China's Students Return
Walsh, James E.
182 THE COMMONWEAL June 19, 1929 CHINA'S STUDENTS RETURN
By JAMES E. WALSH T EN years ago the returned student in China was pretty much an "also ran" in the race to shake the plum trees...
...Again, apart from the inherent difficulty of the task, all the university instructors are men who were educated abroad through the medium of foreign lan- guages, and they are just as well pleased to perpetuate their little caste...
...If somebody could be found to pay the first year's lease of a suitable hall not too far from One Hundred Sixteenth Street, there would probably be little else of a serious nature to hinder the realiza- tion of a splendid work...
...Tsing Hua College is in no sense Protestant, nor even an American institution...
...Rent a hall near the school that has a group of Chi- nese students...
...He is a student, and that means intellectual interest...
...He-is shielded from the moral dangers incident to crossing the ocean...
...which, by the way, is seldom...
...Some few might even be successfully directed to Catholic universities...
...Military cliques composed of old swash-bucklers who could not tell a test-tube from a junior prom were at that time very much in the saddle, and a The student's part in Chinas recent development is well known...
...If the returned student is going to influence China, would it be per- haps worth while to influence the returned student...
...But he was not the ruler of China...
...It all sounds very simple except the last part...
...How shall it be managed...
...Thin going it was for a while, and the perennial agitation of Dr...
...And racing in, he artlessly tacked it to the one sound portion of the parlor wall...
...That is a fair question and an interesting one...
...Suppose the boys do not accept the invitation...
...First of all he is Chinese...
...That problem consists in the fact that a great mass of pagan students are going abroad...
...It must be, because it is working even now in Paris and Louvain, where Father Mollat and Father Boland respectively are having great success with it, and making not only friends but converts...
...Soon an idea became a clique, a clique a party, a party a force...
...but let him wash his feet if you wish to avoid trouble...
...Italy some...
...Finally Catholic boys have no need to go abroad for an education...
...But the student had learned too much abroad...
...The Catholic student going abroad could not touch the returned student problem anyhow...
...The time will surely come, of course, when university instruction in Chinese universities will be imparted in Chinese, but that time is not yet...
...otherwise the govern- ment would not permit him to enter the country...
...These have certain great advantages over any education abroad...
...He even carried out important projects in the engineering field and he drew good pay for it...
...He was a useful clerk...
...If each Catholic mission in China could operate some- where in its territory one exclusive English school, it would have under its tutelage for one year the pick of the students who leave its particular .section for university education abroad...
...Aimin' t' buy it from you, sir, if you don't want too much fur it...
...That means he is cultured and gentle...
...But there is yet a more excellent way...
...It would seem so...
...And this is the opportunity...
...Regardless of his antecedents, the returned student brings with him the' new r6gime...
...and in the case of American universities, before they can even receive a passport for their journey...
...with a peculiar same- ness of procedure and language...
...The destiny of a great nation may hang on the issue...
...sprinkle around some books, chairs and a tea set...
...And considerable sagacity...
...As the teaching in this school is thus chiefly in the hands of Chinese pagans, few missions, either Catholic or Protestant, are keen about supplying it with students...
...Yet whatever may be the estimate of his character, he was obviously a man of extreme determination...
...The handwriting was on the wall...
...There has grown up in China to bridge this gap what is known as the "exclusive English school...
...Columbia with its big group of Chinese students would be a logical locale for the first experiment...
...In popu- larity America has the call, with Germany a close second...
...sary, since most of the early students arriving ir America were found unprepared for matriculation a~ college or university, and had to be put out at prepara tory schools...
...Thoughtlessly glaring, in her slovenly ill-shapen dress, she stood by, a stolid witness to the atrocity...
...He saw through his dormitory window the spectacle of a prosperous and happy people under orderly govern- ment...
...Ely, in his imbecile way, often squints at its scrofu- lous face, runs his long fingers through his thatch of shaggy brown hair, thoughtfully rubs the week's growth of black cacti-like pins on his chin, and mut- ters, "Aimin' t'paint 'er white with green trimmin'-- this spring...
...They must be carefully picked if they are to profit rather than suffer from the new and strange life abroad with its inherent dangers...
...Teng Shae Yi was one of that original group, and the result was the dedication of one of the finest brains of China to the revolutionary cause...
...It all ended last year in the march of the Kuomintang to Peking...
...There is probably not a missioner in China who believes in that policy...
...Its roof sags in a crestfallen manner, and its chimney sticks up awry, like a silly, depilated feather on an old, shabby woman's hat...
...In the following paper an explanation of the Chinese student is offered, together with practical recommenda- tions as to what ought to be done about him from a western point of view...
...It touched Ely's simple fancy when he saw it...
...A few facts about the Chinese student will point the way to get at him...
...Certain o[ Bishop H/'alsh's views are comparatively novel, but we think they will be found eminently sane and stimulatine.NThe Editors...
...Some such provision was neces...
