Frank Yung Yungcheng, 77, is the grandson of Yung Wing, who went to Yale University in the 1850s as the first Chinese scholar to be educated overseas. An exhibition showcasing the contributions of Yung and others to the modernisation of the country - Boundless Learning: Foreign-educated Students of Modern China - will run until February 9 at the Hong Kong Museum of History.
'This is the first time I have seen the exhibition. I feel courage and pride. My grandfather probably didn't realise his deeds had had such great implications on both sides of the Pacific.
Many regarded my grandfather as a great achiever because of his well-known Chinese education mission in the 1870s. He brought 120 young Chinese students to study abroad for 12 years. For these students, this education programme offered a great adventure.
In the 19th century, if you had a son and let Yung Wing take him to America, it was the same as telling people nowadays that my grandfather was about to take your son to the moon.
I wasn't aware of his contribution to modern China. My grandfather died in 1912. My father passed away when I was 10 days old. It is difficult for me because I didn't have a close relationship with them.
I was told of my grandfather's historical achievement. But when someone tells you that somebody is the first guy to swim the English Channel, or this is the first guy to climb Mount Everest, what does that mean? I don't know.
