20 Facts About Huang Zunxian

Huang Zunxian, courtesy name Gongdu, was a Chinese official, scholar, and writer, active during the late Qing dynasty.

Huang Zunxian was born in Jiayingzhou, now Mei County, Guangdong, and died 57 years later in the same place.

Huang Zunxian was born May 29,1848, in Jiayingzhou, Guangdong, China to a family of Hakka heritage.

Huang Zunxian's father Huang Hung Chow was a scholar-official and served the courts of the Qing dynasty.

Huang Zunxian's life took a turn a few years later, during the Taiping Rebellion, when he was robbed of many of his possessions.

Huang Zunxian applied to be a Juren, like his father, when he became of age in 1877.

Huang Zunxian is considered to be a philosopher, having analysed, discussed, and questioned the framework of China.

Huang Zunxian wrote a poem about Frederick Bee, an official at the Chinese Consulate.

Huang Zunxian witnessed how similar the Singaporean Chinese, both rich and generous, were to the native Chinese.

In between, Huang Zunxian was Hunan Province's Salt Intendant and he started the Journal for Contemporary Affairs.

The change of policy was widely celebrated and reported; Huang Zunxian was to be appointed China's ambassador to Japan.

Huang Zunxian slammed Empress Dowager Cixi's coup but at the same time expressed his relief at being freed of his diplomatic duties.

Huang Zunxian was patriotic towards China, and once described it as a gold-paved nation.

Huang Zunxian was well-liked as a poet and his poetical works received positive criticism, with one source citing him as "the most distinguished poet among the late nineteenth-century reformers".

Huang Zunxian's grandmother was Lady Li, whose death when Huang was still a child supposedly put him in "deep sorrow", as evidenced in a poem pertaining to Li's tomb.

Huang Zunxian extensively toured many parts of Asia, his favourite being Malaysia.

Huang Zunxian is remembered for saying the famous and often-quoted line when he was twenty years old, "", which roughly means that it is perfectly fine to express one's feelings whenever one feels like it.

Huang Zunxian is credited as the "first Chinese to use the word to mean civilisation", a term which he made use of in one of his poetry works.

Huang Zunxian's body is as of 2013 missing, having been thrown into a dumpster following looting of his tomb.

An exhibition honoring the achievements of Huang Zunxian was held in January 1991.