His important contributions to China made him a recognised figure of his time, and a namesake foundation has been established in his honour.

His father Huang Hung Chow was a scholar-official (Juren) and served the courts of the Qing dynasty.

Despite heavy competition, he found success and was posted to Tokyo, Japan to serve as the Imperial Chinese Embassy's Counsellor.

In 1890, he relocated to London to act as the Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy; one year later he was reassigned to Singapore to become the Consul-General there.

The request was accepted and on January 29, 1894, it was announced that the Chinese overseas were no longer barred from returning to China.

[13] The change of policy was widely celebrated and reported; Huang was soon to be appointed China's ambassador to Japan.

However, before that could materialize, Empress Dowager Cixi seized power and ended the Hundred Days' Reform.

[14] He slammed Empress Dowager Cixi's coup but at the same time expressed his relief at being freed of his diplomatic duties.

[21] Most of Huang's poems relate to world affairs of his time,[22] including foreign ones, such as the presidential elections in the United States.

[33] Evading arrest following the change of ruler of China, Huang fled to his hometown of Jiayingzhou,[34] where he died on March 28, 1905,[35] aged 58.

[36] Huang is credited as the "first Chinese to use the word 文明 to mean civilisation", a term which he made use of in one of his poetry works.

[41] It is cited as a "key preservation unit of cultural relic"[42] and an exemplification of the "beauty of the Lingnan-style garden".