(1861 ~ 1919) modern famous railroad engineer. The word眷诚. Born in Nanhai, Guangdong.
1872 (Tongzhi eleven years), as the first batch of government students to the United States, when only eleven. 1878 (Guangxu four years) into Yale University to study civil engineering, graduated in 1881, returned to China in July of the same year. He was first sent to Fuzhou Ship Bureau to learn driving, and in 1884 participated in the Sino-French War in the Battle of Mawei; after the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Zhang Zhidong's employment, as a teacher in the Guangdong Museum of erudition, and in 1888, China Railway Company, as an engineer, to participate in the construction of the Jingu Railway. This was the beginning of his involvement in railroad engineering. After that, he participated in the construction of Guandong Railway and Pingli Railway, and presided over the construction of Xinyi Branch Railway.
In 1904, the Qing government announced that it would fund the construction of the Beijing-Zhangzhou Railway. After the survey, the line is separated by high mountains and steep ridges, the project is extremely difficult. However, after the completion of the road, its economic value is very great. In the British and Russians competing for the line engineer position, Zhan Tianyou finally appointed as chief engineer, and organized a group of Chinese engineers and technicians *** with the construction of the line. 1905 October 2 officially started, planned for four years to complete. During this period, he focused on the collective wisdom, try to use the advanced technology and techniques, creative solutions to a number of construction problems. In the most difficult section of the Guan ditch, he used 33 ‰ slope, in Qinglongqiao station to build the famous "human" line, cut a kilometer-long Badaling Tunnel and other three tunnels. Finally, not only fast and economical to build the world's attention of the railroad, but also for the future of the road construction project to train the first batch of Chinese engineering talent. 1909 July 4 (XuanTongYuanYuanYuan May 17), Beijing-Zhangzhou Railway paved (officially opened to traffic on October 2), all the projects than the original plan was completed two and a half months ahead of schedule, the savings of more than three hundred and fifty-six thousand taels of silver.
After the completion of the Beijing-Zhangzhou Railway, Zhan Tianyou served as chief engineer of the Zhangsui Railway and the Sichuan-Han Railway, consultant engineer of the Henan Railway Company, and general manager and chief engineer of the Guangdong Railway Company of the Guangdong-Han Railway, etc. He was elected a member of the American Society of Engineers in 1909, and was awarded the first bachelor's degree in engineering by the Qing court in the same year. After the Xinhai Revolution, he was appointed by the Provisional Government as the General Manager of the Yuehan Railway and the General Manager of the Han-Guangdong-Chuan Railway, and in 1914, he was appointed as a supervisor, and in 1917, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Railway Technical Committee of the Ministry of Transportation of the Peking Government, and on April 24, 1919, he passed away due to illness. He is the author of "Beijing-Zhangzhou Railway Project Chronicle".
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120 young children of the Qing Dynasty to study in the United States before and after
1872-1875, under the auspices of Tseng Kuo-fan, Li Hung-chang, Yung-ma-teung and other foreign affairs, the Qing government has sent four batches of ***120 young children to study in the United States. More than 50 of them, into Harvard, Yale, Columbia, MIT and other famous institutions of learning. China's railroad engineering pioneer Zhan Tianyou is one of them.
This was originally a 15-year study abroad program set up by the Qing government, but in its 10th year, it met with strong opposition, and the "children" were forcibly recalled early.
The historical stage of the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic of China, from now on appeared the figure of "stay in the U.S. children". Some of them in the Sino-French naval battles, Sino-Japanese naval battles for the country; some become China's railroads, telegraphs, mines, the founder of the cause; some become ministers of the Qing Dynasty; the Republic of China's first Premier, but also from among them ......
However, as the years pass, in addition to Zhan Tianyou's exploits are well known, the 120 The story of 120 young Qing children studying in the United States has gone up in smoke and vanished into obscurity.
The book "Children in America: China's Earliest Government-Sponsored International Students" (Wenhui Publishing House, February 2004), co-authored by Qian Gang and Hu Jincao, reveals in detail the extraordinary course of the Qing government's dispatching of young children to study in the United States. We hereby summarize a few excerpts from the book for the benefit of our readers. The title has been changed.
