Yung Wing in America

Abstract

States and its revocation have been described by previous writers.1 No one has, however, attempted a study of what Yung Wing learned from America and of his attachment to this country-a study which should be of special interest to students of modern Chinese history as a case of American influence upon the Oriental student or resident. Yung Wing truly bestrode two worlds. As it happened, he spent almost exactly half of his eighty-three years in this country-as student, co-commissioner of the Chinese Education Mission, diplomatic representative of the Ch'ing government, and ordinary American citizen (a status which in 1898 was annuled by the American authorities). There is little doubt that Yung Wing regarded China with great affection and that he wanted to serve the country of his birth. Returning to China after Yale, he abandoned business pursuits for a minor position in the government, and worked persistently toward the realization of a Chinese educational mission in the United States, which he headed between 1872 and 1881. As the deputy minister of China to this country, 1878-1881, he was an ardent advocate for the Chinese laborer in America against discriminatory legislation. In the late 1890's, he returned to China and was such an active participant in the nascent reform and revolutionary movements that a reward was put on his head by the Ch'ing government in 1901, due to his implication in an ill-fated revolt staged by a group of reformers.