Chinese Educational Mission, 1870s-1880s
Description
[Excerpt from The Phillips Exeter Bulletin, Fall 2001.]
In the 1870s, a program brought groups of Chinese students to American universities and schools, including Exeter.
The Academy Archives are filled with remarkable stories, not the least of which are the accounts of Exeter's early international students. One of the most fascinating is the chronicle of seven Chinese students who lived in Exeter and studied at the Academy between 1877 and 1881. Yellowed clips from the Exeter News-Letter, pages from old Yale Reunion Books and, best of all, letters from the scholars themselves, tell of young men a long way from home who became part of the Academy and the local community, if only for a short time.
In a letter he sent to the family of Reverend Jacob Chapman, with whom he stayed during his time at Exeter, student Kin Ta Ting declared, "I love New England as much as any 'Yankee.' " Unfortunately, such pro-Western sentiments may have led to the end of this early experiment in cross-cultural education.
The experiment had its roots in New Haven: in the mid-19th century, Yung Wing, a native of China, attended Yale and in 1854 became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university. He undertook a lifelong crusade to provide young men from his country with a chance to experience Western education. He was aided by Christian churches in the United States and American missionaries in China. In 1872 he founded what came to be known as the Chinese Educational Mission, headquartered in Hartford, CT.
Beginning in the 1870s, boys and young men sponsored by the Chinese government began arriving in this country to be educated not only in universities, but in grammar and secondary schools as well. But even from its earliest days, the movement was viewed warily by some Chinese officials, who worried students were neglecting their Chinese heritage, dress and manners. Officials cited athletics as a concern, singling out baseball as an especially pernicious example of the activities in which the young scholars were engaged. (It is interesting to note that a map of the Academy dating from that time shows a much smaller campus, but one containing a large baseball field.)
Finally, in 1881, the Chinese government withdrew its support from the program. Young men in the United States were recalled; others were denied the means to return to this country. Letters in the Academy archives reflect the disappointment of the Exeter scholars and trace the outcomes of some of their lives. Kin Ta Ting, the young man who lived with the Chapman family, went on to become a doctor. Two of his fellow students became officers on ironclad gunboats. Kwoh On Tong went on to Yale University and, upon his return to China, began a career with the railroad and as an English secretary to high-level diplomats.
In the mid-1980s, almost a century after Shang-chow New attended the Academy, his grandson, Peter K. New, a professor of sociology at the University of South Florida, contacted the Academy requesting information on his grandfather. Professor New reported that Shang-chow New returned to Shanghai and became a successful businessman. At the time of his death, Shang-chow subscribed to a number of English language publications, among them New York Base Ball.
In the 1870s, a program brought groups of Chinese students to American universities and schools, including Exeter.
The Academy Archives are filled with remarkable stories, not the least of which are the accounts of Exeter's early international students. One of the most fascinating is the chronicle of seven Chinese students who lived in Exeter and studied at the Academy between 1877 and 1881. Yellowed clips from the Exeter News-Letter, pages from old Yale Reunion Books and, best of all, letters from the scholars themselves, tell of young men a long way from home who became part of the Academy and the local community, if only for a short time.
In a letter he sent to the family of Reverend Jacob Chapman, with whom he stayed during his time at Exeter, student Kin Ta Ting declared, "I love New England as much as any 'Yankee.' " Unfortunately, such pro-Western sentiments may have led to the end of this early experiment in cross-cultural education.
The experiment had its roots in New Haven: in the mid-19th century, Yung Wing, a native of China, attended Yale and in 1854 became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university. He undertook a lifelong crusade to provide young men from his country with a chance to experience Western education. He was aided by Christian churches in the United States and American missionaries in China. In 1872 he founded what came to be known as the Chinese Educational Mission, headquartered in Hartford, CT.
Beginning in the 1870s, boys and young men sponsored by the Chinese government began arriving in this country to be educated not only in universities, but in grammar and secondary schools as well. But even from its earliest days, the movement was viewed warily by some Chinese officials, who worried students were neglecting their Chinese heritage, dress and manners. Officials cited athletics as a concern, singling out baseball as an especially pernicious example of the activities in which the young scholars were engaged. (It is interesting to note that a map of the Academy dating from that time shows a much smaller campus, but one containing a large baseball field.)
Finally, in 1881, the Chinese government withdrew its support from the program. Young men in the United States were recalled; others were denied the means to return to this country. Letters in the Academy archives reflect the disappointment of the Exeter scholars and trace the outcomes of some of their lives. Kin Ta Ting, the young man who lived with the Chapman family, went on to become a doctor. Two of his fellow students became officers on ironclad gunboats. Kwoh On Tong went on to Yale University and, upon his return to China, began a career with the railroad and as an English secretary to high-level diplomats.
In the mid-1980s, almost a century after Shang-chow New attended the Academy, his grandson, Peter K. New, a professor of sociology at the University of South Florida, contacted the Academy requesting information on his grandfather. Professor New reported that Shang-chow New returned to Shanghai and became a successful businessman. At the time of his death, Shang-chow subscribed to a number of English language publications, among them New York Base Ball.
Collection Items
Letter from Ta T'ing Kin, PEA 1883, to Jacob Chapman, October 4, 1882
Letter from Ta T'ing Kin, PEA 1883, to Jacob Chapman, April 28, 1883. This is the first of two letters sent with the same date.
Letter from Ta T'ing Kin, PEA 1883, to Jacob Chapman, April 28, 1883. This is the second of two letters sent with the same date.