Thousand Pieces of Gold

Thousand Pieces of Gold is a biographical novel written by Ruthanne Lum McCunn. McCunn is known for writing about the lives of often-forgotten Chinese Americans, and Thousand Pieces of Gold follows the life of Polly Bemis, a Chinese American woman considered to be one of the most important female pioneers in Idaho in the 19th century. The novel explores themes such as The Burden and Pain of Family Betrayal, Gender Expectations and the Quest for Agency, and The Shortcomings of the American Dream.

Originally published in 1981, Thousand Pieces of Gold was adapted into a movie in 1991 starring Rosalind Chao and Chris Cooper.

This guide refers to the 2015 Beacon Press e-book edition of the novel.

Note on the text: The main character of the novel is referred to by two different names throughout the text: Lalu and Polly. This guide refers to her as Polly, primarily because modern historians have no records of Polly ever going by the name Lalu.

Content Warning: This guide describes and analyzes the source text’s treatment of sexual enslavement, enslavement, sexual assault, death by suicide, anti-Asian racism, gun violence, and lynching. The guide also quotes the text’s use of outdated terminology to refer to Indigenous Americans.

Plot Summary

Part 1 of the novel covers Polly’s life from 1865 to 1872. During this period, Polly lives in Northern China with her family. She goes by the name Lalu, and, while the family does not have an extreme amount of wealth, they live a happy life. Polly is especially fond of her father, and he is very protective of her, calling her qianjin, which roughly translates to “a thousand pieces of gold.”

Following a successful harvest, Polly’s father, Nathoy, decides he wants to participate in the winter harvest, which is notoriously difficult and not always successful. If he succeeds, the family will be extremely rich, but if he fails, they will be destitute. His harvest fails, leading Nathoy and his wife to consider selling Polly into enslavement. She persuades them not to and unbinds her feet, allowing her to work in the fields with her father.

The family continues to struggle, and Polly is seen as an outcast in her village due to her unbound feet and her decision to work in the fields with her father. One day, bandits come to town and raid Polly’s home. The head bandit is Nathoy’s former field laborer, Chen, a man he fired following his failed winter harvest. Due to his termination, Chen’s family was sold into enslavement. Chen buys Polly from Nathoy for two bags of soybeans, and Chen leaves with her.

Chen originally plans to use Polly as a sexually enslaved person, but, when the bandit group runs out of money, he realizes he needs to sell her to a brothel in Shanghai for money. Polly is sold to a madam and is told that she will be sent to the United States to work.

Part 2 of the novel covers the year 1872. Polly arrives in the United States and is smuggled through customs in San Francisco. She is auctioned, bought, and taken to Idaho. When she arrives in Idaho, a Chinese packer named Jim escorts her to her new enslaver, Hong King, in Warrens. On the journey, Jim attempts to prepare Polly for her new life working in Hong King’s saloon. The two bond, forming a deep friendship.

When Polly arrives in town, the men of Warrens swarm her, groping at her and naming her Polly. Hong King sexually assaults her for the first time before her first night working in the saloon. During her first night at the saloon, the male customers are especially rowdy, so Jim fetches his friend Charlie, a white saloon owner, to calm them down.

Polly and Jim continue their friendship, and Polly never loses hope that one day Jim will be able to buy her freedom from Hong King. Before one of his trips, Polly and Jim get into a huge argument, primarily because Polly still believes her parents are alive and miss her. Soon after this fight, Jim dies in a trail accident. Devastated, Polly relies on Charlie’s help to mourn Jim and her former identity of “Lalu.”

Part 3 of the novel takes place in 1875. Following Jim’s death, Charlie and Polly have started a romantic relationship. One night, Polly learns from a Black man that there are no enslaved people in the United States due to emancipation. Confused about her own enslavement, Polly asks Charlie to explain her situation. He tells her that her experience as an enslaved person is much better than that of Black people during enslavement, but Polly disagrees. She realizes she will need to kill Hong King to gain her freedom.

On the night Polly plans to kill Hong King, she arrives at the saloon to see Hong King and Charlie playing cards. A huge crowd is gathered around, watching the two men. As the game continues, Hong King bets Polly, leading Charlie to win her freedom when he wins the card game.

Despite winning her freedom, Polly is not especially thankful for Charlie’s luck at gambling. She explains that he took away her agency to buy her freedom herself, and he apologizes. He offers to build a boarding house for her to run, allowing her the independence she so desperately craves.

Part 4 of the novel takes place from 1890 to 1894. Polly and Charlie are thriving in Warrens with the success of their boarding house and dance hall, but new laws discriminating against Asian people are being passed, causing discontent and anxiety for the Asian residents of Warrens. Charlie almost dies after being shot by an angry customer, and Polly nurses him back to health. Because of the mix of discriminatory laws and Charlie’s brush with death, Polly and Charlie decide to move to a ranch in Salmon Canyon and marry each other.

Part 5 of the novel takes place from 1898 to 1922. Polly and Charlie have made a wonderful life in Salmon Canyon, but they notice that more and more prospectors are coming through the area in search of gold. To protect their land, Charlie files a mining claim on their property, which will ensure that Polly can keep their land, even in the event of his death.

Charlie’s health continues to fail, but Polly tries to ignore his sickness. One day while she is fishing, their house catches on fire with Charlie inside. Polly rushes into the house to save her husband, who is still inside trying to find and rescue all of their important documents, including the mining claim to their land. While Polly is able to get Charlie out of the house, he succumbs to his injuries several days later, leaving Polly without her beloved husband or her home.

Part 6 of the novel takes place from 1922 to 1923. Following Charlie’s death and the fire at their ranch, Polly relocates to Warrens. She briefly takes a child boarder in, which brings her joy. She then travels for a while, exploring Idaho and witnessing many technological advancements. However, she realizes she needs to go somewhere she belongs and ultimately decides to return to her home in Salmon Canyon and build a small house to live in.

Part 7 of the novel takes place in 1933. While gardening at her home, Polly faints. Neighbors discover her and take her to a local mine. People at the mine get help, and she is transported to a hospital nearby. She wakes up confused but wants to go home. However, she ultimately dies in the hospital. Because of the snow, she is unable to be buried at Salmon Canyon, which was her wish. However, the Epilogue reveals that her body was eventually exhumed and moved to Salmon Creek, allowing her to be reunited with her beloved land and Charlie.