Honoring Yale's First Chinese Student

A bronze statue of Yung Wing, the first student from China to graduate from an American university, will be dedicated on December 21 at 1:45 p.m. at Yale University’s Betts House, 393 Prospect St.

The dedication is part of the University’s celebration of the 150th anniversary of Yung Wing’s graduation from Yale. The statue was donated by the municipal government of Zhuhai, Yung Wing’s hometown. Representatives from Zhuhai will attend the event.

In conjunction with the dedication of the sculpture, a photographic exhibition, prepared by the people of Zhuhai, will be on display.

Born in Guangdong Province in 1828, Yung Wing attended the Macau Missionary School under the tutelage of Yale graduate Reverend Samuel Robbins Brown. At 19, Yung Wing arrived in the United States with Reverend Brown to enroll in the Monson Academy in Massachusetts before entering Yale College. At Yale, he sang in the choir, played football, was a member of the Boat Club and won academic prizes for English composition, before graduating in 1854.

After returning to China, Yung Wing established the Chinese Education Mission, through which 120 Chinese students came to the U.S. in the 1870s. Most of these students went on to play important roles in China’s modernization.