The final stages of the Qing dynasty were a significant turning point in China’s history. As the Opium Wars devastated the pride and power of the country and its people, many a titan began to emerge to realign the course of the nation, paving the road for their motherland to start out on the long journey towards modernization.
Most notable among these great figures was Sun Yat-sen, known as the ‘founding father of the Republic of China,’ who led the Middle Kingdom out of the imperial era. There were many others, however, who today are not as well known at home and abroad; who also made great achievements in a time of unrest marked by war, civil turbulence and regime change.
British author, journalist and lecturer Mark O’Neil has attempted to bring some of those people to light in his book, The Second Tang Dynasty: The 12 Sons of Fragrant Mountain Who Changed China. A resident of China for more than 16 years, it was his Cantonese mother-in-law who inspired the idea. One night at the dinner table, she began telling tales from her childhood in Tangjiawan town: peeping at a Japanese soldier as he showered; exchanging pleasantries with her celebrated neighbor, Tang Shaoyi.
Embarrassed by his ignorance, O’Neil returned home and sat down at his computer to learn more about this Tang Shaoyi his mother-in-law was so proud of knowing, only to discover that the obscure personage was actually China’s first prime minister. Digging a little deeper, he was surprised to find that the town of Tangjiawan had fostered a number of great men, among them the first Chinese person to study Western medicine, the first principal of Tsinghua University and the creator of China’s retail industry.
The past 30 years have seen hundreds of thousands of students from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan seeking education abroad. They experience life in a developed society and face the same questions Yung Wing, Tang Shaoyi and even Sun Yat-sen faced decades ago: do I stay and make a new life or go back to reform my home country?
Puzzled by the reason why these outstanding men had all come from what was then a small village, O’Neil set out to discover the secret to their success. His research revealed many fascinating stories, and he decided to whittle them into a neat dozen – all beginning in Tangjiawan, then a part of a city known as Xiangshan (香山), which literally means ‘Fragrant Hill.’ And voila, you have the book’s title!
Xiangshan no longer exists, having been rechristened Zhongshan in tribute to the Chinese name of Sun Yat-sen. By referencing the Guangdong city’s old name in his book’s title, O’Neil has symbolically brought the other famous inhabitants of Fragrant Hill out from beneath the shade of its favorite son.
The colorful portraits include Yung Wing, born into a poor fisherman’s family, who received a scholarship to study in Macao. He later set sail for America, where his diligence at schoolwork saw him become the first Chinese person to attend Yale. While there, he supported himself by waiting tables, doing laundry and working as a librarian.
Though he gained US citizenship in 1852, the turmoil caused by the Taiping Rebellion called him back to his native land. There, he realized that only through education could China be transformed for the better.
One of Yung’s greatest achievements was the Chinese Education Movement, where 120 Chinese students were sent to study in the US. After returning, they made exceptional contributions to China’s railway infrastructure, commerce, diplomacy and military. In this regard, Yung is without a doubt the pioneer who introduced modern education to the country.
The Second Tang Dynasty narrates in plain language 12 revolutionary personages. Their stories are as detailed as they are stimulating, and the clear interconnection in their lives between China and the West is as relevant today as it was more than a century ago.
The Second Tang Dynasty: The 12 Sons of Fragrant Mountain Who Changed China is available on Amazon.
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