Background
Mr. Y. C. Whang was born at Min Hou Hsien, Fujian province in 1874.
Mr. Y. C. Whang was born at Min Hou Hsien, Fujian province in 1874.
Mr. Whang studied at Queen’s College, Hongkong.
Directly after leaving school in 1892 Mr. Whang worked in the Traffic Department of the Tientsin-Shanlnikwan Railway and in 1901 he was transferred to the Railway Administration as translator. In 1907 he was appointed Chinese Auditor of the same line and in 1911 he was appointed Chief of the Statistical Division concurrently.
After the establishment of the Republic Mr. Whang transferred to the Ministry of Communications and had since held various responsible positions, such as a member of the Unification of Accounts and Statistics Commission and Chief of the Traffic and Transportation Section. In 1915 he was appointed Assistant Director of the Railway Department. In the middle of August 1916 he was appointed Senior Clerk of the Ministry.
Mr. Whang went to Japan in 1917 under Ministerial Order to attend the fifth China-Japan Through Traffic Conference as a delegate. In the same year he was detached to the Peking Mukden Line as Chief of the General Affairs Department. During Chang Hsun’s Monarchical movement he volunteered his service in the Republican army and was appointed by General Tuan Chi-jui, to assist in the work of the Department of Communications of the Republican forces.
Mr. Whang was then holding concurrently the position of Chief of General Affairs Department of the Peking-Mukden Railway. It was at this critical moment that he, in cooperation with Dr. C. C. Wang, then Director of the Peking-Mukden Railway, rendered perhaps the most valuable service to the Republican cause in preventing the Southward movement of the Monarchical troops from Manchuria by suddenly cutting off the supply of cars outside of Shanhaikwan.
In 1918 he took an active part in the work of the Plague Prevention Commission. Later he was appointed Director of the East section of the Lung Hai Railway.
During his term of office on this line, Mr. Whang made a thorough investigation of the conditions of the intricate Likin system which was strangling the business of the operating section of the Lung-Hai Line, and suggested a series of effective remedies to the Central government.
In January 1919 Mr. Whang was appointed to be concurrently Chief of the Railway Through-Traffic Bureau and Acting Director of the Department of Railways. In the same month he received another concurrent position, as Vice-Chairman of the Commission on the Codification of Railway Laws.
Mr. Whang was awarded the Second Class Chiaho in March 1919 and the Second Class Wenfu in April 1919. In June 1919 he was appointed Director of the Department of Railways. In December 1919 he was appointed concurrently Director General of the Hankow-Canton-Sichuan Railway.
In January 1920 Mr. Whang was given the Second Class Paokuang Chiaho. In February 1920 he was appointed concurrently the Assistant Chief of the Loans Bureau of the Ministry of Communications.