Seeking modernity in China's name : Chinese students in the United States, 1900-1927 / Weili Ye.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ye, Weili.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese students--United States--Biography.

Chinese students.

Chinese--Education (Higher)--United States--History--20th century.

Chinese.

Returned students--China--Biography.

Returned students.

China--Civilization--20th century.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (356 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Stanford : Stanford University Press, 2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The students who came to the United States in the early twentieth century to become modern Chinese by studying at American universities played pivotal roles in Chinese intellectual, economic, and diplomatic life upon their return to China. These former students exemplified key aspects of Chinese "modernity," introducing new social customs, new kinds of interpersonal relationships, new ways of associating in groups, and a new way of life in general. Although there have been books about a few especially well-known persons among them, this is the first book in either English or Chinese to study the group as a whole. The collapse of the traditional examination system and the need to earn a living outside the bureaucracy meant that although this was not the first generation of Chinese to break with traditional ways of thinking, these students were the first generation of Chinese to live differently. Based on student publications, memoirs, and other writings found in this country and in China, the author describes their multifaceted experience of life in a foreign, modern environment, involving student associations, professional activities, racial discrimination, new forms of recreation and cultural expression, and, in the case of women students, the unique challenges they faced as females in two changing societies.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

A Note on Romanization

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE Student Associational Life and Chinese Nationalism

CHAPTER TWO The Professionals: Predicaments and Promises

CHAPTER THREE The Question of Race

CHAPTER FOUR The Women's Story, 1880s-1920s

CHAPTER FIVE Between Morality and Romance

CHAPTER SIX The Serious Business of Recreation

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Character List

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-312) and index.

ISBN:

9780804780414

0804780412

OCLC:

70770592