SENT-DOWN YOUTH · 4 MIN READ
Martial
Arts King
After being sent from Shanghai to rural Yunnan during the Cultural Revolution, Yuehua Ji found brotherhood, love, and an unexpected reputation as the “Martial Arts King.”
AN OPENING ISSUE · 2026
Amplifying the voices
we almost missed.
LENS is a youth-led publication for the stories history leaves in the margins. This first collection listens to elders born in the 1940s–1960s—and the lives they made for themselves.
Explore the collection ↓NEWEST RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
Martial
Archival portrait supplied for this story.
THE COLLECTION
Lives, in their own words.
Small details hold whole worlds. Start anywhere.
I imagined tall buildings everywhere. When I arrived in Boston, I wondered where they all were.
Sent from Shanghai to Yunnan, I found brotherhood, a family, and a reputation built on knowing when to hold back.
I came to Hong Kong to explore. Now I help make a Filipino restaurant where people can gather and feel at home.
L✳
A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
Every life is a primary source.
We make room for the people who rarely get to tell the story themselves. LENS is built by young listeners, in conversation with elders—one careful, curious interview at a time.
Meet us, or get involved ↗THE ARCHIVE IS STILL GROWING
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THE READER’S BOXHELP SHAPE WHAT’S NEXT
YOUR TURN
What should LENS listen for next?
Choose the stories you’d like to see more of, or leave us a thought of your own. Your suggestions help guide what we explore next.