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Picture bride Cheon Yeon-hui goes to Hawaii

 Cheon Yeon-hui (1896–1997) arrived at Honolulu Harbor on June 20, 1915, the year she turned 20, as a picture bride of Gil Chan-rok (1866–1954) who worked at a sugarcane field in Hawaii. She was born in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, and lived in Bibong-dong. Cheon was different from other picture brides, who were rumored to be from poor households and uneducated. Her family was financially stable, and Cheon graduated from a girls’ school during the period of the early 20th century when women rarely received formal education from schools. Her school teachers even tried to stop her when she volunteered to become a picture bride. However, money or marriage was not what she wanted. Her wish was to explore the unknown world and live in a country of freedom.

 As Cheon arrived in Honolulu after she turned 20, she had to wait for approval of entry at the immigration office. Excited to see her husband Gil, a janitor relayed shocking news, saying that her husband-to-be was a 50-year-old macule (old man in Hawaiian). Cheon spent sleepless nights shocked by the news and met the groom after a week. She felt hopeless and devastated by the fact that she was trying to marry an old man when she was just 20 years old.

First years of marriage at a Hawaiian plantation

 Cheon and Gil had their wedding at the Korean Methodist Church in Honolulu on June 29, 1915, and settled in a place called Kikania in Paia farm located north of Maui. Maui was known for its vast amount of sugarcane fields and pineapple farms. The Paia farm was especially famous for its sugarcane plantation. At the time, in sugarcane fields, there were not only Asian immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines, but also those from Portugal, Spain, Germany, and Puerto Rico.

 Gil was from Anju in Pyeongan-do and a married man with five daughters. He was smart enough to know both Korean and Chinese characters but lacked responsibility as the household leader. Gil enjoyed hanging out and drinking with his friends, so he missed work often. He was not fully paid by his employer, so the couple was financially unstable. Cheon had no choice but to find a job. She did whatever she could, like washing the pants of farmers and cooking and sewing for them. Cheon who volunteered to leave for Hawaii as a picture bride never pictured herself living as a manual worker. The reality was harsh in that it did not give her time to be discouraged or think of returning to her home country.

 The young bride later became a mother to three children. She had her first daughter (Sun-ae or "Betty") at the age of 20 (1916) and her son (Eun-ju or "David") the following year. When she turned 23, she had a daughter (Sun-bok or "Mary"). After the children were born, she went through more financial burdens. Meanwhile, her husband cared less about the family. Cheon wished her children would receive higher education in university. However, she thought it would be impossible to educate her children as long as she stayed with Gil. Cheon finally decided to divorce Gil. She made this hard decision as she believed in herself that she will be able to raise her children on her own.

Cheon becomes a businesswoman

 Cheon began to make money by washing clothes and sewing. After she gathered some seed money, she stepped into the accommodation business. At the time in Hawaii, accommodation businesses were promising, as there were many visitors that came and went. With a series of wars, including the World War and the Korean War, Hawaii was enjoying its economic boom. Cheon took this opportunity and expanded her business to a restaurant. She even took over a hotel with 30 guest rooms. Her children frequented the hotel to help out when they had time while they were still in school. Her eldest daughter was a big help to Cheon who was not as proficient in English.

 Cheon was successful as a businessperson, but her marriage was tough. She went through a second divorce and married the third time to an American named Robert (Bob) Anderson Given. The two married in 1941 when Cheon was 45 of age. Cheon was unsure about this marriage at first because her partner was a white man. In the end, she made up her mind after seeing how kind Bob was to her children. Cheon felt true love for the first time in a marriage in her 40s and enjoyed a happy married life with Bob. Bob stayed by Cheon as her companion to help her whenever in need. 

 In 1942, Cheon ended her hotel business and kicked off a new challenge. She cultivated 1.5 acres of land to grow a carnation field. She had no experience in flower farming, but she took the challenge after hearing that carnations were profitable among Koreans. Cheon gave her all in farming. She worked hard to grow carnations, provided her buyers with the best quality and price, and never missed a delivery date. Merchants recognized Cheon as a reliable farmer and preferred to do business with her. Cheon’s carnation business was successful until when somebody jealous of Cheon secretly sprayed herbicide in the carnation field and ran away. The field was filled with dead carnations the following day. Investigations were held in various ways, but there was no concrete evidence. Cheon had lost the business that she had built carefully for a year in just a single night. This was a great hardship for Cheon that she had to go through.

End of a happy marriage

 Cheon went back to the accommodation business after the herbicide incident. But because Cheon could not give up the field, she succeeded in growing flowers again in the 1950s when Cheon had put herself back together. Her husband Bob managed the hotel. Later, when the hotel business was not doing so well, Bob was also having health issues. Cheon did not hesitate to close the hotel business, and Bob joined flower farming. One day, the cropland was planned for development, putting all farmers on the verge of being kicked out of the village. What made the situation worse was that Bob was hospitalized in the end after struggling against his disease. Putting farming aside, Cheon frequented the hospital and took special care of Bob. Cheon relished the happy moments with Bob feeling loved and prayed this happiness would last for a long time. Unfortunately, Bob passed away. Cheon fiercely lived her life to survive, but what really supported her life was the warmth of gentle love.

Devoting her all to children’s education

 “My intention was to make money myself and educate my children; I had no plans to rely on anybody else,” Cheon repeated this phrase all the time. She gave her all in educating her children, and she had to stand independent to raise her children well. Her devotion to her children was what made Cheon a successful businessperson. She made her image as a mother a strong and talented woman. Her image as a mother grew just the way her business did. She was financially ready for her children’s tuition fees. Her children needed their mother’s help for big and small events, such as marriage and childbirth. This explains why Cheon always had to be protective of her children.

However, her children later grew to survive without the protection of their mother. In 1969, the year Cheon turned 73, she stepped down from the business world. Her children then supported Cheon and protected her so she can enjoy the rest of her life. 

 The brave warrior that shared sorrowful love to raise her children passed away shortly to join her husband in heaven. She enjoyed a long life and peacefully passed away.