LYME, NH — Wan-go H. C. Weng died peacefully at home in Lyme on December 9, 2020 at the age of 102. Born in Shanghai, China, he lived a full life driven by his passion for the art and culture of his homeland. He was an art collector, art historian, filmmaker and poet, inspired by his ancestor, Weng Tonghe (1830-1904), a distinguished scholar, official and tutor to two Chinese emperors. In 1919 Wan-go inherited his ancestor’s art collection. The importance of classical art and stewardship of the Weng collection were important in his early education. He entered Jiaotong University, Shanghai in 1936, but because of the Japanese invasion, his family sent him overseas to Purdue University, to study electrical engineering.
After earning his Master’s degree (1940) and working briefly as an engineer, Weng realized his heart still lay in the arts. He taught himself to make films at the Harmon Foundation, a New York non-profit. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he worked in Hollywood under director Frank Capra on films for the US Army, and later as a filmmaking consultant to the U.S. Department of State. During this time he met and married his wife, Virginia Dzung (1920-2003). In 1948, the Wengs returned to China in the midst of the Communist Revolution and shipped their art collection to New York. Miraculously, it arrived intact. They were unable to return to China for the next thirty years. Wan-go became a US citizen in 1955.
The Wengs found work subtitling American movies in Chinese, including “Ben-Hur”, “West Side Story”, “The Sound of Music” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Wan-go also found time to make his own films, focusing on Chinese culture and art appreciation whenever possible. He was invited by architect I. M. Pei to help create a multi-media exhibition for the Expo ‘70 world fair in Osaka, Japan. His filmmaking career culminated in his series “China: The Enduring Heritage” (1972-1976), which has been used by museums and universities. In the 1970s, he also began to write books, starting with “China: A History in Art” (co-authored with Bradley Smith).
In 1977, the Wengs moved to Lyme, NH and built a house of Wan-go’s own design. There, he decided to concentrate on his study of Chinese art. In 1979, when China resumed relations with the US, Wan-go and Virginia returned for the first of many times, reuniting with family and friends. They also traveled widely, meeting with Asian art experts and photographing (often rarely seen) works of art.
From 1982 to 1986, Wan-go was president of the China Institute in America. In 1997 he received an honorary PhD in Fine Arts from his alma mater, Purdue. The next year, he received a National Book Prize in China for his book “Chen Hongshou: His Life & Art” (1998) and published a volume of his Chinese poetry. After Virginia died in 2003, Weng found refuge in his work. He gained recognition in China for his numerous books on art history and the legacy of his distinguished ancestor.
In 2018, he donated his art collection to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
He is survived by a daughter, a son, three grandchildren and a great-grandson.
The family has not planned a memorial; in lieu of flowers, suggested organizations for donations include Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lyme Community Foundation, CommunityCare of Lyme or the Wan-go HC Weng Memorial Fund ℅ Development Office, Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
To leave a message of condolence, please visit the online guestbook at www.rickerfuneralhome.com.