In 1899, Become a Eunuch or Go to America

Later, when Li Zhuofan looked back on his life, his greatest achievements were not becoming Chinatown's power baron, nor having white men line up to toast him at the New York Chamber of Commerce, nor being hailed as "Mr. Li, a man of great righteousness" by the young men who had cut off their queues. It was the night in the autumn of the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu's reign when he chose not to become a eunuch and instead went to America. That choice changed the fate of both him and this land.