World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseYang Guangsheng (Wade-Giles: Young Kuangson; also known as "Clarence Young" to westerners) was born in 1900. He married Yan Youyun (Wade-Giles: Yen Yu-yün; also known as "Juliana") of Tianjin, China in 1929. In 1938, he was posted to Manila as the Chinese consul general to the Philippines. When the Pacific War began in 1941, a number of his staff members were quickly evacuated given that Japan and China had been at war since 1937. Yang, however, refused to leave, citing his responsibility over Chinese nationals living in Manila. He was arrested by the Japanese in Jan 1942 and attempted to persuade him to pledge allegiance toward the Japanese puppet government based in Nanjing. After repeated refusals despite torture, Yang was executed along with 7 of his staff members.

ww2dbaseHis widow subsequently escaped together with 26 wives and children of the consulate staff. After the war, she re-married Chinese diplomat Gu Weijun (Wade-Giles: Koo Vi Kyuin, also known and more popularly known as "Wellington Koo") in 1952. She passed away in the United States in 2017.

Photographs

Yang Guangsheng Timeline