21 Facts About Yeung Ku-wan

Yeung Ku-wan was a Chinese revolutionary of the late Qing dynasty.

In 1890, Yeung started the Furen Literary Society in British Hong Kong to spread ideas of revolution against the Qing dynasty and to establish a republic in China.

Yeung Ku-wan became the first President of the Hong Kong Chapter of the Revive China Society in 1894 and was, with Sun Yat-sen, in charge of planning an uprising in Canton in 1895 and in Huizhou in 1900.

Yeung Ku-wan was assassinated in 1901 in Hong Kong by an agent sent by the Qing government.

Yeung Ku-wan signed himself 'Yeung Kuwan' when he lived in Hong Kong and is known as Yeung Ku-wan.

Yeung Ku-wan's ancestral home was in Haicheng, but he was born in Fumen Walled City, Dongguan, Guangdong.

When he was 14, Yeung Ku-wan learned how to operate machinery in a shipyard but an accident caused him to lose three fingers from his right hand.

Yeung Ku-wan switched to reading English and became a teacher after graduating.

Yeung Ku-wan's extensive reading of Western literature enabled him to speak with authority on revolutionary theory and history, and he is said to have dominated discussions on these subjects.

Yeung Ku-wan was a member of the Hongmen, an anti-government secret organisation.

Yeung Ku-wan returned to Hong Kong in early 1895 and met up again with Yeung, whom he had first met in 1891.

In October 1895, the Revive China Society planned to launch an uprising in Guangzhou, with Yeung Ku-wan directing the uprising from Hong Kong.

Yeung Ku-wan travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa, via Singapore and later to Japan, where he stayed from 1896 to 1899, to expand the Revive China Society and spread its ideas.

However Sun gradually became more powerful and edged Yeung Ku-wan out, resulting in Yeung Ku-wan resigning in 1899, to be succeeded by Sun Yat-sen.

In 1900, Yeung Ku-wan started another uprising in Huizhou, Guangdong, but this failed.

Yeung Ku-wan returned to Hong Kong and taught English in a school at Gage Street to support his family.

Yeung Ku-wan died from his wounds the following day and was buried in the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley.

Almost a month after Yeung Ku-wan had been assassinated, Sun Yat-sen, who was in Japan having been exiled from Hong Kong, sent a letter of condolence to Tse Tsan-tai.

Yeung Ku-wan asked Chen Guofu to purchase a photograph that had been taken in Japan in around 1895 or 1898.

Yeung Ku-wan Ching-seoi continued to work in the shipping business and taught English in his later years.

The beginning of the 2009 film Bodyguards and Assassins briefly features the assassination of Yeung Ku-wan, who was played by Jacky Cheung.