Chang Apana

Chang Apana
Born(1871-12-26)December 26, 1871
Waipiʻo, Oahu, Hawaiian Kingdom
DiedDecember 8, 1933(1933-12-08) (aged 61)
Police career
DepartmentHonolulu Police Department
Service years34
RankDetective
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese鄭阿平
Simplified Chinese郑阿平
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhèng Āpíng
Wade–GilesCheng4 A1p'ing2
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingZeng6 Aa3ping4

Chang Apana (December 26, 1871 – December 8, 1933; traditional Chinese: 鄭阿平; simplified Chinese: 郑阿平; pinyin: Zhèng Āpíng) was a Chinese-Hawaiian detective of the Honolulu Police Department. He was acknowledged by Earl Derr Biggers as the inspiration for his fictional Chinese-American detective character, Charlie Chan.