The Chinese Merchants of Honolulu Request the Pleasure of Your Company at a Ball to be Given by Them, in Honor of their Majesties, Kamehameha IV. and Queen Emma [...]

One of the earliest printed works commissioned by Chinese immigrants in what is now the United States. While the first Chinese explorers reached Hawaii in the late 18th century, Chinese immigration to any part of the United States began in appreciable numbers about the time of the California Gold Rush. While much writing about Chinese immigrants survives from the mid-19th century, almost nothing survives by any of those immigrants. This invitation represents a rare and very early instance of such printed matter.

The Great Chinese Merchants' Ball of 1856 was thrown in celebration of the marriage of Liholiho, Kamehameha IV, to Emma Naea Rooke. Following a series of celebrations including balls thrown by the American Club and German Club, roughly three dozen Cantonese in Honolulu felt that it was necessary for them, if they were to succeed in the mercantile trade during the reign of the king, to have a personal relationship with him. They decided to demonstrate the depth of their loyalty to the throne by presenting an extravaganza that would surpass those given by the Americans and Germans.

A respected Cantonese merchant, Chun Afong, who was proficient in the Hawaiian and English languages, and conversant with Western manners, was persuaded to head the committee of arrangements for a ball. Afong would eventually become the first Chinese millionaire in Hawaii.

The Chinese Merchants' Ball was one of the most Hawaiian elaborate affairs of the 1850s. It was a key event in Honolulu's social history where for the first time "East" and "West" met as social equals, greatly solidifying the Chinese community's position in Honolulu.

A rare survival of an invitation to an important social event in Hawaiian cultural history, as well as an unusually early document printed by Chinese immigrants in America.