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Yale University and China
History & Overview
A Briefing on a 170-Year-Old Relationship
I. HISTORICAL TIES AND OVERVIEW
Earliest Contacts. Yale’s relationship with China is deeper and longer
than that of any other university in the United States. One of the earliest
connections was established by Peter Parker, who graduated from Yale College
in 1831 after studying theology and received his medical degree from the Yale
School of Medicine in 1834. The following year, Parker opened in Guangzhou
(then Canton) the Ophthalmic Infirmary, which was the first Western-style hospital
in China. Parker remained in charge of the Ophthalmic Infirmary when it was
renamed the Boji Hospital in the 1860s and also began to train students in
allopathic medicine. Among the Chinese who studied at Parker’s hospital
was Dr. Sun Yat-sen who would forgo a career in medicine for one in national
politics. The Boji Hospital, which was again renamed to Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial
Hospital, celebrated its 170th anniversary in November 2005.
Parker specialized in treating diseases of the eye, particularly cataracts,
but also successfully introduced Western surgical techniques, including the
removal of tumors, amputation, anesthesia, and reconstructive surgery. With
the painter Lam Qua, Parker illustrated surgical pathologies in his patients,
and Lam Qua’s eighty-three exquisite portraits depicting patients with
extreme tumor growths are still held by the Yale Medical Library. Parker’s “medical
mission” represented the first intense, long-term contact between a Yale
graduate and Chinese culture. In addition to his work as a physician, Parker
was one of the first Yale graduates to chronicle daily life in China. His journals,
correspondence, and paintings—which also are now housed in the Yale Medical
Library—provided information about China never before available in New
England, spurring interest in China among Yale’s students and faculty.
First Graduate. The second half of the nineteenth
century brought China to Yale. This chapter in the University’s history
unfolded in 1850 with the arrival in New Haven of Yung Wing (1828–1912).
A native of Guangdong province, Yung had received some of his primary schooling
at an institution in Hong Kong run by another Yale-educated missionary, Samuel
Robbins Brown. Impressed with Yung’s abilities, Brown sent him to the
United States for preparatory school, after which Yung enrolled as a student
in Yale College. Yung Wing graduated from Yale in 1854, becoming the first
person from China to earn a degree from an American college or university.
Prominent Early Chinese Students at Yale. In 1872, having won approval from
the Qing Court to organize the Chinese Educational Mission, Yung Wing sent
120 young Chinese students to secondary schools in the Connecticut valley and,
from there, to prestigious New England colleges for higher education in engineering
and other subjects. The premier destination was Yale; in fact, twenty-two students
enrolled in Yale. Conservative forces in the Qing Court vigorously lobbied
to bring the students back to China in 1881. Although only two students had
graduated from Yale by then, many of these young men went on to make important
contributions to China’s development in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Among them are:
- Zhan Tianyou (Class of 1881) arrived in the United States when he was only
twelve years old and went on to graduate from Yale University’s Sheffield
Scientific School. After his return to China, he became renowned for his role
as the engineering consultant for all of China’s railroad networks during
the Qing Government and is known as the “father of China’s railroads.”
- Cai Shaoji, from Xiangshan, Guangdong, arrived in the United States at the
age of thirteen. After his return to China, he became the representative of
the Qing Government in Korea, and then became advisor to Yuan Shikai, the first
president of the Republic of China. He went on to become the president of Tianjin
University (Peiyang University).
- Tang Guoan, after his return from Yale, became the dean of the Tsinghua School,
the precursor of what is today Tsinghua University.
Gift from China Establishes Yale’s Chinese Library Collection. In 1878,
Yung Wing, in appreciation of his Yale education, donated many of the 1,237
volumes of his Chinese book collection to Yale. This gift formed the nucleus
of Yale University’s East Asia Library. The Chinese collection has grown
to over 445,000 volumes and is considered one of the major collections in the
United States today. The collection is particularly strong in Chinese archaeology,
economics, modern history, and literature since 1919. The majority of Yale's
Chinese Collection are located in Sterling but that there are numerous special
collections related to China in the University Libraries. A new initiative
brings librarians from around the world to work in the Yale Library for periods
ranging from six to twelve months. The first two Kwok Library Fellows both
from ZhongShan (Sun Yat-sen) University in Guangzhou are currently at Yale
with other librarians expected from China next year.
