My Life in China and America · Chapter
XVI: Proposal of My Educational Scheme explained
Yung Wing, encouraged by the establishment of a mechanical training school, revives his long-dormant educational scheme.
What happens
Yung Wing, encouraged by the establishment of a mechanical training school, revives his long-dormant educational scheme. With the support of Governor Ting Yih Chang, he drafts four proposals for the Chinese government, including a steamship company, sending students abroad, developing mineral resources, and restricting missionary jurisdiction. The proposals are forwarded to Prime Minister Wen Seang, but his mother's death and subsequent demise delay progress. The opportunity finally arises with the Tientsin Massacre, during which Yung Wing is summoned as interpreter, and the commissioners, including Viceroy Tsang Kwoh Fan, remain in Tientsin, setting the stage for the scheme's eventual adoption.
Themes in this chapter
Education as a Tool for National Reform
Yung Wing's central proposal to send Chinese students abroad for education as a means of modernizing China.
Modernization vs. Tradition
The tension between traditional rice transport and the proposed steamship company, and the resistance to mining due to superstition.
Political Reform and Revolution
Yung Wing's proposals aim to reform the government and its policies, despite facing delays and setbacks.
The West as Model and Mentor
The educational scheme is based on sending students to the United States, reflecting the belief in Western education as a model for China.
Characters to notice
- Yung Wing
Proposes his educational scheme and drafts four proposals for government reform.
- Ting Yih Chang
Governor of Kiangsu, supports Yung Wing's scheme and forwards proposals to Peking.
- Viceroy Tsang Kwoh Fan
Supports Yung Wing's educational efforts and is appointed as an Imperial commissioner for the Tientsin Massacre settlement.
- Wen Seang
Prime Minister who receives the proposals but dies before acting on them.
- Li Hung Chang
Mentioned as being in the field finishing the Nienfi rebellion, otherwise would have been appointed to the Tientsin settlement.
Key passages
“Having scored in a small way this educational victory, by inducing the Viceroy to establish a mechanical training school as a corollary to the arsenal, I felt quite worked up and encouraged concerning my educational scheme which had been lying dormant in my mind for the past fifteen years, awaiting an opportunity to be brought forward.”
After successfully persuading the Viceroy to create a mechanical training school, Yung Wing felt encouraged and revived his long-held plan for educational reform.
Highlights Yung Wing's persistence and the incremental progress of his reform efforts.
“No one who had a pet scheme to promote or a hobby to ride could feel more blue than I did, when the cup of joy held so near to his lips was dashed from him.”
Yung Wing felt deeply disappointed when the death of Wen Seang dashed his hopes for the educational scheme.
Expresses the emotional setback caused by the loss of a key supporter.
“No more did Samson, when he slew the Timnath lion, expect to extract honey from its carcass than did I expect to extract from the slaughter of the French nuns and Sisters of Charity the educational scheme that was destined to make a new China of the old, and to work out an Oriental civilization on an Occidental basis.”
Yung Wing was surprised that the tragic Tientsin Massacre provided the unexpected opportunity to advance his educational scheme.
Uses a biblical analogy to illustrate the unexpected turn of events.
