Dee C. Chuan
| Dee C. Chuan | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Dee Ching Chuan (Li Qingqian in Mandarin) August 13, 1888 Shizhen, Fujian, China |
| Died | October 27, 1940 (aged 52) |
| Cause of death | Tuberculosis |
| Resting place | Chinese Cemetery, Manila, Philippines |
Dee C. Chuan (李清泉) was a prominent Chinese businessman, philanthropist, and activist known as the Philippine "Lumber King" during the American colonial rule. He was the youngest president of the Philippine Chinese General Chamber of Commerce from 1919 to 1924 (later renamed as the Filipino Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Inc. or FCGCCI) and founded China Banking Corporation (China Bank) in 1920. He also founded Chinese language newspapers Chinese Commercial News and Fookien Times.
Dee Ching Chuan was born on August 13, 1888 in Shizhen village in the Fujian Province of China. His name literally meant "Plum-Pure-Spring." He was the eldest son of Dee Chao Yi (baptized Calixto Dyyco when he converted to Catholicism) and Chen Shuangniang. The young Dee went to a primary school in Shizhen village from 1896 to 1899. Then in 1900 to 1901, he attended the Tongwen College on Gulangyu island near Amoy, which was run by British consulate officials, to learn English. In 1901, at the age of thirteen, Dee C. Chuan traveled to Manila to live with his father, helping in the family business, Chengmei Lumber (founded in the 1870s at Calle Arranque, Sta. Cruz, Manila), and going to a local public school.
In 1903, his father sent him to St. Joseph's College in Hong Kong, the oldest Catholic boys' secondary school in the crown colony. There, he became friends with his schoolmates: Central Bank governor-to-be Miguel Cuaderno Sr.; the future president of the Philippines, Manuel A. Roxas of Capiz; and Manuel Go Tianuy of Cebu, son of tycoon Pedro Gotiaco and uncle of John Gokongwei. Dee and Miguel Cuaderno Sr. became particularly close. They promised each other that when they got back to Manila, they would each found a bank. And in time they did: Dee would build China Bank, Cuaderno, the Philippine Bank of Commerce, and became the first governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines.
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