China Enters the Yale Curriculum. The study of China at Yale began in 1878
with the appointment to the faculty of Samuel Wells Williams, a former American
missionary and diplomat in China. A formal program of Chinese language study
was established in 1936, and during the 1940s, Yale pioneered new intensive
methods of language instruction and developed textbooks that were widely used
throughout the United States for decades by those learning Chinese.
East Asian Studies Council Promotes Scholarship. Currently, the Council on
East Asian Studies in the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS)
and the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures offer an extensive
array of undergraduate and graduate courses in East Asian studies. Established
in 1961, the Council has developed into YCIAS’s most prominent and active
area studies program. Yale students can pursue B.A. and M.A. degrees in East
Asian Studies and in East Asian Languages and Literatures. Graduate students
in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, as well as in many
other departments of the Yale Graduate School and in Yale’s professional
schools can also pursue graduate degrees with a focus on China. Over a dozen
academic departments regularly offer more than fifty courses annually on Chinese
language, history, literature, society, politics, art, economics, and other
subjects. These academic offerings are supported by renowned library, art,
and scientific collections that are among the finest in the world outside of
China. East Asian culture and society are also present at Yale through concerts,
dramatic and cultural performances, gallery exhibitions, and the activities
of student organizations.
Educating China’s Academic Leaders. In addition to the long history
of formal academic programs concentrating on China at Yale, the University
has a history of sustained collaborations with both academic institutions and
Chinese authorities. The University also has a long history of cultivating
Chinese educators, with notable examples including:
- Three (Tang Guoan, Zhang Yuquan, Zhou Yichun) of the first four presidents
of President Hu Jintao’s alma mater, Tsinghua University, graduated from
Yale.
- Ma Yinchu (Class of 1910) served as the president of Peking University from
1951 to 1960.
- Li Denghui (Class of 1899) served as the first president of Fudan University,
and Yan Fuqing (Class of 1909) served as the president of Fudan Shanghai Medical
School.
- Yan Yangchu (Class of 1918) was a renowned educator, first working to eliminate
illiteracy among Chinese workers in France and then initiating educational
reforms in rural China.
Yale-China Association. Founded by Yale graduates in 1901, the Yale-China
Association, a nonprofit organization that is closely tied to wider Yale efforts
in China, has for over a century served to promote mutual understanding between
Chinese and Americans through teaching and service. Generations of Yale graduates
have taught at schools and universities in China under the auspices of the
Yale-China Association. The Yale-China Association also established and supported
the development of numerous educational institutions in China, including Xiangya
School of Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Huazhong University, and Yali Middle
School—all of which continue to educate tens of thousands of students
in central China annually. Today, the Yale-China Association sponsors fellowships,
exchanges, scholarships, and short- and long-term teaching and training programs
in the fields of public health and nursing, English language instruction, legal
education, American studies, community and public service, and cultural exchange
for Chinese and American students. Annually, close to one thousand Chinese
and American teachers, scholars, public health professionals, lawyers, NGO
leaders, and students participate in the Association’s educational programs
throughout China, including in Hunan, Guangdong, Yunnan, Shanxi, Anhui, Xinjiang,
and Hubei provinces, as well as Beijing and Hong Kong. The Yale-China Association’s
work is characterized by close interaction among individuals and sustained,
long-term relationships with Chinese partner institutions and organizations
designed to build Chinese institutional capacity.
Publication Series. Yale University Press and the China International Publishing
Group have been collaborating for sixteen years on the series, “The Culture
And Civilization Of China.” The project was initiated in 1990 to bring
together Chinese and U.S. scholars, editors, publishers, and translators to
highlight the cultural riches of China and to present the best recent scholarship
in volumes published both in English by Yale University Press and Chinese by
the China International Publishing Group.
