The Chinese consul-general C. H. Chu attempted to ban The Tong Man (1919) in San Francisco, CA, where the story was also set. Clyde Westover argued that his novel was based on first-hand observations of the city's Chinatown district during his tenure as a newspaper reporter. Two weeks later, the Chinese Six Companies, described as the most powerful Asian-American association in the U.S., attempted to obtain a court order to prevent the film from being shown in San Francisco. A private screening was held for the presiding judge, who decided in favor of the defendant, distributor Robertson-Cole Co. The company had two similar victories in Buffalo, NY, and Portland, OR. The Chinese consul-general in New York City was instrumental in banning The Tong Man (1919) in Hartford, CT, and Rochester, NY.
In Chinese, the word tong means "hall" or "gathering place." A tong is a type of organization found among Chinese immigrants, predominantly living in the United States. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity. In the 1990s, in most American Chinatowns, clearly marked long halls could easily be found, many of which have had affiliations with Chinese organized crime. A tong-man was defined as a member of a tong.
According to his biographer, Daisuke Miyao, Sessue Hayakawa wished to stem the tide of anti-Japanese stereotypes and so he chose to play villains of other Asian countries, thus differentiating Japan from the rest of the geographical region. China, India and Persia all took turns in the baddie parade. The problem, of course, was that Hayakawa was known as a Japanese actor and playing men from other nations simply helped to blur all of Asia together in American pop culture.
One character is described as a "lascar sailor." A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland or other lands east of the Cape of Good Hope who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the mid-20th century.
The Tong Man (1919) survives and is available on home video. The film has long been preserved by the Library of Congress.