---Editor
Enshrine this memorial in history
Sending young children to study in the United States is "the first move in China, something that has never been done before in the ancient world. These two words, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang said in a report to the court. Because the "ancient and modern has not", so the decision of this plan, to take an extremely solemn way: August 5, 1871, first by Zeng Guofan Li Hongzhang joint name, to the Tongzhi Emperor (in fact to the Cixi, Ci'an two dowager empress dowager) will be played; Empress Dowager approved to the Premier of the State Council Affairs Yamen to review; the Premier Yamen and Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang on the draft for discussion and revision, September 5, and then will be "discussed" to the Empress Dowager; September 9, was approved for the decree.
In the fold, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang this evaluation of foreign science and technology: Western military power behind, geography, mathematics, astronomy, manufacturing and other knowledge; they attach importance to the introduction of foreign advanced technology, the successful "traveler" invited to the school, teaching various sciences; they put the army and navy construction as "physical and mental life". They regarded the construction of the army and navy as "the life of the body and mind"...... Today, if we in China want to emulate their success, the most urgent thing is that we should select bright sons and daughters to study abroad and make efforts to study and research, so as to realize the long-cherished wish of the Emperor for gradual self-improvement.... ...
Their plan is: to visit and select the provinces clever young children, 30 per year, four years **** 120, in batches by ship to the ocean, in foreign countries to study, 15 years later, according to the year batches back to China. "Counting the day of the return to China, the young children but thirty up and down, strong, just in time to serve."
Zhangzhi on the young children to stay in the United States made specific provisions: to the foreign young children to study for a year, such as the gas nature of the stubborn, or do not serve the soil, the future is difficult to hope to achieve, should be withdrawn at any time by the commissioner in the ocean. Young children at the beginning of school, what books to read, what specialties, should be listed by the commissioners in the foreign register, check every four months, the end of the year a summary report. In the ocean in the deputy members, each monthly salary of 450 silver, interpreter, a monthly salary of 160 two. The annual public expenditure in the ocean silver *** six hundred taels. The first deputy members of the interpreters and trainers to and from the travel expenses, each person silver 750 taels. Children's round-trip travel expenses and clothing, each person 790 taels of silver. Children in the ocean tuition allowance rent, clothing, food and other items, 400 taels of silver per year. Each year, the members of the Board in the foreign countries will report the yearly expenses, "if there is a surplus, still trickle down to the public", if the expenses are insufficient, can report to ask for supplement. The annual budget of the Bureau of Scholarly Affairs was 60,000 taels of silver, and in 20 years, about 1.2 million taels of silver were needed. The value of the currency at that time, every 4 taels of silver is about 5.5 dollars, so the monthly salary of the commissioner in the foreign countries is equal to 618 U.S. dollars, the interpreter's monthly salary of 220 U.S. dollars; the Bureau of Study Abroad annual budget of 82,500 U.S. dollars.
Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang decided that Chen Lanbin, a Hanlin, should be the head commissioner of the Bureau of Study Abroad, and Yung Ma-teung, an active proponent of the study-abroad program, should be the deputy commissioner. (As we will see later, the conflicts that arose between the open-minded Yung-Ma-te and the conservative Chen Lan-Bin and his successor, Wu Tzu-Teng, ultimately led to the demise of the study-abroad program.)
Thirty-two thousand miles
The first batch of "young children" left for the United States on August 11, 1872. There were four batches of 120 children who traveled 32,000 miles by ship across the Pacific Ocean to the United States.
There is a person called Qi Zhaoxi, was ordered to escort the third batch of "young children to stay in the United States" of the junior officer. He left behind a diary of his travels to the Americas, which colorfully depicts the journey across the sea more than a century ago.
On the first night of embarkation in Shanghai, the naive children saw the "tap fire lamps" (gas lamps) along the Yang Jing Bang, "clusters of even rows, swinging in the center of the waves," and were very happy. When the day dawned, they woke up early to watch the ship sail out of Wusongkou.
The weather turned bad in the afternoon, "the wind and rain, the cabin surface can not walk, seasickness, vomiting, all sleep and can not get up." When the wind and waves came together, the cabin was "full of cries, and they could not sleep well".
