Yung Wing (; November 17, 1828April 21, 1912) was a Chinese-American diplomat and businessman. In 1854, he became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university,

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. He was involved in business transactions between China and the United States and brought students from China to study in the United States on the

Chinese Educational Mission The Chinese Educational Mission (1872–1881) was the pioneering but frustrated attempt by reform-minded officials of the Qing dynasty to educate a group of 120 Chinese students in the United States. In 1871, Yung Wing, himself the first Chine ...

. He became a naturalized American citizen, but his status was later revoked under the

Naturalization Act of 1870 The Naturalization Act of 1870 () was a United States federal law that created a system of controls for the naturalization process and penalties for fraudulent practices. It is also noted for extending the naturalization process to "aliens of A ...

Early life

Yung Wing My Life in China and America Holt Co 1909 UTS FRD 4797

Yung Wing My Life in China and America Holt Co 1909 NYPL FRD 4782

After receiving his early education at a Mission School in Canton, Yung studied at

to become, in 1854, the first-known Chinese student to graduate from an American university. He was a member and librarian of

Brothers in Unity Brothers in Unity (formally, the Society of Brothers in Unity) is an undergraduate society at Yale University. Founded in 1768 as a literary and debating society that encompassed nearly half the student body at its 19th-century peak, the group di ...

, a prominent Yale student literary society. His time at Yale was sponsored by

Samuel Robbins Brown Rev. Samuel Robbins Brown D.D. (June 16, 1810 – June 20, 1880) was an American missionary to China and Japan with the Reformed Church in America. Birth and education Brown was born in East Windsor, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College ...

(1810–1880). In 1851, at the end of his freshman year, Yung wrote to Albert Booth, a fellow alumnus of Munson Academy and "old Yale, where you have the satisfaction + honor to have gone through." Yung asked for Booth's help in acquiring study materials and stated, "Now you know probably the many disadvantages in which I labor aside from these additional studies." He was a member of the Phi chapter of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...

fraternity. After finishing his studies, Yung returned to the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

and worked with western missionaries as an interpreter. He was thought perhaps the first Chinese person to almost entirely master the English language.

Republican activism

In 1859, he accepted an invitation to the court of the Taiping rebels in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, but his proposals aimed at increasing the efficiency of the

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to the Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognised rebel kingdom in China and a Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Q ...

were all eventually refused. In 1863, Yung was dispatched to the United States by

Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan, Marquis Yiyong (; 26 November 1811 – 12 March 1872), birth name Zeng Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan, was a Chinese statesman and military general of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for raising and organizing the Xiang ...

to buy machinery necessary for opening an arsenal in China capable of producing heavy weapons comparable with those of the western powers. The arsenal later became

Jiangnan Shipyard Jiangnan Shipyard () is a historic shipyard in Shanghai, China. The shipyard has been state-owned since its founding in 1865 and is now operated as Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd. Before 2009, the company was south of central Shanghai at ...

. He persuaded the Qing dynasty government to send young Chinese to the United States to study

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. With the government's eventual approval, he organized what came to be known as the

, which included 120 young Chinese students, to study in the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

region of the United States beginning in 1872. The Educational Mission was disbanded in 1881, but many of the students later returned to China and made significant contributions to China's civil services, engineering, and the sciences. In 1874, he and the Hartford Pastor

Joseph Twichell Reverend Joseph Hopkins Twichell (November 30, 1838 – December 20, 1918) was a writer and Congregational minister from Hartford, Connecticut. He was a close friend of writer Mark Twain for over forty years and is believed to be the model for th ...

traveled to Peru to investigate the living conditions of Chinese

coolies A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

working there. Conditions were very brutal for the Chinese, and led to strikes and violent suppression. Yung was a lifelong supporter of reform in China. He had followed the lead of the

Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, w ...

, whom Yung described as the great pioneer of reform in China. The coup d'état of 1898 by the

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...

aborted the

Hundred Days' Reform The Hundred Days' Reform or Wuxu Reform () was a failed 103-day national, cultural, political, and educational reform movement that occurred from 11 June to 22 September 1898 during the late Qing dynasty. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu E ...

, and many of the reformers were decapitated. A price of $70,000 was placed on Yung's head and he fled

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

to British Hong Kong. While in Hong Kong, he applied to the US Consul to return to the US. In a 1902 letter from the

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

John Sherman John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as ...

, Yung was informed that his US citizenship, which he had held for 50 years, had been revoked and he would not be allowed to return to the United States. Through the help of friends, he was able to sneak into the United States in time to see his youngest son, Bartlett, graduate from Yale. In 1908, Yung joined "General" Homer Lea, the former American military advisor to

Kang Youwei Kang Youwei (; Cantonese: ''Hōng Yáuh-wàih''; 19March 185831March 1927) was a prominent political thinker and reformer in China of the late Qing dynasty. His increasing closeness to and influence over the young Guangxu Emperor spar ...

, in a bold and audacious military venture in China called the "Red Dragon Plan" that called for organizing a revolutionary conspiracy to conquer

Liangguang Liangguang (; Chinese postal romanization, Postal romanization: Liangkwang) is a Chinese language, Chinese term for the Provinces of China, province of Guangdong and the former province and present Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region o ...

. Through Yung, Lea planned to solicit a united front of various southern Chinese factions and secret societies to organize an army that he would command for the revolution. If successful, Yung was slated to head a coalition government of revolutionary forces while Lea and his fellow conspirators hoped to receive wide-ranging economic concessions from the new government. The Red Dragon conspiracy subsequently collapsed. After the

Wuchang Uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last ...

in the late fall of 1911, Sun Yat Sen wrote to Yung Wing requesting help to build the newly founded Republic of China; however, Yung was unable to go due to old age and illness. He requested his two sons to go in his place.

Family and legacy

Yung was naturalized as an American citizen on October 30, 1852, and in 1876, he married Mary Kellogg, an American. They had two children: Morrison Brown Yung and Bartlett Golden Yung. At Yale's centennial commencement in 1876, Yung received an honorary Doctor of Laws. Yung Wing Grave 2012 FRD 4735

After the failed 1908 uprising, Yung lived his twilight years in poverty in Hartford, Connecticut, and died in 1912. His grave is located at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. P.S. 124, a public elementary school at 40 Division St. in Chinatown in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, is named after Yung. Yung had been considered as a possible namesake for one of Yale University's new colleges to be completed in 2017. In the prefecture city of Zhuhai, Guangdong, Yung Wing's hometown, there is a private school named in honor of Yung Wing, the Yung Wing School - one of the most elite schools in the city. There is also a Yung Wing International Kindergarten there.

Works

References

External links

The Yung Wing Project

Yung Wing papers (MS 602)
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
CEM Connections
presents basic data and photos of the 120 students of the Chinese Educational Mission.

reveals the last chapter of Yung's life.
Yale Obituary Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yung, Wing 1828 births 1912 deaths American people of Chinese descent Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut) Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Zhuhai Former United States citizens Qing dynasty emigrants to the United States Wilbraham & Monson Academy alumni Yale College alumni