My Life in China and America

Yung Wing was the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, taking his degree from Yale in 1854, and this memoir tells the improbable story that led there and beyond. Born near Macao and educated at a missionary school, he crossed the Pacific as a young man, made his way through New England, and returned home determined to open Western learning to his countrymen. The book follows his long effort to launch the Chinese Educational Mission that sent young students abroad, and the political currents that finally cut it short. Written near the end of his life, it is a thoughtful record of two worlds and one man’s attempt to bridge them. This free PDF and EPUB edition preserves a landmark cross-cultural memoir.