The adaptation of young children is also strong. After ten days of sailing, seasickness began to reduce. Every big storm, Qi Zhaoxi and other adults are still like a drunkard, the children are "playful, no terror". Late at night, the little ones also "parade between the dishes", clamor. They even like the wind and waves a little, because when the wind and waves are high, Qi Zhaoxi will be exempted from their daily homework.
Qi Zhaoxi is a very conscientious official, he issued to the young children "too on the induction chapter", "three training magazine", every morning preaching. In the evening, the children were allowed to study the "Western Book".
Beginning, the young children are not accustomed to eating the ship's Western food, the Qi Zhaoxi sore throat salted watermelon rinds grab eaten. But just over halfway through the voyage, most of the young children have become accustomed to milk bread. "Each person sits at a large plate, a spoon, a fork; foreign cloth hand towel a side, tied with a white copper ring". Qi Zhaoxi recounts food such as beef, mutton, fish, and both sweet and salty pastries, and drinks such as milk tea and ice water. "After drinking, into the tall porcelain pots four, filled with fruit, dried fruit two, each person to eat at will."
In Qi Zhaoxi's diary, you can also see his discipline education naughty children's account. He had "thinly blamed" three unruly children, discipline a few "to find the tongue" fighting. One day, a few young children from the deck to retrieve foreigners abandoned maps, he saw a severe reprimand, ordered to return to the original place. Not only that, he also gathered the young children together to lecture, admonishing them, "used the ship's things, must be returned to the original place; fine things, must not damage; only then, people will say you are smart, will not hate you. Remember this for me!"
The 30-day voyage finally ended, in San Francisco before disembarking, Qi Zhaoxi opened the clothes box, let the young children to change the clothing ashore, that is a set of brand new clothes: "blue crepe jacket, sauce color crepe long coat, satin boots".
"For to Jinshan ashore glory." --- Qi Zhaoxi thought of the image of the Great Qing.
The Young Nation in Full Swing
September 15, 1872, The New York Times, San Francisco, reported:
The 30 Chinese students who arrived yesterday are all very young. They are fine and talented ladies and gentlemen, and have a neater appearance than their compatriots who formerly visited the U.S.
Three guardians of the Manchu official class traveled with them. The Chinese government has appropriated one million dollars for their education. The Chinese government plans to send 30 students a year to this country.
The new continent opened the eyes of young children.
There is nothing more interesting to them than "trains.
The best way to summarize what America was like in the 1870s was the "train age. When the first children arrived in the United States, the young nation had just built a transcontinental train line. The land that had been in an idyllic pastoral era more than a decade before, overnight, smoke billowed from east to west. The country, less than a century old, is light and vigorous, and something called the "American spirit" is attracting newcomers from all over the world.
The train ride for the "young children who stayed in the United States" ended in Springfield, on the banks of the Connecticut River, a city the Chinese gave a refreshing name: "Springfield". The family of the great writer Mark Twain lived here. Not only did his two daughters later become classmates of the young children who stayed in the U.S., but the writer, himself, became involved with the Bureau of Study Abroad. (More on this later.) In order that these young Chinese children might learn the language and be cared for by their families as soon as possible, the Connecticut authorities decided, through Yung's active campaigning, that the children should be dispersed in groups of three or five to the homes of Americans in the Connecticut River Valley.
The news spread, and American families willing to accept the young Chinese children signed up enthusiastically. By the time the first batch of children arrived, 122 families had already expressed interest.
The Connecticut State Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Nossaab, wrote a letter to the "Host Families" who were lucky enough to be approved. He asked the parents to keep track of their children's work schedules, that the children are still very young, and that they should be strict while being loving, pay attention to moral development, and pay attention to Chinese language refresher courses. He also made special mention of the health of the young children:
The Chinese pupils must be made aware of the ways of hygiene, and must be made to bathe frequently. When there is a change in the weather, they must take shelter from the wind and cold, and be especially careful after sweating to avoid accidents!
College students
How many of the "young children who stayed in the U.S." were admitted to U.S. colleges? Which universities did they attend? When we began to trace this history, the information was not sufficiently informative and precise. Although there were gaps and doubts, our investigation took a step forward - identifying at least 50 children who went on to college.
