Wo m e va Canton Christian College Girl Students Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/beginingsofwomenOOcant The Beginnings of the Women’s Department of the Canton Christian College The Girls’ School in 1903. Fanny Sinclair Woods. First Years at Canton. Susan Griggs Graybill. What Became of Seven Girls. Susan Griggs Graybill. Our Girl Students. Julia Post Mitchell. Going Back to the Work. Fung Hin Liu. Developing a Women’s College. Henry B. Graybill. Who is Going to Do It. W. Henry Grant. Trustees of the Canton Christian College 156 Fifth Avenue New York 1915 FOREWORD [Wing Kwong Chung, Dean of the Canton Christian College, Former Commissioner of Education of Kwongtung Province .] Our Chinese people are already convinced by the results in the mission schools of the necessity of educating girls. The Women’s Department was really be- gun as early as 1900 by Mrs. 0. F. Wisner at her home in Macao. The story of the Girls’ School in 1903, connected with the College, has been told by Mrs. Woods. It was the eager desire of our Chinese staff to see this work continued, and I took into my home seven girls, under the care of my wife, who were admitted to the boys’ classes. Since we admitted these girls many men and women of high rank as well as others have begged us to admit their girls to our College, but we have had to deny all these requests. I am confident that as many girls will apply for entrance as we wish to admit, and that their parents will pay the same fees as those paid for the boys, and that our Chinese friends will contribute liberally toward the running expenses and buildings. W. K. Chung. Underwood Underwood Miss Fung Hin Liu Miss Julia Post Mitchell I. THE GIRLS’ SCHOOL IN 1903 Fanny Sinclair Woods (From “The Collegian”, July, 1904) On February 26, 1903, a school for girls was opened in the third story of a Chinese home not far from buildings occupied by the Canton Christian College. The school was all in one class, for the three foreigners who had promised to teach English could give but one hour a day each. It opened with eleven pupils, which soon increased to seven- teen, but, during the first half year it was found necessary to send away all the mar- ried women and one of the older girls, be- cause of their inability to understand and retain the lessons. Of the twelve remain- ing pupils, two did not return in the autumn. The first steps to establish this school were taken at the instance of two Chinese Christians, Wing Kwong Chung,* professor of Chinese in the Canton Christian College, and Tak Shan Liu, a Chinese doctor and pas- tor of the Macao Church. Mrs. 0. F. Wisner had taught a few girls in her home in 1900 and 1901 and found them bright and eager to learn, and her success encouraged us to undertake the work. We had no funds for a school, but we promised to teach if Mr. Chung and Dr. Liu would secure a sufficient number of students to insure the salary of a Chinese teacher and the rent of a school- * To avoid confusion the Chinese order Is reversed and the surname put last In each case. 3 The Canton Christian College room. They set to work with a will, and at once prepared and sent out a Chinese paper advertising the proposed school. The tui- tion was fixed at thirty-two silver dollars, and though it was a large amount to spend in educating a girl in China that did not pre- vent the necessary number from applying and the school was opened. The three foreign women who entered upon this new work were newcomers to China, and their teaching was of necessity in English. The whole plan of the school was copied after what seemed to us the suc- cessful system being worked out for the boys in the Canton Christian College, using the English language from the beginning as the medium of instruction. The school curriculum was in general as follows: Opening exercises, consisting of reading the Bible, prayer and singing, call- ing the roll. These were presided over by the teacher who taught the first hour. For the first month or so, Chinese was used, but as soon as possible English hymns were sub- stituted, and a simple prayer in English was offered by the leader. Mrs. Clancey M. Lewis gave a good deal of time to teaching each hymn, showing the girls how to sing correctly and sparing no pains to explain the meaning of the English words — a task by no means easy — so that their singing might be more than mere sounds. Follow- ing the opening exercises, on every week- day except Saturday, were the English classes, lasting for three hours, with an in- termission of fifteen minutes before the last 4 Beginnings of Women’s Department hour. Mrs. William McKay of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission taught the arithmetic and Bible ; Mrs. Lewis taught the geography and writing, while I (Mrs. Woods) had charge of the English language class. With the exception of Wednesday, the afternoons and Saturday mornings were given up to the Chinese studies under the care of a man teacher. As this was an innovation for Chi- nese girls, they were chaperoned by older women. The first two months of school were hard ones for teachers and pupils alike. From the first nothing but English was spoken ex- cept in the Chinese classes, but this was not the trying feature of the work. The stu- dents were of all ages from thirty down to nine, and the ability to take in anything new was as varied as their ages. This was particularly true in Mrs. McKay’s class in mathematics, and it was only due to her untiring efforts with the backward students that she was able to keep the class together. Another great difficulty was the inattentive- ness of the students. The idea of paying attention unless being spoken to directly was in most cases entirely lacking and it was a great strain on the patience of the teacher, especially as those who excelled in stupidity were the ones who most often sinned in this way. Then too there was cheating and stub- bornness which needed all the firmness the teacher could summon to overcome it. Three afternoons in the week at least one of the foreign teachers took the girls out for a walk or a play in some secluded part of the 5 The Canton Christian College Macao “cliff road”. At such times English speaking was insisted upon, but this did not interfere with the enjoyment of playing “Drop the handkerchief,” “London Bridge,” “Plum, plum, pull away,” and all the other