21 August 2021. Archived from the original on 31 August 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  18. ^ 王婧雯. "British director telling story of Chinese Titanic survivors". global.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  19. ^ 顾馨. "Documentary shines light on Chinese Titanic survivors". global.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  20. ^ "The Forgotten Story of 6 Immigrants Saved From the Titanic". 10 April 2025. Archived from the original on 26 June 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
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