Hung Hing Ming studied English at China’s most prestigious university in the early 1960s and went on to work as an official interpreter and translator working with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

He taught English at Zhongshan University (Dr. Sun Yat San University), Guangzhou, in 1984 and again from 1987 to 1991, as an associate professor and an instructor for graduate students in the Foreign Languages and Literature Department. He was a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and at the University of Kansas from late 1984 to 1987, when he earned his Masters degree in linguistics, before returning to Zhongshan University. In 1991, Mr. Hung moved to Hong Kong where he worked as a legal translator with international law firms for close to 20 years.

Mr. Hung is writing a series of biographies to introduce some of China’s most emblematic historical figures to the American public.

The Manchu people, a nomadic tribe from the northeast, rose up in 1616 and took the lead for the new era. The great leader Nurhaci step by step took control of the weakened empire. His successors went on to drive away Russian incursions, to...

The Manchu people, a nomadic tribe from the northeast, rose up in 1616 and took the lead for the new era. The great leader Nurhaci step by step took control of the weakened empire. His successors went on to drive away Russian incursions, to re-unite with Taiwan, and to settle unrest in the regions. Tax reforms and administrative improvements helped solidify the gains. Stability brought prosperity, and prosperity enabled noteworthy innovations in technology and the arts. The Qing Dynasty's great inventions and sophisticated culture became influential throughout Asia and beyond, and China remained a superpower right up to the 20th century. This book tells how they achieved the circumstances that made those advances possible. Drawing on the classical Chinese writings, Hung Hing Ming, a former UN translator, outlines the steps that set China back on the path of progress. His narrative shows the accomplishments of the people and the societal characteristics, the values, that united a disparate population and fostered their success.