President Jiang Zemin of the People’s Republic of China presented the
inaugural volume, Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, published in 1997,
to President William Clinton as his State Gift. It received the Hawkins Award,
the highest award given by the Association of American Publishers for books
of unusual distinction. To date, five other volumes have been published on
Architecture (2002), Philosophy (2002), Society and Politics (2003), Archaeology
(2005), and Sculpture (2006). The next volumes will focus on Calligraphy, Textiles,
and Ceramics.
Over Six Hundred Chinese Students and Scholars at Yale Today. Since China
initiated its “open door policy” in the late 1970s, academic exchanges
and collaborations between Yale and China have expanded rapidly in many fields.
In 2005-2006, there are 300 Chinese students enrolled in Yale College and Yale’s
graduate and professional schools, and 336 other Chinese scholars (fellows,
postdoctoral researchers, etc.) in residence at Yale. Chinese students and
scholars represent, by far, the largest complement of any foreign country in
residence at Yale.
II. ILLUSTRATIVE FACULTY COLLABORATIONS WITH CHINA
Currently, there are more than eighty academic collaborations (including joint/individual
research) under way in China. Seventeen Yale departments/schools have established
partnerships with forty-five Chinese universities, government agencies, or
independent research institutions in sixteen cities in mainland China. There
are twenty-six study sites across China, from Liaoning Province in the east
to Xinjiang in the far west, from Beijing in the north to Hong Kong in the
south.
Yale faculty engaged in projects in China are pursuing a broad array of research,
educational, and training activities. Among these are the many China specialists
associated with the Council on East Asian Studies in the Yale Center for International
and Area Studies, but many other faculty from Law, Medicine, Forestry & Environmental
Studies, Management, Architecture, and other professional schools are involved
in collaborations there. A fuller review of current projects is available at
the Yale and the World Web site: http://www.world.yale.edu. The following are
only illustrative of the range of initiatives that are now under way.
China Law Center at Yale Law School. Directed by Paul Gewirtz, the Potter
Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law, the China Law Center has built strong
working relationships with Chinese institutions and experts within academic,
legal, and government circles which are central to China’s legal reform
process. The Center was established in 1999 after Professor Gewirtz returned
to Yale Law School from a post as Special Representative for the Presidential
Rule of Law Initiative in the U.S. Department of State.
The Center has two important missions: first, to assist the law and policy
reform process within China; and, second, to increase understanding of China
in the United States. Since the Center was launched, it has initiated a wide
range of in-depth projects in the areas of judicial reform, administrative
law, regulatory reform, criminal law, and legal education. It works with many
partners in China, including leading universities and scholars, key government
institutions and officials, and a variety of other innovative and important
figures in China’s legal and policy community.
Council on East Asian Studies. Over twenty-five Yale faculty members associated
with the Council undertake teaching and scholarship on China, on topics ranging
from its anthropology, economics, literatures, and history, to its religions,
philosophies, politics, and other aspects. A number of the projects are collaborations
between Yale faculty and Chinese institutions; for example, Yale’s Department
of Sociology, with support from the Ford Foundation, sponsors summer workshops
on statistical methods at Chinese universities to enhance the research skills
of young and mid-career sociologists. As another example, sixteen Yale faculty
members participated in the Peking-Yale University Conference on “Tradition
and Modernity: Comparative Perspectives” in Beijing in March 2005. They
joined their colleagues from the Peking University Institute for Comparative
Literature and Culture and other Chinese universities to consider literary
scholarship on memory and text; canonization and commentary; official and vernacular
canons of modernity; representations of war and revolution; tradition and realism;
translation and transformation; image and imagination; psychoanalysis and related
topics; and comparative perspectives on library resources.
Science and Health. Recognizing that advances in human health and the life
sciences in the coming decades will disproportionately rely on gaining a deeper
understanding of basic biological processes and mechanisms, Yale and Chinese
institutions are engaged in collaborations that are advancing the frontiers
of science, medicine, and health.
