XVII: The Chinese Educational Mission explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Education as a Tool for National Reform

  The mission is a concrete attempt to modernize China through Western education, as advocated by Yung Wing and Tsang Kwoh Fan.

• Modernization vs. Tradition

  The mission challenges traditional Chinese education, requiring students to study both Chinese and Western subjects, and faces conservative resistance.

• The West as Model and Mentor

  The United States serves as the educational model, with students placed in New England families and schools to absorb Western knowledge and values.

• Political Reform and Revolution

  The mission represents a reformist initiative within the government, aiming to strengthen China by adopting Western expertise.

Characters to notice

• Yung Wing

  As commissioner, he oversees the mission, selects students, and arranges their placement in New England.

• Chin Lan Pin

  Co-commissioner, responsible for students' Chinese studies and expenses.

• Viceroy Tsang Kwoh Fan

  Champion of the educational scheme; dies before seeing the first students depart.

• Li Hung Chang

  Succeeds Tsang as patron of the mission; authorizes building of permanent headquarters.

• Ting Yih Chang

  Governor who presented the educational scheme to the Board of Commissioners.

• Liu Kai Sing

  Appointed superintendent of the preparatory school in Shanghai.

• Mr. B. G. Northrop

  Connecticut Commissioner of Education; advises distributing students among New England families.

• Prof. James Hadley

  Yale professor who recommends Mr. Northrop to Yung Wing.

Key passages

• “Had his life been spared even a year longer, he would have seen the first installment of thirty students started for the United States—the first fruit of his own planting.”

  If Tsang had lived just one more year, he would have witnessed the departure of the first group of students, the realization of his vision.

  Yung Wing laments Tsang's death, emphasizing his role as the founder of the mission.

• “Li Hung Chang was of an altogether different makeup from his distinguished predecessor and patron. He was of an excitable and nervous temperament, capricious and impulsive, susceptible to flattery and praise, or, as the Chinese laconically put it, he was fond of wearing tall hats.”

  Li Hung Chang differed greatly from Tsang; he was impulsive, easily swayed by flattery, and known for his vanity.

  Yung Wing contrasts Li's character with Tsang's, suggesting Li was less suited for the role.

• “The motive which led me to build permanent headquarters of our own was to have the educational mission as deeply rooted in the United States as possible, so as not to give the Chinese government any chance of retrograding in this movement.”

  I built a permanent headquarters to firmly establish the mission in America, preventing the Chinese government from retreating from the initiative.

  Yung Wing's strategic move to secure the mission's longevity.