favorites known and enjoyed by American children. These afternoon walks, together with the calisthenic drill, given when pos- sible, during the morning, fifteen-minute re- cess seemed to put new energy and life into girls who were accustomed to a slow drag- ging gait. Early in the school year two of the girls went with their American teacher to do an errand and nearly wore her out by their deliberate gait. The same teacher was much surprised a month later to find it dif- ficult to keep up with her young companions. In explanation, they said, “We learn walk very fast now.” On Sunday for an hour they were given a simple Bible lesson in English. Some of the students were Christians, a few were not, but all were required to attend. I have never had better attention from the girls who all showed a deep desire to know the truth. They thoroughly enjoyed the singing, and sang very sweetly the few hymns they learned. The Canton Christian College permitted our girls to attend the Sunday service held in the big room at eleven, and this was a great help and privilege to the girls, who enjoyed the service increasingly as they were able to understand more of what the speakers had to say. In the afternoon they usually went to the Chinese Church and Sunday School. 6 Beginnings of Women’s Department From February until July this routine was kept up, each month bringing encourage- ments in the evident advance made by the pupils both in matters of discipline and in their power and ability to think. Then came the summer holidays, lasting three months. In October work was resumed with enthusi- asm on the part of the girls that opened our eyes to see what our little school was mean- ing to these Chinese girls. The enthusiasm was not momentary, but carried the school through the semester of hard work upon which they now entered. But I could not tell of our school without mentioning the Christmas entertainment. About three weeks before Christmas each teacher was approached by the girls and asked to give them something to do for Christmas, at the same time being pledged to the utmost secrecy. For two weeks all the time that could be spared from their studies the girls devoted to making paper flowers, chains and “Jacobs ladders” of all the colors in the rainbow. The day before Christmas they begged for a holiday to deco- rate the school building. This was done en- tirely by themselves, and it was done very well though quite true to Chinese style. Our guests were to be restricted to the parents of the girls and the faculty of the College, but even this audience was a large one for the girls, and one after another whispered to us the next morning, “I did not sleep all last night.” The program was all in English, two or three Christmas hymns, an exercise in which 7 The Canton Christian College the Christmas story was told again, each girl representing a letter, all of which together spelled the word “Christmas.” There were also several recitations, one, Longfellow’s poem of “The Three Kings,” was repeated, the verses being divided among the girls, while the familiar song about the three little kittens who lost their mittens and had no Christmas pie, was as well appreciated by the girls as by their audience. At the end Dr. Wisner spoke a few words to the girls about the meaning of Christmas, and after this the girls passed around Chinese dain- ties, the one surprise of the day, and so ended for them the happiest day of the year — I might almost dare to say of their lives. One other day is indelibly impressed upon my mind — the day we had to announce to the girls that we could not reopen the school after the New Year holiday. We had ex- pected loud crying and a great commotion, instead during the whole of the remaining week we were met with tear-stained faces and sobs that seemed to come from the very depths of their souls. We tried to comfort them. We hoped sometime we could estab- lish a school for girls like the Canton Chris- tian College. “That is good for our little sisters to hear, but for us, no, we are too old.” And we had nothing to answer, for we knew how slow would be the work of building up such a school as we hoped for. The difficulties we had were great, but the discouragements were far outweighed by the joy of teaching girls whose minds seemed under our very eyes to open to the 8 Beginnings of Women’s Department meaning of life and the world around them. Of course in one year their progress could not be great, but what advance was made is proved by the record of the second semester. There was no cheating, the attention in class was good, and their sympathy, which we found difficult to win at first, was given with- out stint. During the last two months of the year I remember saying to one of the other teachers, “These girls used to seem far off to me, now I am enjoying playing with them just as if they were American girls.” Yes, these girls were just like American girls except in this one great particular. Their lack of early training had narrowed their horizons and dulled their reasoning faculties to a surprising degree. But when they came under sympathetic instruction, every ideal possessed by the teacher soon be- came theirs and a strong, patient woman- hood was developed. Those who would re- form China while neglecting her women are attempting to construct an arch with but one pier. To illustrate just what results can be secured in one year in teaching Chinese girls we present the following samples of work. About Our School, Fung Hin Liu Many people say the Christian College is the best school of South China, because the teachers not only give their students knowl- edge, but they also make their characters very strong. Therefore I thank the gentle- men who support this college very much. 9 The Canton Christian College But my heart was not satisfy yet, for there are 400,000,000 people and half of them are girls, which do not study. Then though all the boys have good education and strong characters, and yet China could not be as strong as U. S. & England, because the foundation of the country is in the families & the families are supported by the women. Last year Mrs. Woods & Lewis & McKay had a girl School it was just as well as the Christian College, but Mrs. Woods must go to Canton this year with Dr. Woods, so this school could not continue this year. All the girls were very sorry for it. But I