- Peking-Yale Joint Center for Plant Molecular Genetics and Agro-Biotechnology. Directed by Xingwang Deng, the Daniel C. Eaton Professor of Plant Biology at
Yale, the Center at Peking University undertakes research in the field of basic
biology in model plant systems and on the application of this basic research
to crop improvement—an area of great interest and importance to China
and to the United States. The Center provides student and faculty exchanges
between Peking University and Yale and facilitates extended laboratory and
study visits in Beijing and in New Haven by researchers from the two institutions
and their students.
- Fudan-Yale Biomedical Research Center. Yale and Fudan University in Shanghai,
under the direction of Yale Genetics Professor Tian Xu, are carrying out large
genetic screens in mice to elucidate the basic mechanisms of disease development.
The goals of the Center are to perform cutting-edge research and training,
to serve as a model for academic reform in China, and to promote international
exchange and cooperation. The Fudan-Yale Biomedical Research Center is becoming
a locus for research in the field of genetics and molecular medicine, and is
working to identify novel genetic solutions for human diseases ranging from
cancers to a growing number of progressive neurodegenerative diseases. Research
from the Center was the subject of the featured cover article in the August
2005 issue of the journal Cell.
- Peking-Yale Joint Center for Microelectronics and Nanotechnology. In Fall
2005, Yale and Peking University launched a joint research center in microelectronics
and nanotechnology by combining the expertise of faculty members from both
universities with the facilities and human resources of Peking. The long-term
goal of the Center is to support a multidisciplinary research program in which
independent research groups will work within a common facility, sharing resources
and expertise. The Center will engage in the synthesis, manipulation, measurement,
analysis, and modeling of electronic materials and devices on a molecular scale,
to advance nanoelectronic science and technology. The Center will be most directly
associated with the Center for Microelectronic Materials and Structures (“uELM”)
at Yale and the Institute of Microelectronics at Peking and will be co-directed
by T. P. Ma, the Raymond John Wean Professor of Electrical Engineering at Yale.
- Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA). CIRA, directed
by Michael Merson, the Anna M. R. Lauder Professor of Public Health, supports
the conduct of interdisciplinary research focused on the prevention of HIV
infection and the reduction of negative consequences of HIV disease in vulnerable
and underserved populations nationally and abroad. Currently, faculty drawn
from Public Health, Nursing, and Medicine are conducting research in three
regions of China to develop AIDS prevention training, to facilitate the education
and training of health care workers about AIDS, and to encourage the use of
preventative measures by sex workers, drug abusers, and other high-risk populations.
- Yale-China HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care in China. Under the direction of
Professor Ann Williams, Yale School of Nursing faculty and students have been
working with the National Nursing Center of China and Xiangya School of Medicine
to provide HIV/AIDS training to Chinese nurses and other health care professionals.
This is an ongoing program sponsored by the Yale-China Association. A detailed
guide, "HIV/AIDS Train-the-Trainer Program for Chinese Nurses," was
developed and funded by the World AIDS Foundation.
Senior Executive Education Programs. Many of Yale’s professional schools
are involved in training programs for leaders and key practitioners, from nursing
and hospital leaders to provincial environmental administrators.
- China-Yale Advanced University Leadership Program. The China-Yale Advanced
University Leadership Program (CYAULP) was initiated in 2004 for presidents
and vice-presidents from China’s leading universities. It is the most
senior group of Chinese university leaders ever to participate in an executive
education program outside of China. In collaboration with China’s Ministry
of Education, the CYAULP was developed in response to the aspiration expressed
in 1998 by China’s President Jiang Zemin to transform a small number
of Chinese universities into “world-class universities.” Yale faculty
and administrators and Chinese university leaders discuss a number of issues
that are key to the American research university, including liberal education,
peer review, and competitive faculty appointment processes, as well as administrative
practices ranging from fund-raising techniques to strategic planning. The objective
has been to review models and best practices that Chinese universities might
profitably adapt to their own needs. The second session of CYAULP for the presidents
and vice-presidents of fourteen leading universities took place in New Haven
during August 2005, and the summer 2006 session will be held in Xiamen.
