Chang Apana (December 26, 1871 – December 8, 1933; ) was a Chinese-Hawaiian member of the Honolulu Police Department, first as an officer, then as a detective. He was acknowledged by Earl Derr Biggers as the inspiration for his fictional Chinese-American detective character, Charlie Chan. Early life Chang Ah Ping (鄭阿平) was born December 26, 1871, in Waipio, Oahu, Hawaii. Apana is a Hawaiianized version of the Chinese name Ah Ping. His family moved back to China when he was 3, but Chang returned at the age of 10 to live with his uncle in Waipio. As an adult, Chang was fluent in Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin, and Cantonese. He never learned to read, relying on his family to read newspapers and documents for him. In his youth, he worked as a paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy), starting in 1891, and it was as part of this job that he first began carrying a bullwhip on a regular basis. Three years later, Chang started working for the Hawaii Humane Society, which at the time was part of the police department on the island. The Humane Society was founded by Helen Kinau Wilder, the owner of the horses that Chang had handled as a paniolo. Wilder was the daughter of shipping magnate Samuel Gardner Wilder. Police career In 1898, Chang joined the Honolulu Police Department, where he was assigned to patrol Chinatown. In his early years as a detective, beginning in 1916, Chang worked primarily on opium-smuggling and illegal gambling cases. Due in part to his fluency in several languages, his wide network of informants and because of his shrewd and meticulous detective style, Chang was successful in solving many cases. Many stories about Chang's career have arisen. Chang helped round up people infected with leprosy and send them to a leper colony on the island of Molokai. While performing this duty, Chang was attacked by a Japanese leper with a sickle, leaving him with a scar over his right eye. Another time Chang was thrown out of a second story window by drug addicts, only to land on his feet. There is an account that he raised the alarm on a shipment of contraband after being run over by a horse and buggy. One night in Honolulu, with no backup and armed only with his bullwhip, Chang arrested 40 gamblers, whom he then lined up and marched back to the police station. Inspiration