Background
He was born in Taishan, Kwangtung, China on November 30, 1886.
He was born in Taishan, Kwangtung, China on November 30, 1886.
Y. Y. Lee went to the United States in 1900 and studied in various public and high schools in the North-west. He was graduated from Harvard University in 1912 with Bachelor of Arts degree.
Mr. Lee returned to China in 1912, immediately after the Revolution and was sent to the South Sea Islands as a special investigator by Hu Han-min, then Tutuh of Kwangtung, on behalf of the Waichiaopu (Foreign Office). After completing this task, he was appointed by the Waichiaopu (Peking) as deputy of Foreign Affairs at Pakhoi, Kwangtung. Then he joined the Salt Gabelle in 1914, and had continued in this service to the present, having been in charge of various salt producing and revenue collecting districts such as Haipei, Fukien, Chuanpei, etc.