Twenty-two of them went to Yale University, Yung's alma mater. They were: Zhan Tianyou, Ouyang Geng, Yung Kuei, Huang Kaijia, Liang Dunyan, Zhang Kangren, Zhong Wenyao, Cai Shaoji, Tang Guoan, Tan Yaoxun, Li Enfu, Yung Xingqiao, Zeng Pu, Chen Peihu, Liu Jiazhao, Chen Juyong, Lu Yongquan, Qi Zuyi, Lu Zuhua, Xu Zhenpeng, Zhong Juncheng, and Qian Wengui.
Yung Kui and Tan Yaoxun were the ones who resisted the "recall" and stayed in the United States to complete their studies at Yale after a large number of young children returned to China. Li Enfu and Lu Yongquan, on the other hand, were recalled and returned to the U.S. to finish Yale.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, there were eight Chinese "children in the United States": Kuang Yongzhong, Fang Bo Liang, Kuang Xianfeng, Xue Youfu, Kuang Jing Yang, Deng Shicong, Yang Zhaonan.
In the Harvard University archives, we found the enrollment card of Ding Chongji, one of China's "youngest children to stay in the United States".
Three went to Columbia University in New York: Tang Shao-yi, Zhou Shou-chen, and Wu Yang-tzeng.
Five of the "children who stayed in the U.S." went to the Rosales Institute of Technology in New York State: Yingke Wu, Jingrong Wu, Ruizhao Su, Guorui Luo, and Mingzhong Pan. Pan Mingzhong entered the university at the age of 15 and was described as a "gifted young man", but died a year after entering the university due to excessive hard work. We saw Pan's grave in Hartford, a small headstone cracked in the grass. ......
It is certain that this is by no means a complete record of the "young boy who stayed in the U.S." and went to college.
Mark Twain and Grant's good offices
Li Hongzhang had planned to send the children to the military and naval academies, but when a number of them graduated from American high schools and were ready to go to college, the U.S. government did not accept the Chinese government's request. They allowed Japanese students to study at military academies, but did not give the same rights to Chinese young children. At the same time, there was a wave of "Chinese exclusion" on the West Coast of the United States, which cast a shadow over Sino-American relations.
In the Yung and Chen Lanbin, Wu Zideng foreign students for the foreignization of the dispute, the emperor at this time also in a folding instructions, asked to stay in the foreign affairs bureau of strict rectification. In this situation, Li Hongzhang felt that the Bureau of overseas study is gone. 1881 February 20, he said in a telegram to Chen Lanbin, "such as really ineffective, as early as possible, such as the withdrawal of the Bureau to save money". But a few days later he received two letters from the U.S. university president and former President Grant, and "abolition" of deep hesitation.
When Yung felt that Wu Zideng was threatening the survival of the Bureau of Study Abroad, he immediately sought help from his close friend, the local church pastor, Tychel. First, he contacted the presidents of a number of famous American universities and sent a letter to the Premier of the Qing court. From Yale University President Porter handwriting of the letter said:
Your country sent young students, since coming to the United States, everyone makes good use of the time, research and scholarship, all disciplines have excellent results. ...... Their morals, too, are invariably beautiful and noble. ...... They are worthy of being representatives of the nationals of a great country, and are good enough to win honor for your country. Though they are young, they are all aware that their every word concerns the honor of their country, and are therefore careful with their words and too adult. Their good behavior has received good results, and the prejudice that a few ignorant people in the United States usually have against the Chinese is gradually disappearing. And the feelings of the American people towards China are becoming more and more harmonious. It is with great regret that I heard today that the students are to be called back to China. This is the most important time for the students.
The principals squarely rejected the rumor that "Chinese students are learning in schools that are not benefiting them, but rather harming them," saying that such rumors give both American education and the image of the United States a bad name. They criticized the Chinese government for suddenly recalling students from their schools without detailed investigation and without an official note from the two governments for a study-abroad program that had been formally agreed upon by the two countries in the past year, a move that could only damage China's national identity.
The Reverend Pusher and his close friend Mark Twain also decided to go to New York to see the former president, Mr. Grant, to ask for his help.
