Yung Wing’s autobiography, ‘My Life in China and America,’ was written in 1898. It recounts his life events such as studying in Hong Kong and Macau, studying abroad in the United States, working and conducting business in Shanghai, negotiating with the Taiping Army, purchasing machinery for the Jiangnan Arsenal, and leading young students to study in America. The original work was in English, later translated into classical Chinese by Xu Fengshi and Yun Tieqiao.

  1. In 1847, on his way to study in the United States, Yung Wing passed by Saint Helena Island, where he disembarked to visit Napoleon’s tomb. He took a branch from the willow tree in front of the tomb and planted it in New York. Seven years later, when he returned home after completing his studies, the branch had grown into a large tree with countless drooping branches.

  2. As the ship approached Hong Kong, a Chinese pilot boarded. The captain asked Yung Wing to inquire where the reefs were and if there was any danger. Yung Wing didn’t know the Chinese term for reefs, causing embarrassment. Fortunately, the pilot spoke English.

  3. Huang Kuan, a close friend of Yung Wing who studied with him for over ten years, transferred to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland to study medicine, becoming China’s first doctor of medicine. Huang Kuan became a renowned physician, highly skilled in surgery. In western Guangdong, people trusted him more than other Western doctors. Sadly, he passed away prematurely at the age of forty-nine.

  4. After returning to China, Yung Wing met his mother, whom he had not seen for ten years. His mother remarked that his older brother had not yet grown a beard (men typically grew beards after marriage), so Yung Wing immediately went to a barber to shave his own beard.

  5. During a rebellion in Guangdong, the governor Ye Mingchen brutally suppressed it, killing 75,000 people, more than half of whom were innocent. Ye Mingchen, originally from Hanyang, harbored deep hatred for the people of Guangdong because Hanyang had suffered repeatedly from the Taiping Army’s destruction. Yung Wing lived a mile from the execution ground and was deeply disturbed by the sight of corpses everywhere. Later, Ye was captured by British forces and died in exile in India, despised by the world.

  6. When the Yellow River breached its banks, refugees flooded into Shanghai. Yung Wing wrote a fundraising appeal in English, and within a few days, he raised 20,000 yuan from foreign merchants.

  7. Xiangtan was a major hub for goods distribution, with over 100,000 people earning their livelihood by carrying goods on their shoulders.

  8. Indian tea was strong, while Chinese tea was fragrant and mellow. Therefore, Chinese tea was preferred by the Western upper class, while ordinary people favored the strong and cheap Indian tea.

  9. Yung Wing mentioned that he traveled from Shanghai to Hankou twice, both times passing through Hangzhou, Quzhou, and then to Poyang Lake before taking a boat to Hankou. This was because the Taiping Army occupied Anqing and Nanjing at the time, blocking the Yangtze River route. He passed through Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei, witnessing the devastation caused by the Taiping Army and government forces, with the countryside sparsely populated and hardly any signs of spring sowing.

  10. The chapters on the Taiping Army are quite contradictory, sometimes praising, sometimes criticizing, possibly due to Zeng Guofan’s favor towards Yung Wing.

  11. Zeng Guofan invited Yung Wing for a meeting, but Yung Wing hesitated, suspecting it might be a trap because of his dealings with the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan, appreciating Yung Wing’s talent, extended another invitation, putting Yung Wing at ease.

  12. After being commissioned by Zeng Guofan to purchase machinery in the United States, Yung Wing returned to China by ship via San Francisco. The poor quality of the food on board angered Yung Wing so much that thirty years later, he spent several pages in his book condemning it. The resentment of a Cantonese gourmet ran deep.

  13. Among the 120 young Chinese students sent to study in the United States, 80-90% were Cantonese, and half of them were from Xiangshan. Northern Chinese were unaware of this study-abroad program. The large number of students from Xiangshan was likely due to the proximity to Macau and Hong Kong, where many had a basic knowledge of English and overseas connections.

  14. When the Gatling gun was first invented, Yung Wing recognized its potential and visited Gatling himself to purchase fifty units.

  15. The third group of young students sent to study in the United States was supervised by Kuang Qizhao, one of the four famous brothers of Julong Village in Fangcun, Guangzhou. He compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary, ‘A Chinese-English Dictionary Compiled by Kuang.’

  16. The plight of Chinese laborers in South America and the Caribbean was much worse than that of Chinese laborers in the United States and Canada. In 1869, some Chinese laborers petitioned the Qing government for protection. Unfortunately, the response was that ‘Chinese who privately went abroad were abandoned people and not worth protecting.’ It wasn’t until two years later that the second petition received a positive response. The Qing government expressed ‘sympathy for the suffering laborers and advised them to endure, while a petitioning group could be formed to present their grievances to the court.’ Seven laborers who had completed their contracts formed a petitioning group and submitted a lengthy document to Prince Gong. This was spread worldwide by various media. Yung Wing, under the orders of Li Hongzhang, went to Peru to investigate the horrific conditions of Chinese laborers and wrote a report that he sent back to China, along with photographs of laborers with their bodies covered in scars. The Qing government immediately banned the export of Chinese laborers, putting an end to the pig trade. However, whether the Chinese laborers already in Peru and Cuba were rescued remains unknown. Prince Gong demanded that Peru repatriate all Chinese laborers and promise not to import any more. Finally, the ‘Treaty of Tientsin’ was signed between China and Peru, with the Peruvian government guaranteeing the rights of Chinese laborers, and the Chinese government recognizing the legality of hiring Chinese laborers.

  17. Although the Chinese population along the Pacific coast states accounted for only a single-digit percentage, due to the winner-takes-all electoral vote system in the United States, their potential influence was enormous. This led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prevented Chinese from becoming citizens.