[1] 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.

Due in part to his fluency in several languages, his wide network of informants and his shrewd and meticulous detective style, Chang was successful in solving many cases.

[1] 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.

Chang met actor Warner Oland, who portrayed Charlie Chan, when The Black Camel was filmed in Hawaii.

[1] After five more novels, Biggers publicly acknowledged Chang as the inspiration for his character in a letter to the Honolulu Advertiser dated June 28, 1932.

As Max Allan Collins points out in the introduction to Usagi Yojimbo Book 13: Grey Shadows, Inspector Ishida is, like the real Chang Apana, a more hardboiled character than the mild-mannered Charlie Chan.

Kou explains that he became proficient with that weapon (leading to his being hired as the film's technical advisor) in emulation of Chang Apana.