Mark Twain depicted the day: The process was interesting. Twitchell stayed up all night preparing the powerful phrases, the irrefutable facts for his meeting with Grant, and knew them by heart, all in an effort to do no more than tremblingly ask Grant to sign a petition addressed to the Chinese governor-general, Li Hongzhang. The result was that, before Pusher had formally commenced his declamation, Grant at once took the position, "I will write a letter to the Lord Governor, a separate one, to impose upon him some stronger evidence; I know him well enough to know that my word will carry weight with him. I will write at once." In the twinkling of an eye all the efforts made by Pusher were nil. It was as if he had come to borrow a dollar from someone who, while he was still baffled, had given him a thousand dollars.
February 24, 1881, Li Hongzhang called Chen Lanbin: Grant letter, young children in the U.S. is quite beneficial, such as road construction, mining, construction of forts, the system of machine arts, can be expected to learn, if the abolition of the extreme pity.
Li Hongzhang is a long time in the political wind and waves of the smooth old minister, in the letter, he did not stand up to protect the Yung Ma-te, but said, for many years, Yung Ma-te favored Western learning, so that the young children of secondary school neglect, he has repeatedly written to the letter of caution. He also said, most of the students were born in Guangdong, young foreigners, stained with foreign habits is inevitable; Wu Zideng rope is too strict, leading to conflict, so that to "abolish all", it is close to stubbornness. He said that Yung Ma-te was unwilling to abolish, is expected; Chen Lanbin insisted on full abolition, is not without reason. Rather, Wu Zideng later proposed is "half withdraw half stay" approach is worth considering. Li Hongzhang's views: into the university students should continue to finish, the rest of the students in the selection of smart can be a number of discretionary retention, in addition to gradually withdrawn; Study Abroad Bureau of personnel can be cut to save money. Because there were nearly 60 young children into the university, plus "discretionary", this program, the real withdrawal of only a few. Li Hongzhang's painstakingly, which can be seen.
However, he did not expect, the Premier Yamen just to play on the subject, said Li Hongzhang have "not withdrawn and withdrawal of intention", to the emperor submitted a "play to the foreign students will be transferred back to all" of the zhang zhou. June 8, 1881, the Premier Yamen:
Ministers and others checking the withdrawal of students to the University of Hong Kong. p>
Chen etc. check the students to the age of children, far from the foreign country, the road divergent silk dye, not inevitably see the difference, ...... if as Chen Lanbin said, is outside the foreign long skills are not yet well known, the watering of their tribe winds have been accustomed to, has been a big loss of the Bureau of the original intention ...... I thought that with their I think that instead of gradually withdrawing them, it would be more straightforward to stop them. Accordingly, the Minister of the North and South of the foreign minister, taking advantage of the time of the Bureau of employment, the students will be transferred back to the foreign students.
On this day, I was instructed by the emperor: according to the proposed, hereby.
The four words are exactly the same as the oracle that approved the study abroad program.
Returns
Huang Kaijia, a Yale student, wrote a letter to his American "parent," Mrs. Batra. This letter, sent from Shanghai on January 28, 1882, gives a glimpse of what it was like for the "youngest child in America" when he returned to his home country ---
... ...You must have been shocked at the harsh treatment we received from the government of our country. You may have already heard about it, but I would like to recount it for the record.
When we traveled up the river on the "Nippon" and saw Shanghai for the first time ...... we imagined that a warm welcome awaited us, as well as familiar crowds and the warmth of our country's outstretched arms to embrace us. But my God! All into a bubble. The water plants are getting clearer and clearer, and we are getting more and more excited by the imagined welcome. The bow of the boat cut through the calm yellow water, and as it approached the pier, the loud sound of the ship's side touching the shore woke us up from our "utopian" dream.
There were people around, but not a single friend or relative in sight. There were no smiles to greet our disappointed group. On the pier, there were cart and rickshaw laborers, gesticulating and clamoring for business.
Only one man came aboard to fetch us - Mr. Lu, who managed our mail, a bumbling uncle who was worse than even the mediocre Chinese people. Instead of hiring a carriage or a boat to take us to our destination, the Daodai Yamen of the Chinese Customs, he hired a unicycle to load us. ...... Some of the unicycles did not have a license for the "French Concession" and we had to get off and carry our own luggage. In the eyes of the Chinese gentry, this was a shameful thing to do. After arriving at the Customs Office ...... and taking our names, we had a light supper. To prevent us from escaping, a group of Chinese sailors escorted us to the "Academy of Knowledge" behind the Daodai Yamen in Shanghai. The Western imagination cannot describe this place as a school. You may know about the Turkish prison, or the "Nightmare of Andersonville", but they are lucky compared to this place.