know, if we wish to do the right things, God will help us, so we ought to pray to Him & be patient to wait for the chance. A Letter to Her Father, Lau Yuen Mei By a ten-year-old Chinese girl after one year of English, uncorrected. Dear Papa — I like to go to school, I read my English book every day. I learn many things. Hay is dry grass. A hen is a mama chicken. The baby is well. I love you very much. Good bye. A Chinese Essay by Wei Kay Yueng (Recent translation by herself) Last year I was studying in Kei To (Christ School). Every day we studied Chinese three hours and English three hours. The teachers were Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. McKay. The arrangement of the stud- ies and methods of the school were very 10 Beginnings of Women’s Department good (i. e., inside of the school-room what you do and lessons were in good order — well systematized). The method of teaching is very easy for the pupil’s progress. This is why everybody enjoyed the teaching and most of them got the benefit of it. When Christmas time came all the stu- dents made paper flowers and cut out stars and paper balls and hung them inside in order to decorate the school, and the Christ- mas tree helped us to have more fun, and the teachers taught us how to sing, and we invited the Canton Christian College profes- sors to come to enjoy it with us. We were having a great time but sud- denly Mrs. Woods had to go to Canton with Dr. Woods to start a medical school. That is why we had to stop and close the school (at Macao). When the teachers told us this, we all seemed to lose a great thing be- cause they were so kind to us and it was very hard to find any teachers to teach us in such a good method as they did. Now I am studying in Mr. Tsz Po Ch’an’s school. This teacher is very famous in South China. The method of his teaching is very different from the others. Mr. Ch’an used to say, If we Chinese want to learn English we should first of all know our own language well because we are Chinese and to study Chinese is the foundation of our education. After we finish Chinese, then we should put all our time to the study of English. I am standing and looking forward for them to open the school again. ll II. THE FIRST YEARS AT CANTON Susan Griggs Graybill In 1904 the Canton Christian College re- moved from Macao to its newly acquired land and temporary wooden buildings at Canton. But alas, the girls were left be- hind, there being no possible accommoda- tion for them. Some of the younger ones, including Fung Hin Liu,* Fung Yan Liu and Kwai Haan Chan, went to Mr. Sz Po Chan’s good Chinese school in Macao. Two years later Mr. and Mrs. Wing Kwong Chung were enabled to receive some of these girls into their new bungalow home at the Can- ton Christian College, and with great rejoic- ing they came. At first there were four of them, Fung Hin Liu and her sister, Fung Yan, Mr. Chung’s own daughter, Wai Ha, and Yau Tsit Law, returned from the True Light Seminary in Canton. During the next three years these four remained and were joined for longer or shorter periods by three others, Kwai Haan Chan, Yan Yun Mui and Wai Kei Yeung (Lily Young). This group of seven was the nucleus of the beginning of real work for girls at the College, and I shall tell later what has become of them. These seven, according to all reports, en- tered with the greatest zest into the life of the school. They were not one whit behind the boys in their studies and one was a little * To avoid confusion the Chinese order is reversed and the surname put last in each case. Ei is pronounced like ay. 12 Beginnings of Women’s Department ahead of all the boys. They joined the stu- dent Y. M. C. A., greatly to the advantage of that organization, for few boys had had the Christian training they had enjoyed. The boys were put on their mettle by this unique experiment in education in China. They rose to the occasion by a consistent gentlemanly behavior. The girls, on their part, had just as much school spirit; when the battalion came out one fall in their brand new uni- forms, throwing back their shoulders as the girls came by, they were dumbfounded to see the seven girls also in uniforms of beau- tiful gray silk and just as proud as them- selves. When I first went to Canton in 1909, four of the seven remained. Fung Hin Liu had graduated from the Middle School with first honors and sailed away to America to ac- quire more. Yan Yun Mui was studying in Shanghai and Wai Kei Yeung in Hongkong. My first impression of them was of demure- ness itself, together with the pleasantest of manners and sweetest of smiles. Two days after I arrived I heard them at their weekly evening party with Miss Soles (now Mrs. Laird), the American trained nurse, who lived in one end of our house. I was at once obliged to add to my impression the conviction that very merry fun-loving hearts beat gaily under the immaculate silk coats I so admired. A little later came my opportunity to lead them in Bible study; I was about to say “teach them Bible,” but our Sunday morn- ing hour soon came to be a time of exchange 13 The Canton Christian College of thought and ideas, for three of my class members were as ready to talk as I was, and had very accurate knowledge of their Bibles. The other one would have been quite as will- ing to participate in the discussion, I believe, had it been conducted in Chinese. All were interested in new interpretations suggested, but slow to alter any real conviction. Did I mention that one of these girls represented the fifth Christian generation in her family? She was one of whom, it was said, a year later, when I hesitated about assuming charge of a College class in history, “You can’t injure her no matter what methods you use; she will get through successfully, whatever her instructor may do.” And so it proved. As this group broke up I felt that very good friends were leaving us, congenial un- derstanding friends, who would be greatly missed. The occasional contact with the two that remained to work was pleasant, and very soon there appeared two more, Fung Kei Liu and Wing Chan Chung. These two were quite new to English, but such workers that very shortly we were able to converse in that tongue. Our early communications were a combination of poor Chinese on my side and delicious English from them, both of which caused many a laugh, and gave us the comforting