Although he was born into a well-known family, times were difficult and he had to leave school at 14. The family suffered through a number of disasters and, as the oldest son, Wu left Guangdong to seek work in Hong Kong to help support his family in the 1920s. In 1933, he and some friends established "Wing Lung Money Exchange" in Central, Hong Kong. In later years contributions towards setting up or improving hospitals, clinics, universities and schools in Mainland China and Hong Kong were made in the name of Wu or his father. On 11 May 2005, Dr. Wu died in Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital at the age of 105. A minor planet was discovered at the Purple Mountain Observatory at Nanking, China in 1979. Provisionally designated as 1979 XO, in 1998 this 3,570th known asteroid was named 3570 Wuyeesun after Wu.
Penjing
Wu's father, Wu York-Yu, and grandfather, Wu Yee-Hong, were both practitioners of the "grow and clip" method of training trees into artistic forms, which came to be known as the "Lingnan School". In 1967 Wu and his friends established the Man Lung Garden as a place to meet, discuss, study, and exhibit. Two years later, he published and distributed Man Lung Garden Artistic Pot Plants, the definitive book on Chinese penjing of the Lingnan style, "fearing that the Chinese art of training pot plants might someday be lost." In 1974 an enlarged edition of the book came out as Man Lung Artistic Pot Plants with the addition of the history and evolution of artistic pot plants, notes from presentations, and over 100 additional photographs. Some 10,000 copies were donated to leading libraries, universities, and bonsai lovers all over the world to commemorate Wu's retirement from the chairmanship of Wing Lung Bank. Over the years, Wu's personal collection grew to nearly 400 specimens of penjing. Many of these he donated to public institutions in Europe and North America, including the Seventh University of Paris, Montreal Botanical Garden, and the Dr. Sun Yat-SenClassical Chinese Garden in Vancouver. Other trees have gone to the Botanical Park of the Nanjing Institute of the Chinese Academy of Science, the Hong Kong Baptist College and the Former Government House, Hong Kong. All of these penjing exhibitions are open to the public. Wu occasionally hosted individuals and groups from around the world who travelled to see his garden on the beautifully raised terrace fronting his house, which itself was built on a steep mountainside overlooking Hong Kong public Man Lung Garden was opened at Hong Kong Baptist University in the year 2000. A website for the garden was set up for discussion and exchange of information. Wu instructed his son Norman Po-Man to take color photographs and publish a hardcover souvenir volume; this comprehensive collection of penjing in full color called Man Lung Penjing was published in 2002, covering over seventy years of study and is a record of Wu's creative style.