...This is because in these three countries all university courses are given in English...
...Where did he get it...
...Sun made him the William Jennings Bryan of his country...
...Again he is usually a rich man's son, which means he is sensitive and independent...
...Belgium a fair number...
...This is where the Chinese student's meagre knowledge of English enters in...
...In all fairness to the superseded war lords, how- ever, it must be noted that their upset is not complete annihilation...
...nothing more...
...Will not somebody start a club on the other end...
...It has been said that the originator of the first club must have been either married or lonesome...
...This enabled many boys of moderate or no means to secure an education in America...
...Part of this plan was the establishment of Tsing Hua College in Pekin as a sort of sifting ground...
...Finally he is a Chinese student and his English was once mighty poor...
...Shoals of Chinese students have gone abroad to study, are going abroad and will go abroad...
...And, cardinal blessing, the continuity of his all-important Chinese study is assured along with his technical education...
...The situation in regard to the teaching of English in China is peculiar, and therein lies the opportunity...
...This pair hatched China's revolution...
...It is stained, sooted by the coal smoke from the kitchen range, greasy from cooking vapors...
...It is frayed now and its edges have crept to- ward the centre, like the feet of a baby with colic...
...The returned student...
...What is to be done about all this...
...Catholic participation in this hegira of students who return to rule China is not the answer...
...The charcoal lines are smudged from curious fingers, or dimmed...
...All could be directed to the clubs already described, if such things existed in America's scholastic centres, and were in the hands of a few zealous priests aided by a few live young American boys as liaison officers...
...Besides it is said the boys complained that they could not find soap and water to wash their feet every night ma privilege that it does not do to take away from a Chinese...
...Nine times out of ten when you see a Chinese student you are gazing upon a rich man's son...
...Can it be done now...
...KATHRYN WHITE RYA~r...
...The salient points for getting at him are his lone- someness and his lack of English...
...Around the poverty-stricken house, with the air of Abel's blood crying out for vengeance on the ruthless fellow and his ax, stand the countless desolate stumps of poplar trees that Ely pettishly hacked down because they gave too much shade...
...says Bishop HZalsh, "brings with him the new r~gime...
...A fair difficulty, and very likely to occur...
...He gathered the returned students to his banner amid the smiles of the robber barons...
...Its instructors are largely Chinese, though it also employs a certain number of Americans and some of these have at times been Protestant missionaries...
...S. Likely Plasher, the renowned black-and-white illustrator, caricatured Ely the summer he spent his vacation on a farm near Plainfield...
...It wa, founded and is conducted by the Chinese government June I9, I929 THE COMMONWEAL I83 Its connection with America is the fact that it is financed by money owed to America, and with the pro- viso that its students are to be prepared for higher education in America...
...POPULAR SUBSCRIPTION By VINCENT J. DEMPSEY E LY MARKS'S shack stands on the edge of Plain- field, Ohio, a town of some five hundred families...
...It is curious that the will to accomplish this dates from the very first shipment of students that ever left China for America...
...The student is not a stranger in these schools conducted by men who, living in his country, know and admire the mentality of his people...
...The club is what will solve his problem...
...The rest are good things to remember, once he is actually got at...
...Leaven the mass a trifle, perhaps, and form a few influential contacts...
...It is taught so poorly that none of its graduates are ever known to pass the university entrance examination in English...
...Try to teach chemistry in Chinese, and the reason becomes appar- ent...
...First of all, every student who expects to attend any university in America, England or China itself, must learn English as a prerequisite...
...China has two Catholic universities in operation at present, that of the American Bene- dictines in Pekin, and the Aurora of Shanghai con-ducted by the French Jesuits...
...They drop the reins, then, but into the hands of chips of the old block...
...It will thus be the policy of all missions to throw their weight toward the building up of these two institutions, and it will be only an occasional Catholic student who will go abroad for special studies in special circumstances, much as an occasional semi- narian will go to Rome for several years' specializa- tion...
...Again the results are not always happy in the case of Christian boys...
...China is in their hands...
...What will America give him to bring back as his contribution to his people ? Will it be good or ill...
...e yline The city, bulked there at the sea, Spills high its sun-gold, sharp debris: The sky is trampled by the towers, The stars are crushed like wayside flowers...
...Quite simply...
...Heard a feller say just yisteday--from town, he was--that...
...America has rather played up to the Chinese stu- dent...
...Both France and England get a goodly num- ber...
...That, however, saves only face...
...They are distinctly few and far between...
...What will it accomplish to add a few Catholic students to the procession...
...Not so felt Minnie, Ely's wife...
...Ely tramps the Post Road with his leisurely, rangy, slouching stride...
...the blood in his veins is a detail compared with the ideas in his head...
...ing, Wordsworth for Li Po, and he will not murmur...
...First of all, the missions cannot afford it on any large scale, nor can the Christians them-selves, who as a class are distinctly not landed gentry...