assurance that we all had our weaknesses, as well as our native points of strength. My share in their education was small, for when the Middle School was un- able to admit them all the American women on the Campus were smitten with such sym- 14 Beginnings of Women’s Department pathy for their disappointment that the ser- vices of all were immediately offered to fill the lack. Eleven o’clock was the hour, I should say the exact minute, for these eager students were promptness itself, when my doorbell rang and the girls came. I shall not soon forget these morning hours, when in the cool of my big living rooms we joined the youthful characters in our reading book in games and sleigh rides, and carpentry work, and finally in a gay trip around the world, every day pronouncing our th’s a little better, and taking a little more of the Can- tonese singsong out of our performance. Every expression of those two faces, even every attitude of the graceful bodies ex- pressed the interested desire to absorb, and there was the mentality behind all this that assured success. And then the day of mingled feelings came when I must say goodbye and be gone to America. And these busy girls, both of whom were then assist- ing in the Primary School, gave me pieces of embroidery, done by themselves, which must have taken days of work to accom- plish. They admitted that it was only by the fortunate granting of an unexpected holi- day that they were able to complete these offerings. Such was their exquisite appreci- ation of the little time I had given to help- ing them. I suppose they will never under- stand that they helped me just as much as I helped them. These two girls, Fung Kei Liu and Wing Chan Chung, are still at the Col- lege working, as Miss Mitchell says, “Like mad.” 15 III. WHAT BECAME OF SEVEN GIRLS Susan Griggs Graybill Those seven girls, who were the first group of students in their department of the C. C. C., have already made history for them- selves, and there is promise that their lives are yet to be great reservoirs of benefit for the women and children of South China. Miss Fung Hin Liu came to America in 1909, with provision made for one year’s study only, but with faith that some way would be found to enable her to com- plete a full college course. Her first years at Wooster, Ohio, were made possible and smooth by the interest and help of Mrs. O. F.Wisner, who, years before, had in her own home, in China, done much for the girls she knew there. Miss Liu, after completing the Junior Year at Wooster University, secured the Helen Gould Scholarship at Wellesley, and entered the Junior Class there in the autumn of 1912, taking her B.A. degree in 1914. She is now taking special courses in Teachers College, Columbia University, with a view to returning to the Canton Chris- tian College as a teacher in the Women’s Department. Her double experience in China and America, her exceptional abilities and her devoted purpose fit her pre-eminently to be a corner-stone in the upbuilding of the Women’s Department of the C. C. C. Miss Yau Tsit Law finished the work of the Middle School, taught a year in Canton, 16 Beginnings of Women’s Department and when the Kwongtung Government gave competitive examinations for sending stu- dents to America, she and Miss Fung Yan Liu were the only successful girl candidates. She is now a Junior at Mt. Holyoke College. While in Canton she and Miss Fung Yan Liu were very active in organizing the city Young Women’s Christian Association. They are both in active sympathy with the higher education of women. Miss Fung Yan Liu would have taken a medical course in China, after her gradua- tion from the Middle School had she not also been accepted by the Provincial Gov- ernment to be sent to America for study. I have already spoken of her activity in the Canton Y. W. C. A. She has had two years’ work at the University of Michigan, and is now a Junior at Smith College. Miss Wai Ha Chung remained at the Col- lege until this year, having completed her Middle School studies some two or three years ago. She has been one of the most tireless helpers of the American women at the College in their efforts to be of service to the non-Christian and uneducated women at or near the College. Miss Chung has served as interpreter, as teacher of Bible and of reading, and as leader in the vil- lages. I have yet to hear of her replying in the negative to any request made of her by the American women. She will soon be in America where her father wishes her near him. She will, in all probability, study at Northfield for a time. Miss Kwai Haan Chan is in charge of the 17 The Canton Christian College kindergarten department of the Primary School. She has not only shown a marked capacity and bent for this work, but she has taken advantage of every opportunity to acquire proficiency and technical knowl- edge. A trained kindergartner from America has had a small training class in Canton for a year or two and Miss Chan has com- pleted a course under her tuition which, in addition to her several years’ practical ex- perience, her natural aptitude and her deep Christian earnestness, makes her a splen- did friend and guide for her fortunate little charges. Miss Wai Kei Yeung (Lily Young) was a good deal younger than the other girls, and when, after studying in Hongkong for a time, she came back to the College one day to ask some advice about going to America by herself, we were almost afraid to abet such a plan. But the way was smoothed and friends were found and Wai Kei set forth upon adventure. All has been well with her. After a year in a Southern school, she came to Wilson College in Pennsylvania where she is now studying. Miss Yan Yun Mui, the seventh of the group, was only a short time at the Col- lege, and went to Shanghai to study. \Y e have recently heard that she has returned to the Canton Christian College, and with re- doubled energy for study, has joined Miss Wing Chan Chung and Miss Fung Kei Liu in the third year class of the Middle School. 