Diplomatist; born in Nan Ping,
China, Nov. 17, 1828; came to the
United States in 1847; graduated at Yale College in 1854; was commissioned by the Chinese government in 1864 to buy machinery in the
United States for what became the arsenal of Kiang Nan. In 1870 he made several propositions to the Chinese government, two of which were adopted— viz., to arrange a settlement of the massacre of Christians in
Tientsin by establishing a line of steamers to carry tributerice; the outgrowth of which was the celebrated China Merchant Steam Navigation Company; and to provide for the education of
Chinese youth in foreign countries, that intercourse with foreigners might be made easier.
Under the last provision scores of young men were sent to the
United States, and, under the charge of an educational commission with headquarters at
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Yung wing. |
Hartford, Conn., were prepared by a thorough course of study to take their places as
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wise and intelligent rulers among the government officials of their country-an enterprise which has since been discontinued.
Yung Wing was made assistant minister of
China to
Washington in 1878.
He married
Miss Mary Kellogg, of
Hartford, Conn., and this act meeting with much disfavor in
China led to his recall.
He did not dare take his wife and two children with him, and finding himself officially ignored, he returned to
Hartford, where he remained till the
Chino-Japanese War, when he was ordered to return to
China.
He was appointed one of the Chinese peace commissioners, but the Japanese commissioners declined to recognize him on account of his rank, and a first-rank nobleman, Chang Ten Hoon, was appointed to his place.
Yung Wing was then raised to that rank, and in 1897 he was the Chinese representative at Queen Victoria's jubilee.