...grad- ually browning, like crisp bacon...
...But Plainfield has heard that every winter, and now no longer takes stock in it...
...They had the foresight to see that there was some-thing to learn outside the supine country groaned good-naturedly under their wild tiltings and careenings without any apparent hope of unhorsing these hardy riders...
...They were, how- ever, riding to a fall, and the spill emanated from an unexpected quarter...
...Prospective university students graduate first from what is called the middle school...
...have a gymnasium if possible, or at least some place to play volley-ball and basket-ball...
...Not by any means are all the 4oo,ooo,ooo of China to be written down in the simple annals of the poor...
...Russia got some students in recent years while China basked in the smiles of the Soviet bear, but the claws soon became apparent, and now that novel episode in international comity is happily over...
...It is twenty years and more since its parched siding has tasted turpentine...
...Their system has vanished, but their suc-cessors are, to some extent at least, their own sons...
...There he stands in your midst, the Chinese student...
...It is supposed to send ioo students to America every year, but actually its output seldom reaches this number...
...get ready to argue about everything under the sun...
...tie applies the adage "tls a twig is bent" to the problem...
...The present government is composed of returned students...
...He had interesting work, good pay, a useful career...
...Give him bread for rice, coffee for tea, lamb chops for shark's fins, Plato for the Great Learn...
...And as out of its confused complexion simpers the unshaven face of Ely, it is actually more a likeness, indigenous as it is to its gallery, than it was in its glossy, gleaming newness...
...Middle school graduates 184 THE COMMONWEAL June 19, 1929 must repair to these schools for an intensive course in English, usually of one year's duration, before they can matriculate at a university...
...English is indeed taught in these middle schools, but this is where the rub comes...
...A bulge of tobacco extends his cheek, and his over- size Adam's apple jerks spasmodically in his long, scrawny throat as he voices his opinions...
...Japan gets large contingents in periods when there is no special agitation against their country going on in China...
...It should not be insuperably hard...
...If this seems peculiar in the case of China, it is because the technical courses in modern subjects have not yet been satisfactorily translated into the Chinese language...
...He saw what he would do if he ever got a chance, and he made up his mind that he would get a chance, if he had to manufacture it himself...
...It will be conducted by Father Cairns in his mission at Sanning, as that is the most convenient point within reach of the bulk of the university students from the Maryknoll districts...
...invite the boys in...
...Strangely enough these exclusive English schools do not by any means abound...
...The blood in his veins is a detail com- pared to the ideas in his head...
...In those days the returned stu- dent with his handy knowledge made the perfect ser- vant...
...It is a stupid, frumpy, small dwelling...
...It is listless, but seemingly contented in its forlorn condition...
...wails of the Middle Kingdom, and, besides, if a foreign education was getting to be the style, who had a better right to it than their own distinguished progeny...
...182 THE COMMONWEAL June 19, 1929 CHINA'S STUDENTS RETURN By JAMES E. WALSH T EN years ago the returned student in China was pretty much an "also ran" in the race to shake the plum trees of his country...
...He is their chosen leader...
...It is theoretically our college, and practically our high school...
...There it has hung through winter and summer ever since...
...He is away from home, and therefore lonesome...
...He is a boy, and he craves amuse-ment, particularly the athletic sort...
...Let us see to it that the good predominates...
...Sun Yat Sen wandered to London and America where he learned a lot about the good and the ills of bodies politic...
...or luxuriates in the sun in front of the teeming corner garage and filling station...
...Moreover, they are not aided by the preliminary contact of the English school in China, but must seek out the Chinese students as perfect strangers...
...A few short years will bring him back to his place among the 4oo,ooo,ooo and from all indications it is to be a high place indeed...
...He contrasted this with his own calamity-ridden land...
...At any rate, Maryknoll is opening an exclusive English school this year, as one step in the program...
...His attendance at our seats of learning was stimulated by the government's action in remitting a share of the Boxer indemnity and directing that it be used for scholarships in American schools...
...In his wild- est dreams he secm'ed a diplomatic post and repre- sented his country abroad--when his country had any government to represent...
...How does it work...
...almost every European country a few...
...He had the secretary market completely cornered...
...Where the bulk of the Chinese students in America really come from is the ancestral hearth of a landed gentry...
...Plainfield sadly shook its head: "His father, not to mention Ely, played under them as a boy...
...That knowledge of English will pass muster when the student arrives in America...
...And when the artist had replied, "You can have it," Ely took it tenderly in his unkept fingers, and gloated over it as he trudged down the road...
...He did a bit of teaching in the few modern schools he was able to organize...
...Is this not a feasible plan...
...The Chinese student is often both...
...Plenty of both is dispensed in our universities...
...It is the friend he needs to make him a friend...
...That is a long enough period in which to make friends of these boys...
...He is just a lonesome youngster now, but take a good look at him, for he will not be a lonesome youngster long...
Vol. 10 • June 1929 • No. 7