18 1 ■ Pm 1 Wo Lb fBSjl §$- \ O Fr ” > - y S. t mg i A feast in a flower-boat The First Graduates of the Summer Normal School conducted at the C. C. C. under the auspices of the Kwongtung Educational Association At the Christmas entertainment, 1903 Part of the School at Macao in 1903. One of these girls is the daughter of the present Chinese Minister to Great Britain Training a Group of Girls with the Boys The group of seven in uniform. From left to right: Yau Tsit Law, Wai Kei Yeung, Kwai Haan Chan, Fung Hin Liu, Fung Yan Liu, Wai Ha Chung, Yan Yun Mui (see Chapter 3) The outdoor spirit at the College is the secret of many a success C. C. C. representatives at Chinese Students’ Summer Conference, Amherst, 1914. Front row, left to right: Wai Kei Yeung, Yau Tsit Law, Dean W. K. Chung, Fung Yan Liu, Fung Hin Liu IV. OUR GIRL STUDENTS Julia Post Mitchell [Miss Julia Mitchell, Associate Professor of English in the Canton Christian Col- lege, arrived at Canton September, 1913, and is acquiring the language, studying conditions affecting the school work in China, and making friends with the Chinese young women at the College, in addition to teach- ing advanced English. She writes as fol- lows :] The Chinese girls are simply enchanting with their graceful, charming manners, soft voices and affectionate ways. Some are bright as a flash, and they all thoroughly love good times. This means volley-ball, making candy, playing bean-bags or “seeing your things,” and almost anything interests them. Two of them, Miss Fung Kei Liu and Miss Wing Chan Chung come here one afternoon every week “just for fun” and we three play volley-ball with the five girls from the gram- mar school and Mrs. Lau very often. They are all enthusiastic about volley-ball and play well. You may measure their enthusi- asm by the fact that there is a deep ditch a few feet from our playground into which the ball often drops; it is rather a difficult feat to get it out again and then it has to be scrubbed with dry grass to remove the mud. After this has happened a few times the ball is so heavy from its soaking that it 19 The Canton Christian College is hard to get it over the high net. But the girls are as cheerful about it as can be. When the ball rolls near the place and we are afraid it is going in, we all scream very loud to stop it. The carpenter has made a bean-bag board for me, containing a large and small square hole into which we try to throw the bean- bags. On rainy days we play this instead of volley-ball, up in my room. They seem to enjoy this very much ; last week they came up several times to play, and in a short time they became very proficient at it. One day Miss Chau and her sister came too. They are the j oiliest girls, always bubbling over with good spirits. It is good to have them about. As soon as the head nurse saw our game she ordered the carpenter to make one for the nurses at the hospital. It is fin- ished and they are enjoying it very much. With six nurses at the hospital, six teach- ers at the primary school, one at the vil- lage school at San Fung Wong, which is under the wing of the College, two girls studying like mad in the high school, five younger girls studying in the grammar school, just because the teachers, all Chi- nese, are willing to give them outside time, and several young wives of Chinese teach- ers, etc., there is quite a nucleus of girls and young women for whom entertainment and friendship must be provided by us in some way in order to keep them happy and good, and to help them to do their work and carry their responsibilities wholesomely and well. 20 Beginnings of Women’s Department I shall never rest until there is a good, a very good school for girls right here, to do work equivalent to, though not neces- sarily identical with, what the boys are do- ing in their high school. The College classes for girls can wait but this cannot. The peril of turning young men out from the College with no women in China, ex- cept a few isolated cases, educated anywhere near their level is very great. They take marriage very lightly or they grow cynical and disillusioned. The College here has only done half its part when it trains these fel- lows, fills them to the brim with idealism and enthusiasm, and the knowledge of how to do things, and then lets them build up any kind of a home they can get together. Frankly, I think that the standard of girls’ education here in China, though somewhat different than in America, ought to be higher. There books, lectures, all sorts of things more or less “make it up” to the ill- educated. They need to be taught much more about sanitation, nursing, household running in all its forms, than American girls, as a rule, and at the same time they need a chance to look the leading facts of history and economics in the face. But enough ! I’m not working out a curriculum, only telling you how it grieves me to wait while new China is so desperately in need of the kind that will meet its new conditions. I want a good school for girls here, with a high academic standard, but a flexible cur- riculum that will bend to fit their needs. I am revelling in my teaching. The boys are 21 The Canton Christian College keen and eager and work well and do their own thinking; but men’s education always runs ahead of women’s, and I don’t want the Chinese girls to have to wait till Sophia Smith is reincarnated before they can be trained to make homes that will enable the men from here and elsewhere to shape this republic. How much can they do if they all have untrained wives hanging to their necks ? I want the girls to use my quarters in Martin Hall as a sort of clubroom until they have other accommodations. I have had a ping-pong table made and the bean-bag game still holds its attractions. “Tiddledy Winks” are on their way out and I hope to find suggestions from Miss Jessie Bancroft’s book, “Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium.” Quiet ones are better than none at all, but I am anxious to have appliances for as many as possible that will counteract the positions of the study period and recitation hours. Not more than four can play ping-pong at once, so I am casting about for all that I can find. Two of the girls come up every Tuesday afternoon for a cup of tea and a short chat, but as long as the good weather lasts I don’t like to keep them indoors long. They enjoy volley-ball and they are needed on the teams. The girls all play well and it is pretty to watch their eagerness and enthusiasm. To tell the truth I think one reason for their enjoyment is the fact that it is the same game the boys play. They have all the work the boys here have but only a part of their 22 Beginnings of Women’s Department fun, so this helps to make up for that. One afternoon the girls were hanging on my rail- ing watching the drill. When they came back to my room one of them said, laugh- ingly but wistfully, “I wish I were a boy.” “Why?” I asked. “So that I could do that,” she said, turning her head toward the parade- ground whence some very lively bugling was wafted up to us. Besides the girls in the primary school and the others studying and teaching on the College grounds, there are thirty or forty other girls that would be very glad of the opportunity to begin study here immedi- ately. If the girls are always as delightful to teach as the boys are there is some fun waiting for somebody! 