- China-Yale Senior Government Leadership Program. This three-year program
for the most senior cohort of government officials to participate in an executive
education program outside of China was inaugurated in 2005. The program focuses
on issues related to administration according to law and is a collaboration
of Yale University–through its China Law Center–and the China National
School of Administration. Renowned legal practitioners and visiting speakers
(including two U.S. Supreme Court justices, current and former U.S. Cabinet
secretaries, the Governor of New York, the United Nations Secretary-General,
and senior leaders at the White House and the United Nations) joined leading
Yale scholars from its faculties of Law, Management, Forestry and Environmental
Studies, and the Arts and Sciences to create the forum. The participants and
presenters examined the U.S. experience of governance and regulation and expanded
the participants’ understanding of the best U.S. thinking on important
issues of law and public policy.
- China-Yale Advanced Leadership Program in Management. In Fall 2005, the Yale
School of Management along with the China International Center for Economic
and Technical Exchanges delivered a month-long advanced leadership development
program in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Twenty-six chief executive officers, general managers, and vice-general managers
of state-owned enterprises in China participated. The program consisted of
classes and discussions at Yale, followed by field visits to relevant government
agencies and companies in New York City and Washington, D.C., including the
United Nations, the New York Stock Exchange, and JP Morgan. Presenters and
participants discussed topics such as the legal environment of enterprises,
investor relations, corporate governance, and leadership style for senior corporate
managers.
- Yale-Tsinghua Environment and Sustainable Development Leadership
Program. In partnership with Tsinghua University in Beijing, the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental
Studies has undertaken a three-year program for the executive education of
Chinese municipal officials—typically mayors and vice-mayors—responsible
for urban planning and development to promote economic development in more
environmentally sustainable ways. The program began with seminars at Tsinghua
University before moving to New Haven, where Chinese municipal officials discussed
issues of environmental sustainability with Yale faculty members and senior
officials from cities and corporations across the United States. The second
of the three sessions met in New Haven during Summer 2005. Among the themes
on which the program focuses are the challenges and opportunities in environment
and sustainable development, urban and industrial ecology and their implications
for urban planning and policies, and the application of concepts of sustainable
development to urban concerns.
Urban Architecture Studio. Established in 2000, this collaboration between
the Yale School of Architecture, Hong Kong University, and Tongji University
challenges students from the three schools to address urban design issues in
China’s rapidly developing cities and to propose strategies for urban
redevelopment and revitalization. After studying a site’s history and
environment, Yale students travel to China for a close inspection and to collaborate
with the Chinese students. While the sites have typically been in Shanghai,
students and faculty travel to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and New Haven as part of
the Studio.
III. STUDENT PROGRAMS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Yale Students in China. Each year, over three hundred Yale undergraduate and
graduate students undertake Chinese language study, and many more study China’s
cultures, economics, history, literatures, politics, religions, and other aspects
through dozens of courses offered in the Yale curriculum. The formal academic
study of China is complemented by opportunities for Yale students to study,
work, and conduct research in China through such programs as:
- Richard U. Light Fellowships. In 2005–2006, seventy-six Yale students
will study in China as Richard U. Light Fellows. The fellowships, inaugurated
in 1996, have been generously funded by the Richard U. Light Foundation to
enable Yale students to engage in language study in East Asia. The Light Fellowship
is committed to intensive language study, but it further provides the opportunity
for students to immerse themselves in cultures other than their own. Light
Fellows currently study at eight sites across China.
- Bulldogs in Beijing Internship Program. Organized by Yale College, the Bulldogs
in Beijing internship program placed twenty-four undergraduate interns last
summer at sixteen organizations in Beijing, ranging from small entrepreneurial
companies to nonprofit organizations. Placements ranged from working at the
Palace Museum in the Forbidden City to IBM China. Each is a challenging, hands-on
assignment, under the direct supervision of an engaged mentor. In 2006, thirty-one
Yale students will have internships in Beijing.
