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An “Eventful and Somewhat Romantic” Life: Yan Phou Lee in America

June 10, 2023
8:00 - 9:30 PM EDT

Yan Phou Lee (李恩富) was the first Chinese American to publish a book in the United States, When I was a Boy in China (1887). He first came to the U.S. at the age of 12, as a member of the Chinese Educational Mission (CEM), which ran from 1873 to 1881. Lee returned to the U.S. in 1884 to complete his studies at Yale College (now Yale University) and to deliberately cultivate himself as a voice for the Chinese, a writer who sought to correct misunderstandings of China and the Chinese people and to bridge the gap between American and Chinese culture. He remained in the U.S. until 1927, serving as a writer and editor for various newspapers and in a dizzying array of other occupations.

Professor Duvall will provide an overview of Lee’s life in the US, with a focus on his life as a writer, his book, and his responses to the hateful and violent Sinophobia rampant in the U.S. at the end of the 19th century. Lee’s fascinating story has much to teach us in 21st century America.

Lecture will be in English.

Background Reading
When I was a Boy in China (original edition)
When I was a Boy in China, introduced and with an afterword by Richard Vaille Lee, MD (Yan Phou Lee’s grandson)
Graduating Address of Yan Phou Lee at Yale College (1884)
The Chinese Must Stay” (1887)

李恩富(1861-1938),广东香山人。1873年,12岁的他和另外29个孩子,作为第二批中国留美幼童来美。他先后就读于马萨诸塞州的春田市(Springfield, Massachusetts)的春田公立学校和康州的公立学校和康涅狄格州的纽黑文市(New Haven,Connecticut)的私立中学霍普金斯学校(Hopkins School)。1880年,他以年级总分第一名、英文写作第一名、希腊文第三名的优异成绩从霍普金斯学校毕业。同年秋天,他入读耶鲁大学。1881年夏天,仅仅一年后,清政府因惧怕这些幼童思想上西化,嘎然终止“中国留美幼童”项目,因此李恩富被迫离开耶鲁。回国后李恩富寻机逃到香港,在那里供职于一家英语律师事务所并做返美准备。1883年圣诞节那天,他剪掉辫子,穿上洋服,然后登上前往纽约的汽船。次年2月,他再度抵美。重返美国后,为能回到耶鲁大学继续读书,没有家人和清政府财力支持的李恩富尝试了各种工作。靠演讲和写作的收入,李恩富当年秋天便回到了耶鲁大学读二年级,继续他三年前被打断的学业。1887年李恩富顺利完成学业,以优异的成绩进入优等生协会(Pundits and Phi Beta Kappa),同时荣获演讲和英文写作等奖项,并作为毕业生代表在毕业典礼上发言。

从1884年12月到1885年11月,李恩富为一家名为《清醒》(Wide Awake)的杂志撰稿,连续发表了12篇文章。1887年,这些文章被集结成书出版,书名为《我在中国的童年》(When I was a boy in China)。由此李恩富成为史上首位在美国用英文出版著作的亚裔作家。他的这部作品,内容涵盖了他来美前在中国生活的方方面面,不仅有古色古香的异国情调,还因其读者的广泛性,在文化交流层面有着十分积极的意义。

李恩富在美国前后生活了50多年,参与创建了最早的华人学校,向广大的美国民众介绍中国及中国文化,四处游说反对《排华法案》。他矢志成为为中国人发声的作家和一个寻求纠正很多美国人对中国和中国人的误解并弥合中美文化差距的作家。他跌宕的一生,演绎的是一个勇敢聪慧、热爱西方文明、追求西方理想主义的华人饱受种族主义伤害的令人唏嘘不已的故事。

为进一步了解李恩富不平凡的一生和开拓性的贡献,华美人文学会特邀李恩富研究专家迈克尔·杜瓦尔 (J. Michael Duvall)教授于2023年美东时间6月10日晚8时至9时半(北京时间6月11日早8时至9时半)做“美国首位华裔作家李恩富的不凡人生”的专题讲座。

此次讲座将用英语进行

背景读物
When I was a Boy in China (original edition)
When I was a Boy in China, introduced and with an afterword by Richard Vaille Lee, MD (Yan Phou Lee’s grandson)
Graduating Address of Yan Phou Lee at Yale College (1884)
The Chinese Must Stay” (1887)

Speaker

Michael Duvall 迈克尔·杜瓦尔

J. Michael Duvall is Associate Professor and Associate Chair of English at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, where he studies and teaches U.S. literature and culture, with a focus on the late 19thcentury and turn of the 20th century. An academic article he has written on Lee, “Writing for Children in the Era of Chinese Exclusion: Yan Phou Lee and When I was a Boy in China,” will appear in an upcoming issue of Global Nineteenth-Century Studies.

迈克尔·杜瓦尔博士为南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿学院(College of Charleston)英语系副教授和副系主任,他的研究方向和教授的课程为美国文学和文化。李恩富也是他研究的范围并就此话题做过多次讲座。杜瓦尔教授撰写的学术论文《为排华时代的儿童写作: 李恩富》将在下一期的《全球十九世纪研究》(Global Nineteenth-Century Studies)期刊上发表。

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