23 V. GOING BACK TO THE WORK Fung Hin Liu Wellesley College, April 17, 1913 . — I feel so happy that I shall be having a share in the founding of the Women’s Department of the Canton Christian College. Though at times I had been undecided about my future work, that is, the place where I should do my work, yet the desire to work in the College has always been dominant. I know that the College will grow higher and higher in the esteem of the Chinese people, and its influence for Christianity will be greater and greater. I am so happy to think that I have taken this definite step. As to the question of finance, don’t let it bother you. I have come out safely so far, and I trust it will come out for the best. It is nice to think that one has no debt when one gets out of College, but even if I had some debt “as long as I have my breath I can pay it back.” So in our working toward the founding of the College, don’t let my personal financial problem come into play too much. I am sure my parents, brothers and sisters will be too glad to lose the help from me when they know that I am working for this important cause. This cause has been my parents’ cause for years. You may be interested to know what my ideas concerning education for women are. I think the chief place for women is the home. During this transitional period of 24 Beginnings of Women’s Department Chinese society, I think nothing is more im- portant than to give the women of China the idea of sacredness of the home, to help them to understand that marriage is not just a means to secure happiness, but is a responsi- bility, to train and educate the citizens of the future, and to promote love and all that is sacred to the human race. Another place for women is the school. Not every woman can teach, but only she who has love for children can teach. There is hardly any posi- tion or work women cannot occupy, but they all need to have preparation. The prepara- tion consists in the acquiring of a great love for humanity and a keen sense of judgment concerning the good and the bad for the country and the world, and the power to carry the right judgment into action. Wellesley, Jan. 28, 1914. — I haven’t writ- ten to you any more concerning my plan because I have not had enough time to think about it. I just had a little time to discuss this matter with some of my friends here this afternoon. It became clear to me that I must go home and work for this Women’s Department. It is not a question whether I will be best fitted for it or not, but it just seems as if it is ‘my job.’ It ‘falls upon me’ to do it, as you said in your letter. I was talking to three of my friends this afternoon about it. They were all so en- thusiastic over this project that they are will- ing to do pioneer work with me. The prob- lem of the proper kind of worker is a great 25 The Canton Christian College one. They are girls that are willing to work with all their might and main. They de- light in working up new things. One is in- terested in kindergarten. Teachers College, Columbia, Dec. 21, 191U. — I am so thrilled that our Trustees have approved the raising of funds for the Wom- en’s Department at the Canton Christian College. I know that the present work for boys is financed with great difficulty and it may be wiser not to open up new work; yet the women’s work is already ripe and unless it is reaped it will go to waste. I know some of my Chinese friends will be very willing to contribute all they can toward the work if it is well started. In the meanwhile we must work hard to get some funds for the buildings and support for at least two teachers. My work at Teachers College is opening my eyes to many educational problems. It has been giving me what I need. I am glad I am here. One year seems too short to cover such a big field. How I wish I could stay here another year! Yet I can hardly wait to go home when I think of the many girls waiting for me there to give them what little I know. I must tell you something about my younger sister, Fung Kei. She wrote to me that she would try to write me in English in order to get more practice. She is doing very well but she does make some funny mistakes. She wrote “Mrs. Laird in- vited us to her home to a soso meeting. We 26 Beginnings of Women’s Department had a very enjoyable time.” In another let- ter she stated, “I am not very well. Father is taking me out horse-back riding. The streets are crowed so when we get to the wilder streets we weep our horses and make them go faster.” Not long ago a rumor started at home that I was going to leave Canton and settle in North China. She wrote concerning it in a long Chinese letter, “I cannot believe it. There are so many girls ready for high school waiting for you to come back. Our eyes are fixed on the Women’s Department that you are to help build up. No matter what you may do please do not forget us. We are ready to help you in every way.” Fung Kei is in the third year class now and is doing very well. She wishes to take up Primary School Supervision. I hope that she can come to Teachers College some time in the future. I am glad we have taken definite steps toward the actual building up of the Girls’ Work. I am more and more convinced that edu- cation for Chinese women should be different from that of American women. To work out a system of education adapted to the needs of our women is the greatest problem we have. It challenges the biggest intellects. So much of the new education for women at home has been transported bodily from America. This is a great mistake, especially when we real- ize that the curricula for women in this coun- try have been taken from those adapted to men, and that the education for women is still in the process of adjustment. 