Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Yu Jih-chang

Dr. David Z. T. Yui

余日章

(Yu Jih-chang)

Dr. David Z. T. Yui was born in Wuchang, Hupeh province, 1882 of Christian parents, his father the Rer.W. C. Yui being pastor of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui for nearly forty years and is still in active service in Wuchang. His mother was formerly a teacher in St. Hilda's School in the same city. Dr. Yui's early education was in preparation for the Imperial Examinations but in 1895 he entered the Boone School for instruction in English and modern subjects. In 1900 he entered St. John's University and was graduated in 1905. The autumn of the same year he joined the faculty of Boone. University and achieved special merit through the organization of courses in military drill, a fife and drum corps, student Salvation Army, and published the first college magazine in the Chinese language. He helped organize athletics and raised the initial money for the construction of a gymnasium. In the autumn of 1908 through the assistance of the Rt. Rer. L. H. Roots, D. D.. Dr. Yui entered Harvard University and specialized in education. He was graduated in two years receiving the M. A. degree and won the Bowdoin prize with an essay on the schools of old China the award consisting of a bronze medal, a certificate and the sum of G. 200. From September to December 1910 he served as associate secretary of the Chinese Students' Christian Association of North America and traveled extensively among the students in the United States. In 1911 he returned to China and was appointed to the headmastership of the preparatory department of Boone University and while there started the first summer school in China. When the Revolution broke out he assisted in the organization of the Red Cross Society in Wuhan and was its first English secretary. In January 1912 he was appointed director of foreign affairs in Hankow and also served as secretary to General Li Yuan-hung then vice-president of China. During this year he attended the first national education conference held in Peking, and later became associate editor of the Peking Daily News. In January 1913 he was appointed head of the lecture department of the Y. M. C. A. and in May of that year attended the eighth conference of the World's Student Christian Federation at Lake Mohonk, N. Y. He then traveled in Great Britain, Germany and Russia among the Chinese students in those lands. In 1915 he served as secretary of the Commercial Commission to the United States. In 1916 he succeeded Dr. C. T. Wang as general secretary of the national committee of the Y.M.C.A. and is still holding the position. He attended in 1919 the conference of Y. M. C. A. secretaries in New York and in 1921 served as a "people's delegate” to the Washington Conference. He has served 'as a member of the Chinese Ratepayers' advisory committee to the Shanghai municipality. After the close of the Washington Conference he served as secretary of the society organized to redeem the Shantung Railway. In 1921 he was awarded the honorary degree of Litt. D. by St. John's University and in 1923 served as chairman of the National Christian Council. In the spring of 1924 he went to America as the guest of the International Committee of the Y. Y. C. A. for a year's leave of absence in the United States. Mr. Yui returned to China early in 1925.