Chinese Educational Mission
Encyclopedia
The Chinese Educational Mission (1872–1881) was the pioneering but frustrated attempt to educate a group of 120 Chinese students in the United States.
In 1871, Yung Wing
, himself the first Chinese graduate of Yale University, persuaded the Chinese government
to send supervised groups of young Chinese to the United States to study Western science and engineering. With the government's eventual approval, he organized what came to be known as the Chinese Educational Mission, which included 120 students, some under the age of ten, to study in the New England region of the United States beginning in 1872. The boys arrived in several detachments, lived with American families in Hartford, Connecticut, and after graduating high school, went on to college, especially at Yale. When a new supervisory official arrived, he found that they had adopted many American customs, such as playing baseball, and ended the mission in 1881. When the boys returned to China, they were confined and interrogated.
The influential official Huang Zunxian
wrote a poem which admitted that the students had lived luxurious lives and become Americanized, but lamented the lost opportunity:
Many of the students later returned to China and made significant contributions to China's civil services, engineering, and the sciences. Prominent students on the mission included Tang Shaoyi
, Tsai Ting Kan (Cai Tinggan), and Tien You Jeme (Zhan Tianyou
).
Liel Leibovitz and Matthew I. Miller. Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization. New York: Norton, 2011. ISBN 9780393070040.
Edward J.M. Rhoads. Stepping Forth into the World the Chinese Educational Mission to the United States, 1872-81. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
Wing Yung. My Life in China and America. New York: Holt, 1909. 286p. ISBN
In 1871, Yung Wing
Yung Wing
Yung Wing . Born in Zhuhai in Guangdong province, he studied in Robert Morrison's missionary schools as a boy where Tong King-sing was a classmate.-Biography:...
, himself the first Chinese graduate of Yale University, persuaded the Chinese government
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
to send supervised groups of young Chinese to the United States to study Western science and engineering. With the government's eventual approval, he organized what came to be known as the Chinese Educational Mission, which included 120 students, some under the age of ten, to study in the New England region of the United States beginning in 1872. The boys arrived in several detachments, lived with American families in Hartford, Connecticut, and after graduating high school, went on to college, especially at Yale. When a new supervisory official arrived, he found that they had adopted many American customs, such as playing baseball, and ended the mission in 1881. When the boys returned to China, they were confined and interrogated.
The influential official Huang Zunxian
Huang Zunxian
Huang Zunxian , courtesy name Gongdu , was a Chinese writer and poet, active during the late Qing Dynasty. He was born in Chia-ying, now Mei County, Guangdong, and died 57 years later in the same place.-Biography:...
wrote a poem which admitted that the students had lived luxurious lives and become Americanized, but lamented the lost opportunity:
- Unfortunately, in the Imperial Academy
- The curriculum has not included Western learning.
- Withal, on the promotion of science
- Now depends the future of the nation.
- A decade's effort in training youths
- Will lay the foundation for a century's wealth and strength.
Many of the students later returned to China and made significant contributions to China's civil services, engineering, and the sciences. Prominent students on the mission included Tang Shaoyi
Tang Shaoyi
Táng Shàoyí , was a Chinese diplomat, politician. He was the father-in-law of Wellington Koo and Lee Seng Gee.-Career:...
, Tsai Ting Kan (Cai Tinggan), and Tien You Jeme (Zhan Tianyou
Zhan Tianyou
Jeme Tien Yow was a distinguished Chinese railroad engineer. Educated in the United States of America, he was the chief engineer responsible for construction of the Imperial Peking-Kalgan Railway , the first railway constructed in China without foreign assistance.-Biography:Jeme was born in...
).
Further reading
Stacey Bieler. "Patriots" or "Traitors"? A History of American-Educated Chinese Students. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2004. xv, 527p. ISBN 0765611864Liel Leibovitz and Matthew I. Miller. Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization. New York: Norton, 2011. ISBN 9780393070040.
Edward J.M. Rhoads. Stepping Forth into the World the Chinese Educational Mission to the United States, 1872-81. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
Wing Yung. My Life in China and America. New York: Holt, 1909. 286p. ISBN
External links
- The Yung Wing Project contains the transcribed text of Yung Wing's memoir My Life in China and America.
- CEM Connections presents basic data and photos of the 120 students of the Chinese Educational Mission.