The list of Young's literary productions includes about 250 volumes of original and translated works, published under the auspices of the Methodist Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge Among the Chinese (S.D.C.K.) in Shanghai. In Shanghai, Allen edited a Chinese tri-weekly periodical, "North China Herald", 1860–1861. He founded and edited the monthly "Wan Guo Gong Bao", or "Review of the Times" from 1868 to 1907, a paper "said...to have done more for reform than any other single agency in China."