27 VI DEVELOPING A WOMEN’S COLLEGE Henry B. Graybill For fourteen years the Canton Christian College has been studying and working at the problem of developing a Women’s De- partment. The building up of the institu- tion as a whole has been so arduous that this and other departments have had to await their turn for full development. Land, ad- ministrative organization, a student body with excellent spirit and morale, and Chi- nese and American constituency have now been secured as a foundation for the work as a whole. A Student Nucleus The first task in developing any of the schools is the training of a small student nucleus. About sixty girls, in groups scat- tered from the Primary School to the Col- lege, have been under instruction, and many other girls have been pleading for admit- tance. But for the sake of the character of the student body the numbers must be strictly limited to those that can come into contact with the teachers and older students. Another reason for the early development of such groups of girls was that they have thus furnished the first teachers for the Women’s Department. From among those trained at the College one is now one of the best teachers of the primary school ; one has assisted in several grades, and Miss F. H. 28 Beginnings of Women’s Department Liu, now at Teachers College, Columbia, will return probably next autumn to the College to throw herself into the intensive training of more groups of girls. Miss Liu, with the other members of the girls’ school staff, will concentrate her efforts at first upon the Grammar School classes and the small class entering the Middle School (High School). The latter will be allowed to increase in size and will be carried along as a single class until the next class is ready to enter from the Grammar School two years later. The primary grades, for the present at least remain, for convenience unseparated from the boys’ grades. The three girls in the Middle School, third year class, will be allowed to complete their work in the boys’ classes, since it is far more desirable to build up the student body from a point lower down. This is a vital point in the educa- tional work in a non-Christian land. Teachers and Workers The second essential is the formation of a staff and its organization. The organization of the institution as a whole is now described in the “Statutes.” The Women’s College, with its lower schools, will constitute the “Women’s Department.” The following have been giving time to the girls’ work: Miss Julia Post Mitchell, B.A. (Smith), M.A. (Teachers College), Miss Fung Hin Liu, B.A. (Wellesley and Teachers College), 29 The Canton Christian College Mrs. C. G. Fuson (Phoebe Meeker), B.A. (Emporia), Mrs. A. H. Woods (Fanny Sinclair), B.A. (Bryn Mawr), Mrs. H. B. Graybill (Susan Griggs), B.A. (Vassar). Mrs. C. N. Laird (Mary Soles), Mrs. H. J. Howard (Margaret Stroeble), and others have devoted time to the Village Girls’ School, the Nurses’ Training Class in the Medical Department, the Night School for Women, and other work for the girls and women at the College. Mrs. J. C. Mc- Cracken did splendid work in beginning their physical training in stimulating by her en- thusiasm the whole enterprise, and in aid- ing the first of the girls to enter college in America. In addition to these should be mentioned the splendid and self-sacrificing labors of Wing Kwong Chung, Tak Shan Liu and Chap Ng Ch’an, who have given their time and their houses to the advancement of this department. Others should be added to the staff at once, both to teach and to be acquiring a command of the language. This still requires a great deal of time of the first members of the staff upon whom falls most of the task of dealing with the parents, with the Chinese teachers, and with the girls before they learn to speak English. Girls’ Schools in Kwongtung The denominational missions have already accomplished a large and noble work for 30 Beginnings of Women’s Department girls. Schools in Canton and other centers and schools (chiefly British) in Hongkong are teaching nearly five thousand girls. The building up of a high-grade girls’ college will be with the definite purpose of sympa- thetically aiding the faithful and efficient women engaged in this splendid work. The first aim of the College should be to supply teachers of high attainments, correct train- ing, and best Christian ideals, to lend im- mediate aid in the strengthening of all these schools. The aims and character of these various mission schools differ greatly (as with the boys’ schools, which out-number them two to one) because of the different demands they attempt to meet and the vari- ety of conditions under which they work. From some of them students may later come to the College, but as yet the number of preparatory schools for girls is very small. One important effect of the college, there- fore, will be to stimulate the growth of ordi- nary high schools for girls. The College’s lower schools will be not only feeders for itself and practice schools for its students of teaching, but also model schools to inspire such work throughout the province. Women teachers for the elementary schools in China are needed by the tens of thousands. Women teachers are now so few that practically all primary schools have men teachers. A Supporting Constituency That the Chinese will rally to the support of a high standard school for girls is a cer- tainty. They have begged the College to 31 The Canton Christian College admit more girls and every year they en- deavor in some new way to secure a more rapid development of this department. The girl students are required to pay the same tuition fees that the boys pay, the highest of the Christian schools in China outside of Shanghai and Hongkong. Money for build- ings will very probably be subscribed in part by the Chinese. But the necessary gifts to carry the deficit in the running expenses must come almost entirely from America. Gradually, with no church organization behind it, the College has attracted a large group of friends, but the ordinary budget of the College is at pres- ent insufficient. Therefore the growth of the Women’s Department must proceed only so fast as its group of supporting friends can be developed without injury to the sup- port of the College as a whole. There are many individuals and some schools interested in this work