Let me describe the "prison" that I lived in after returning to my homeland with my bald pen. You can imagine how bad it was, even if it's not quite right.
"Knowledge Academy" has been closed for ten years,......, the door has not been opened for ten years, the walls are peeling, the floor is dirty, the stone steps are full of moss, the windows and doors have been wet and rotting. A step into the doorway, immediately moldy nose, these darkness seems to symbolize our fate. At night, we could clearly see the dampness rising from the cracks in the bricks on the floor, making our clothes wet. A kind of dreariness enveloped us, an insult that stung everyone's heart. And most horrible of all, it was the thought that caused the absurdity in the minds of the overseers of the study abroad, and made us return to China before we had finished our studies. ......
6 days later, Huang Kaijia boarded the British ship "Lucita" to Hong Kong. Through Hong Kong, he returned to his hometown of Shantou. On the day he arrived in Shantou, his parents had not received any news, because the postal service was poor and the letter he had sent a week earlier arrived on the same ship as himself.
It was not easy for Huang Kaijia to find his family's place, because he was completely rusty on the local dialect. His father worked as an interpreter at Shantou Customs, an important position in government business. It was only through the assistance of a British businessman that the customs officers knew who he was looking for. After some difficulty, he was taken to a large house where his parents, who had been separated for nine years, lived:
The servant was ill-mannered; he thought I was a poor man who had come to ask for mercy and did not allow me to go in. I understood him to say that my father got up at nine o'clock and did not receive his guests until ten. I was anxious to see my parents and family at hand, but the servant insisted that I must wait. I pleaded with him in every utterance, even in gesticulating mime, but he remained unmoved.
When all else failed, I suddenly remembered that all the world, barbarians and civilized people, men and women, young and old, call their parents "Dad" and "Mom," so I began to scream.
"Dad! ---"
"Mom! ----"
This is the cry of Huang Kaijia, and it is also the cry of all the "young children who stayed in the United States" when they face their relatives in their hometown. All the thoughts, all the outpouring, all the aggrieved and no charge, all in this shouting catharsis!
Turnaround
Gengzi Incident, Cixi hostage Guangxu fled Beijing, ran to Xi'an. After the great disaster of the near-death of the country, in order to maintain the faltering rule, repair the holes in the state apparatus, but also forced by the pressure of foreign powers, Cixi had to consider the implementation of the "New Deal". On the way to the west, Cixi said to Guangxu: "I have always advocated the change of law, the early years of the Tongzhi, I adopted Zeng Guofan's proposal to send their sons and daughters to study abroad. I support shipbuilding, building machines, is not for the country rich and strong!"
Cixi returned to the capital, the Qing government issued a series of "New Deal" oracle, the main content, including the preparation of pay and training, revitalization of business, education, reform of the official system.
The education system in China at that time was the system of selecting officials. Therefore, the changes in the education system under the influence of political storms had a profound impact on the "children in the United States".
Cixi's change in the law, the award of study tours and the reform of the academy, stop the imperial examinations, in the early years of the century in the field of education in China blew a whirlwind of abandonment of the old and seek new.
On September 12, 1905, Emperor Guangxu approved Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong's request to stop the imperial examinations. It was a shocking event: the imperial examination system, which had been practiced in China for more than a thousand years, was abolished.
History took a sharp turn here. The countryside examination, originally scheduled for 1906, was canceled and replaced by an examination for returning students. Ancient titles such as juren (举人) and jinshi (进士) would be awarded to foreign students who passed the exams.
Tang Shao-yi, a "young boy who stayed in the United States," was appointed chief examiner, while Zhan Tian-you, a "young boy who stayed in the United States," and Yan Fu, who stayed in the United Kingdom, were appointed deputy examiners.
"In the past few days, I have assisted the Ministry of Education in the selection of students returning from the United States, Europe and Japan," said Zhan Tianyou in a 1906 letter to his American "parent," Mrs. Nossob, "* * * there were 42 applicants, and 32 were admitted. 42 students took the exam and 32 were admitted, the best of whom was Chen Jintao, who received his PhD from Yale in 1906. ...... This is a precedent for Chinese examinations, and the eight-legged essay, which used to be emphasized, has finally been abolished."
