Yung Wing (1828 - 1912) and 120 Young Chinese Students in America (1872 - 1881): Their Times and Works Timothy T. Kao Yung Wing (Rong Hong) first came to the United States in 1847 and graduated from Yale in 1854, becoming the first person to hold an American BA degree in Chinese history. He believed that, "The rising generation of China should enjoy the same educational advantage that I have enjoyed; so that through western education China might be regenerated, become enlightened and powerful." At his suggestion, a Chinese Educational Commission (1872-1881) was sent to Hartford, Connecticut which brought four detachments, totaling 120 young Chinese students. The average age of a student was twelve years old, and arrived in the United States between 1872 and 1875, to participate in a twenty-year educational program. The prime objective was Fu-Kuo Jian-Bin, enriching the nation and strengthening the military. China desperately needed Western knowledge, particularly military technology for national defense. However, as a result of several incidents, the CEC was suddenly withdrawn from America in 1881. At the time of the recall, only two students had graduated from Yale, while thirty two others were still studying, half at Yale and half at other universities such as Harvard, Columbia, MIT. The remainders were still in high school. As soon as the young Chinese students went back to China, they were despised and treated with contempt and suspicion by the traditional Chinese gentry of late Qing China. To them, the American educated students were too liberal, but after the republican revolution of 1911 to the Kuomintang (the Nationalist Party) they were too conservative. This was a political and educational tragedy. Nevertheless, the CEC students provided China with its first generation of railroad builders, engineer, doctors, diplomats, college presidents, and naval admirals. Among them, four gave their lives in the Sino-French naval war in 1884, and another three also died during the Sino-Japanese naval war in 1894. One student, a Columbia non-graduate, even had the honor to serve as the first Prime Minister for the Republic of China in 1912. 2000 marked the 153-year anniversary of Yung Wing's arrival to America. The 120 students and their efforts towards the development of China are also recognized. The service they were ready to render their country was reduced or rejected for political considerations by a government grasping for its last days. The state of Connecticut served faithfully as the cradle for early Chinese modernization. The Chinese Educational Commission in Hartford, Connecticut, represented a landmark of traditional friendship between the American and Chinese people. Timothy Kao is Professor Emeritus - Economics, at Gateway Community - Technical College and President of Chinese Students Memorial Society in Connecticut. P.O. Box 723 East Lyme, CT 06333