and it is our hope that more will enlist. One-half of the mission work is done on this side of the ocean. Each one who takes this work upon her heart will, by her very interest and prayers, become a force for its furtherance. What Can Be Done at Minimum Cost The estimates below indicate the next suc- cessive steps to be taken in the building up of these schools. The advance each year de- pends upon whether the financial demands can be met. Each estimate, moreover, pre- supposes the correctness of other estimates of that year, but the figures are in general 32 Beginnings of Women’s Department the result of study of the actual experience with the boys’ schools. The student fees will cover the cost of the Chinese locally employed, or nearly do so, and cover the cost of board, laundry, lights and other incidentals not included above. In estimating the faculty needed, the neces- sary furloughs and language study time for the American teachers have been taken into account. The support of the wives of some of the teachers in other departments might be charged against this department, since much of their time is and has been given to work- ing up the girls’ schools and to studying Chinese in preparation for such work. It will be noted that the rate of increase in the student body is carefully estimated at only that number of new students which can probably be readily assimilated by the stu- dent body without greatly increasing the staff or over-taxing the older members of it. The cost of buildings includes the main furniture of each. The first buildings will be residences but used for general purposes until others are built. This will keep the school at first close to the American com- munity on the campus. The administration expenses of ten dol- lars per student seems conservative when it is remembered that all the risks, as well as the general equipment and direction, fall upon the Trustees of the College. The total budget indicates the amount to be provided each year in addition to the re- 33 The Canton Christian College ceipts from students, ordinarily called the Deficit. Students School above Year Primary 1914 High Sch., 2 1915 Gram. Sch., 6 Cost of Faculty $2,000 Rent & Cost of Bldgs. Rent, $80 Admlnls tration $80 - Total Budget $2,160 1915 High Sch., 10 1916 Gram. Sch., 10 2,000 Rent, Bldg., 100 6,000 200 8,300 1916 High Sch., 10 1917 Gram. Sch., 20 3,000 Rent, Bldg., 300 6,000 300 9,600 1917 High Sch., 10 1918 Gram. Sch., 50 4,000 Bldg., 6,000 600 10,600 1918 High Sch., 30 1919 Gram. Sch., 30 4,000 600 4,600 1919 College, 10 1920 High Sch., 20 Gram. Sch., 60 5,000 Bldg., 15,000 (Chinese Gift) 900 20,900 1920 High Sch., 50 1921 Gram. Sch., 60 5,000 1,100 6,100 1921 High Sch., 50 1922 Gram. Sch., 60 6,000 1,100 7,100 1922 College, 20 1923 High Sch., 60 Gram. Sch., 60 6,000 Bldg., 15,000 1,400 22,400 1923 College, 20 1924 High Sch., 90 Gram. Sch., 60 6,500 1,700 8,200 1924 College, 50 1925 High Sch., 60 Gram. Sch., 60 7,500 1,700 9,200 1925 College, 50 1926 High Sch., 90 8,000 Bldg., 15,000 2,000 25,000 Gram. Sch., 60 Every one acquainted with the situation expects a more rapid growth than indicated above; in fact the development should sur- pass that of the first ten years of the Men’s Department. 34 Wing Kwong Chung, Dean of the College and Ex-Commissioner of Education for Kwongtung Province, and his daughter, who have kept clearly before them the ultimate building of a Women’s College Fung Hin Liu’s parents and sisters have worked from the first toward the goal of a Girls’ School Mrs. Henry B. Graybill (Susan Griggs) Mrs. Laird dons the girls’ uniform WHO IS GOING TO DO IT? W. Henry Grant American college girls are joining hands with the C. C. C. girls in their efforts to de- velop this Women’s Department. The Cen- tral Committee of the General Association of the C. C. C., through its special Commit- tee on Girls’ School will assist in working out the problem of the future Women’s College. In addition to certain individuals, several groups have committed themselves to share in the work. Some are in the city, some in suburban towns and some in colleges and schools. Wherever there is a vital point of contact with someone who is keenly interested, a group of workers and contributors will eventually be found. The Christian Association at Vassar College is providing the support of a teacher while Westover School, Middlebury, Connecticut, is contributing annually to the general work of the College and keeps closely in touch with the progress of its educational work. A Vas- sar Alumna has given five thousand dollars to start things. When one is asked to join this work she naturally asks, “What can I do to forward so large an undertaking? The work seems quite beyond me. I know almost nothing of how to go about it.” Possibly so, but how much does it take to make a start? — A will and a tongue, a will and a pen, a will and a prayer, a will and a heart, one woman and one cent; another woman is enlisted and the Women's Department has started on its 35 The Canton Christian College undying course. It is a principle in chem- istry that as soon as there is a tiny particle, like dissolving salt or sugar, about which a reaction can take place, certain elements which before were held apart immediately begin to unite. It is so with the making of a Women’s College for China. As soon as there were intelligently interested individ- uals who had a heart and mind to work, the College began to grow. Providentially the initial outlay of starting the Women’s Department of the C. C. C., is comparatively small, though a good building and playgrounds and two American and two Chinese young women teachers are quite essential to any advance. As China’s new primary schools and girls’ schools, from the grammar grade up, must be taught by women, and as two millions of such women teachers will be required, it is evident that a women’s college is full of potential pos- sibilities. The character of the education and its effect upon the Chinese homes and society will be determined by the character and training of the women who take the lead. The first step toward participation in this work can be taken by joining the General Association or a local group of those who are interesting themselves in helping the Canton Christian College meet its opportun- ity. “Arise and be doing and the Lord will be with thee.” — 1 Chron. 22 :16. 36