With the sudden ending of the Educational Commission, and the recall of the one hundred and twenty students who formed the vanguard of the pioneers of modern education in China, my educational work was brought to a close.

Of the survivors of these students of 1872, a few by dint of hard, persistent industry, have at last come forth to stand in the front ranks of the leading statesmen of China, and it is through them that the original Chinese Educational Commission has been revived, though in a modified form, so that now, Chinese students are seen flocking to America and Europe from even the distant shores of Sinim for a scientific education.

November, 1909,
16 Atwood St., Hartford, Conn.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
[I.]BOYHOOD[1]
[II.]SCHOOL DAYS[13]
[III.]JOURNEY TO AMERICA AND FIRST EXPERIENCES THERE[21]
[IV.]AT MONSON ACADEMY[27]
[V.]MY COLLEGE DAYS[34]
[VI.]RETURN TO CHINA[42]
[VII.]EFFORT TO FIND A POSITION[58]
[VIII.]EXPERIENCES IN BUSINESS[67]
[IX.]MY FIRST TRIP TO THE TEA DISTRICTS[79]
[X.]MY VISIT TO THE TAIPINGS[96]
[XI.]REFLECTIONS ON THE TAIPING REBELLION[113]
[XII.]EXPEDITION TO THE TAIPING TEA DISTRICT[123]
[XIII.]MY INTERVIEWS WITH TSANG KWOH FAN[137]
[XIV.]MY MISSION TO AMERICA TO BUY MACHINERY[154]
[XV.]MY SECOND RETURN TO CHINA[160]
[XVI.]PROPOSAL OF MY EDUCATIONAL SCHEME[170]
[XVII.]THE CHINESE EDUCATIONAL MISSION[180]
[XVIII.]INVESTIGATION OF THE COOLIE TRAFFIC IN PERU[191]
[XIX.]END OF THE EDUCATIONAL MISSION[197]
[XX.]JOURNEY TO PEKING AND DEATH MY WIFE[216]
[XXI.]MY RECALL TO CHINA[224]
[XXII.]THE COUP D’ETAT OF 1898[239]
[Appendix][247]
[Index]:[A],[B],[C],[D],[E],[F],[G],[H],[I],[J],[K],[L],[M],[N],[O],[P],[R],[S],[T],[U],[V],[W],[Y][275]

MY LIFE IN CHINA AND
AMERICA

CHAPTER I
BOYHOOD

I was born on the 17th of November, 1828, in the village of Nam Ping (South Screen) which is about four miles southwest of the Portuguese Colony of Macao, and is situated on Pedro Island lying west of Macao, from which it is separated by a channel of half a mile wide.