Among the students honored by Tang Shaoyi, Zhan Tianyou and Yan Fu for this exam were Chen Jintao, who later became the Republican government's finance minister, Shi Zhaoji, the foreign minister, and Yan Huiqing, who was the acting prime minister.
Yuan Shikai and the "young boy who stayed in the United States"
In November 1901, Li Hongzhang dictated his will on his deathbed, saying that "if you look around the world, there is no one who is more talented than Yuan Shikai," and urged Yuan Shikai to take over. 42-year-old Yuan Shikai took over from Li Hongzhang, and was given the title of the new Premier. Yuan Shikai took over the mantle of Li Hongzhang, it is logical to use Li Hongzhang cultivated this batch of foreign talents.
Yuan Shikai in tianjin show his "new policy" ambition: from the establishment of new school to send students to study abroad, from the organization of financial taxation to the development of railroad and telephone, from the training of the new army to the establishment of a modern police system. In order to popularize education in the military, he sent his men to "create new characters based on the Peking dialect", which was the earliest form of pinyin.
A group of "young American children" gathered in Tianjin.
At the end of 1901, Tang Shao-yi became the head of the Tianjin Customs Department, a post he held until 1904. Under extremely complicated circumstances, he was involved in taking over the occupied Tianjin from the Eight-Power Allied Forces, handling foreign affairs, and supervising taxation and financial affairs. In Tianjin, he also founded the Telegraph School, which enrolled "young children" aged around 15.
Tang's successor was Liang Dunyan. After returning from the United States, he became Zhang Zhidong's interpreter by chance, and was recognized by Zhang Zhidong, who promoted him to the post of "Jianghan Pass Road", and then to the post of Tianjin Customs Road in 1904. In 1904, he was promoted to the post of Jin Customs. Soon after, he was also appointed as the chief of Beijing-Fengfeng Railway.
Liang Ruhao, who studied at the Stephen School of Engineering in the U.S., went to the Joseon Customs with Tang Shaoyi, and then worked in Yuan Shikai's office. After Yuan Shikai became the governor of Zhili, Liang Ruhao became the general manager of the Beining Railway and the Niuzhuang Customs Office, and then he succeeded Liang Dunyan as the Jin Customs Office. He was succeeded by Cai Shaoji, a "young boy" who had studied at Yale University.
Cai Shaoji, who participated in the founding of the Chinese and Western schools in Tianjin during the Restoration period, was the first university president among the "American children" when the school was transformed into Peking University in April 1903, with Cai Shaoji serving as its assistant administrator and then as its chief administrator.
Cao Jiaxiang, who served as the gunnery officer of Zhenyuan, was appointed by Yuan Shikai to be the police inspector of Tianjin, and became one of the founders of the new style of police in China, and because of his efforts, the "Beiyang Police" during the "New Deal" period became famous throughout the country. "
Yuan Shikai appointed the Tianjin Police Department as one of the founders of China's new style of police.
Yuan Shikai power, shortly after assuming the governorship of Zhili, he was appointed by the Qing court as the minister of the railroad, the minister of commerce and the minister of electricity, railroads, telecommunication and other key sectors are under his jurisdiction. At a time, a group of learning railroads, telegraphs, "children in the United States" to become the backbone of Yuan Shikai, among them Zhan Tianyou. In order to get this outstanding railroad engineer, Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong had a dispute.
Suddenly, the "American children" became a treasure to be fought over, and their fate took a dramatic turn.
One hundred years later, people to Tianjin, you can still see the most well-preserved, the largest Qing dynasty hall building - completed in 1907, "Guangdong Hall". It is a large compound with Chaozhou style, which has an old inn, a huge theater building, and an indoor theater that can accommodate seven to eight hundred people. You can see a stone tablet engraved with the names of the people who donated money for the construction inside the Guangdong Hall. Among them are Tang Shaoyi, Liang Dunyan, Liang Ruhao, Cai Shaoji, Zhou Shoushen and a number of "children in the United States", in the early 20th century, these middle-aged people in Tianjin has been a prominent official celebrities.