- Joseph Fox International Fellowships. The Fox International Fellowship Program
is a direct two-way student exchange partnership between Yale University and
eleven of the world’s leading universities in China, Russia, England,
Germany, Japan, France, India, Turkey, Israel, South Africa, and Mexico. It
was established by Joseph C. Fox (Class of 1938) to identify and support talented
individuals who will be future leaders in their respective fields. Fox Fellows
pursue academic research, immerse themselves in the local language and culture
of another country, and develop lasting friendships with peers from other countries,
with the goal of better understanding the people and institutions, thereby
building a solid foundation from which to contribute to peaceful coexistence
worldwide. Yale’s partner for the Fox International Fellowship in China
is Fudan University in Shanghai.
Chinese Students at Yale. In addition to the more than three hundred Chinese
students who are studying in residence in Yale’s undergraduate, graduate,
and professional degree programs, special opportunities have been developed
for Chinese students to experience Yale. Among these programs are:
- Summer School Programs for Chinese Undergraduate Students. In 2005, twenty-one
undergraduate students from Fudan University and twenty-five students from
Peking University studied in the Yale Summer Session in the first “Fudan
University at Yale” and “Peking University at Yale” summer
programs. These programs enable the students to experience firsthand Yale’s
student and academic life.
- Peking University-Yale Distinguished Graduate Student Scholarly
Exchange Program. This formal exchange program for Ph.D. students in the humanities
and social sciences of Peking University and Yale University involves one to
three graduate students from each institution (initially in history) who are
selected on the basis of academic excellence and research priorities. Ordinarily,
the students chosen are in non-Asian fields if they are from Peking University,
and in the China field if they are from Yale.
- Peking University-Yale Joint Undergraduate Program in Beijing. Beginning
in Fall 2006, twenty-one Yale students will study at Peking University in a
fully integrated, four-month academic program where they will live and study
together with Peking University students, and participate in social events
with their Peking University classmates. This unique program will provide Yale
students opportunities to immerse themselves in Peking University student life.
- Fan Family Fellowships. Established in 1996 by the generosity and vision
of Hong Kong-based Henry H. L. Fan, the Fan Family Fellowships provide stipend
support for highly qualified Yale Graduate School students from the People’s
Republic of China and are open to students in any academic area. A number of
the fellowships are also reserved for those studying in Yale College and those
studying international relations through the programs of the Yale Center for
International and Area Studies.
IV. HIGHLIGHTS OF YALE PRESIDENT RICHARD C. LEVIN’S TRIPS TO CHINA
- 2001. President Levin met with President Jiang Zemin in Zhongnanahai on
May 8. He also met with Madam Chen Zhili, the former Minister of Education,
who hosted a banquet when the Yale delegation arrived in Beijing on May 6.
On this trip, the delegation visited three major universities: Peking, Tsinghua,
and Fudan. President Levin also had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Shanghai
and speak with representatives of the Chinese media.
- 2003. Madam Chen Zhili, member of the State Council, and Xiao Yang, President
of the Supreme People’s Court, met President Levin in People’s
Hall on November 13 and 12, respectively. Fudan University invited President
Levin to give the keynote address at its international symposium, “Bridging
Minds across the Pacific: The 25-year Sino-U.S. Educational Exchange,” on
November 10–12. President Levin spoke to the National Academy of Education
Administration, becoming the first U.S. university president to address the
assembly. NAEA gathered the current and future university presidents from throughout
China, for which more than three hundred were in attendance. President Levin
also received an honorary doctorate from Peking University.
- 2004. Minister Zhou Ji of the Ministry of Education invited President Levin
to be the keynote speaker at the 2nd Forum for Chinese-Foreign University Presidents
in August. President Levin also took this opportunity to celebrate the 150th
anniversary of Yung Wing’s graduation from Yale University.
- 2004. The Chinese version of President Levin’s book The Work of the
University was published in China and was widely acclaimed by both educators
and the general public.
- 2005. President Levin delivered the keynote address on behalf of all visiting
university presidents at Fudan University’s Centennial Celebration. Fudan
also held a ceremony to confer an honorary professorship on President Levin.
A panel discussion with the Mayor of Shanghai and various university presidents
provided President Levin with an opportunity to present “Universities,
Economic Growth, and Regional Development.” In Beijing, the unveiling
ceremony was held for the Peking-Yale Joint Center for Microelectronics and
Nanotechnology.
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