Ah Sahm, also known as John Chinaman, was a Chinese-American martial arts prodigy and Hop Wei Tong hatchet man. Ah Sahm emigrated to the United States in 1878 in search of his sister, Xiaojing, who had since become the wife of the leader of the Long Zii Tong. Ah Sahm became involved in San Francisco's criminal underworld, and, while he failed to reconcile with his sister, he rose to the upper ranks of Hop Wei while helping his friend Young Jun become its new leader.
Biography[]
Ah Sahm as a boy
Ah Sahm was born in Fo Shan, Qing China; he was the maternal grandson of an American sea captain (who, while sick and unable to return to America, fell in love with a nurse and married her) and the brother of Ah Xiaojing. He learned English from his grandfather before his death when Ah Sahm was 13, and he got into several fights as a teenager before Sifu Li Qiang trained him in kung fu. In 1873, Ah Sahm accidentally killed the son of warlord Sun Yang, forcing Xiaojiang to marry Sun Yang in consolation. She later fled from their abusive marriage, causing Sun Yang to kill her and Ah Sahm's father.
Ah Sahm arriving in San Francisco
In 1878, Ah Sahm arrived in San Francisco to search for his sister, and he immediately caught the attention of black marketeer Wang Chao after standing up to the racist immigration officers Aiden Rooney, Trevor Cahill, and Scab Kruger and beating them down. He was introduced to Father Jun's Hop Wei Tong in Chinatown, and, with the help of brothel madam Ah Toy, he attempted to find his sister, drawing the attention of the Long Zii Tong. Ah Sahm was branded into the Hop Wei before tracking down the Long Zii to their den, where he traded blows with Li Yong before discovering that his sister Xiaojing had become a Long Zii member under the pseudonym "Mai Ling." She insisted that she no longer needed saving and told Ah Sahm to leave, and he returned to working for the Tong alongside Young Jun.
Ah Sahm was first arrested after Sergeant Bill O'Hara caught him defending Penny Blake from hostile Irishmen Paul and Seamus O'Shea, and he survived an assassination attempt from O'Hara's thugs in his cell. The charges against him were dismissed after Mai Ling had the two Irish witnesses "disappeared", and Mai Ling warned Ah Sahm to leave San Francisco. Father Jun punished him for his arrest with a wooeddn paddle, but Ah Toy plotted with Ah Sahm to seize control of the tong. He later developed a relationship with Blake, and he also ripped up a steamboat ticket given to him by Mai Ling, refusing to leave the city.
Ah Sahm and Young Jun riding into the sunrise
Ah Sahm was later stranded in the Sierra Nevada while escorting the corpse of one of Young Jun's dead relatives (which was stuffed with gold), and he was robbed by Harlan French and his crew of bandits. Ah Sahm killed Harlan and his crew after they attempted to extort the saloon owner Billie and her Chinese husband Lu Li (who came from a town near Ah Sahm's hometown), and he and Young Jun returned home with their gold. There, the Fung Hai Tong attempted to kill Father Jun, leading Ah Sahm, Young Jun, and Bolo to massacre the opposing tong. In revenge, Father Jun had his gang attack Long Zii. Ah Sahm prevented Bolo from killing Mai Ling, who killed the hatchet man. Shortly after, Ah Sahm broke up with Blake, and he became Hop Wei's top fighter. At the same time, Mai Ling killed Long Zii to take over his tong. Ah Sahm was abandoned by the Hop Wei triad after Li Yong nealry killed him in a tournament fight to determine if the Long Zii would be allowed to distribute molasses in Chinatown, and his wounds were tended to by Ah Toy. He was forced to work a tiresome job as a "coolie," as Hop Wei warned him against trying to join another triad. He later helped his fellow coolies fight off Dylan Leary's Irish Workingmen thugs, and he decided to rejoin Hop Wei and Young Jun.
Ah Sahm and his friends at Rooker's Mill
Ah Sahm helped Ah Toy ambush and massacre the Teddy Boys, after which he worked with Rosalita Vega and Happy Jack to smuggle molasses and opium while also prize fighting at the Barbary Coast. His plan to smuggle opium was thwarted when Leary's men blew up its stash at Mercer Steel, and Ah Sahm rejected Mai Ling's invitation to her triad. He continued prize fighting, including at Rooker's Mill near the Mexican border, getting closer to Vega. This spell was ended when Vega killed tournament host Elijah Rooker for murdering her father, and Ah Sahm, Vega, Young Jun, and Hong were arrested. Vega was murdered by Rooker's henchman Christopher Smits, who tracked them down, but Ah Sahm, Young Jun, and Hong returned to Chinatown, where Father Jun confronted them about doing business behind his back. He burned Young Jun out of the tong and ordered for Ah Sahm to be killed, only for Ah Sahm and Young Jun to persuade the triad that Father Jun's business methods would be the death of the triad. Young Jun forced his father to step down and became the new head of Hop Wei, and Ah Sahm became Young Jun's lieutenant.
A mural of Ah Sahm painted after the riot
Following the accidental death of Mayor Samuel Blake at the hands of Penny Blake's manservant Jacob Fok, the Workingmen attacked Chinatown, forcing the Hop Wei and Long Zii to come together. After the riot, Ah Sahm, encouraged by Ah Toy, decided to step up to champion his community. He defeated Leary in a public fight before warning him to stay out of Chinatown. As new city ordinjances cracked down on Chinatown, however, Ah Sahm and Hop Wei were in desparate need of money, leading to Ah Sahm recruiting Yan Mi to help him run a money counterfeiting operation. He developed a romantic relationship with Yan Mi, and he also became closer to his sister, attending her wedding to Li Yong. When the police arrested Yan Mi for counterfeiting, Ah Sahm made a deal with officer Richard Lee: he gave up the Hop Wei's print works in exchange for Yan Mi's release. Ah Sahm, who was planning to meet with Yan Mi and escape San Francisco on a train, was held up when he found out that Young Jun was planning to use the chaos in Chinatown to strike at Mai Ling and wipe out the Long Zii for good. Leaving Yan Mi to leave Chinatown on her own, Ah Sahm took off his Hop Wei jacket rather than let Young Jun kill his sister, and he was forced to beat down his former comrades including Hong and Young Jun, whom he considered killing before leaving him alive. Ah Sahm then rushed to Mai Ling's home and found her barely alive after fighting off several hatchet men; the two siblings embraced, both of them abandoned by their tongs.