Chin Yang Lee was born in Hunan Province, China on December 23, 1915. He graduated from National Southwestern Associated University in 1942. He worked for a time as a secretary for a maharajah on the border between China and Burma. He came to New York in 1943 after fleeing the Japanese. He received a master of fine arts degree from Yale University in 1947.
His first book, The Flower Drum Song, was published in 1957. It was adapted into a Broadway musical and then a movie. His other books included The Sawbwa and His Secretary: My Burmese Reminiscences, China Saga, and Gate of Rage. He died from complications of kidney failure on November 8, 2018 at the age of 102.
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