Chang and eng biography

Chāng (Chang) and Ēn (Eng) Bunker were conjoined twins in the nineteenth century in the United States, the first pair of conjoined twins whose condition was well documented in medical records. Conjoined twins are a rare condition in which two infants are born physically connected to each other. In their youth, the brothers earned money by putting themselves on display as curiosities and giving lectures and demonstrations about their condition. The Bunker brothers toured around the world, including the United States, Europe, Canada, and France, and allowed physicians to examine them. Due to the popularity of their exhibition and their origin from Siam (later called Thailand), they became known as the Siamese twins, a term that was used to describe conjoined twins in general until the twentieth century. During their travels and, later, with the autopsy they received, the Bunker brothers provided insight about the development of twins and conjoined twins.

Chang and Eng Bunker were born on 11 May 1811 in Meklong, Siam, as conjoined twins to parents Nok and Ti-eye. Their father was a Chinese born fisherman. At birth, Chang and Eng were connected at the breastbone by a small piece of cartilage, a type of connective tissue. As infants the connective tissue caused

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272 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 10 halftones, notes, bibl., index

• Bound ISBN: 978-1-4696-4233-8
  Published: February 2018
• E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-1831-9
  Published: November 2014
• E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-4425-5
  Published: November 2014

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Audio Interview

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Joseph Andrew Orser chronicles depiction twins’ account, their occasionally raucous voyage through antebellum America, their domestic survive

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Chang and Eng Bunker

Thai-American conjoined twins (1811–1874)

"Chang and Eng" redirects here. For other uses, see Chang and Eng (disambiguation).

Chang Bunker (จัน บังเกอร์) and Eng Bunker (อิน บังเกอร์) (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) were Siamese (Thai)-American conjoined twin brothers whose fame propelled the expression "Siamese twins" to become synonymous for conjoined twins in general. They were widely exhibited as curiosities and were "two of the nineteenth century's most studied human beings".

The brothers were born with Chinese ancestry in Siam (now known as Thailand) and were brought to the United States in 1829. Physicians inspected them as they became known to American and European audiences in "freak shows". Newspapers and the public were initially sympathetic to them, and within three years they left the control of their managers, who they thought were cheating them, and toured on their own. In early exhibitions, they were exoticized and displayed their athleticism; they later held conversations in English in a more dignified parlor setting.

In 1839, after a decade of financial success, the twins quit touring and settled near Mount Airy, North Carolina. They became American citizens, bought slaves, married local sisters, and fathered 21 children, se