Teaching Children in China Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/teachingchildrenOOIing in China at the Canton Christian College The College Primary School H. B. Graybill Report of the Primary School Sz-to Wai Christmas at the C. C. C. Julia Post Mitchell A Natural Out-Growth Trustees of the Canton Christian College 156 Fifth Avenue New York 1915 t/ * SZ-TO WAI PRINCIPAL OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS THE COLLEGE PRIMARY CLASSROOM TEACHER CHAN This shows the interior of the wooden bungalow still used by the Primary School, and the little family group idea OLD STYLE CHINESE SCHOOL Note the footstools — the floor is wet. The teacher sits behind the students who face the only window in the room Teaching Children in China 3 I. COLLEGE PRIMARY SCHOOL HENRY B. GRAYBILL The Canton Christian College has a model Primary School. If its development contin- ues American and European educationalists will be making pilgrimages to China for the latest exhibits and inspiration. The secret is largely in the personality of its young Chinese master, who seems younger as he gets older, and is constantly growing in Christ-like devotion to the children. An Englishman who recently visited the College, said, “That little school of a hundred chil- dren on your lower campus is the best pri- mary school I have seen anywhere in China, or even” — a solemn pause — “in England.” The principal of this Primary School, Mr. Sz-to Wai, pronounced Zitto-wai, graduated from the C. C. C. Middle School a few years ago. You couldn’t pass him without asking, “Who is that?” A slender, graceful fellow with fine thoughtful eyes, a splendid forehead and a radiant smile. A glance at his face seems to sweep every sad or unworthy thought from your mind. This is the effect he has upon every one. The C. C. C. had been to him a “Ho-tsoi” (Lucky Find). Be- fore he had finished the first half year in a course in the Principles of Education he had caught fire from his American teachers and determined to start a primary school. The C. C. C. teachers were wise enough not to 4 Canton Christian College kill a modern prophet in order to make this boy fit scholastic methods. As a student, Mr. Sz-to showed a keen artistic instinct and did such good work with pen and pen- cil and brush that his profession seemed to be already marked out for him. But China's greater need appealed to the heart of this young artist, and he became possessed with the desire to deliver the hundreds of thou- sands of Chinese children who were grind- ing away their young lives from sunrise to sunset in dark rooms over equally gloomy books, and lead in the discovery of a better school life for boys and girls. He persuaded the Student Christian As- sociation to help him, and in the following autumn started the first classes, most of the pupils being children of the Chinese teachers in the College and of the work- men on the College grounds. Never has a school been suffused by so perfect a spirit from its beginning. He consulted every- body, investigated differences of opinion, and was himself so sincere and faithful that everything went smoothly. Families of the better class, both Christians and non-Chris- tians, with the ancient Chinese appreciation of discipline and character, of ‘'bringing- up’', have rejoiced at this real child-train- ing and have filled the school to its doors. They are now sending their children seven years old and upward as boarding pupils to a Christian school under American control, and giving to Mr. Sz-to a free hand. In America, we must often work against all forms of conservatism, but in this ancient Teaching Children in China 5 land of China this new teacher finds him- self free. This very fact has made him care- ful. The originality of his methods, the quaintness of some of his devices and the absolute emptying of himself into that school make us all feel that we are nothing but second-bests as long as he is about. He has gone forward on plain principles. Sym- pathy and simplicity characterize the teacher, and free self-activity, based on good natural motives, is the governing power in the school. The children are up in the morning at the sound of the gong; they jump into their clothes and rush out to till and water their little gardens before the sun catches them. Then they all wash up and have breakfast. Following breakfast comes school with lots of interesting things to do as well as to learn. It is much easier to learn the diffi- cult Chinese characters, over which so many weary hours were spent by the old method, for Mr. Sz-to and his teachers teach the character and meaning at the same time, concretely. The children draw a picture of the water-buffalo and then have great fun writing the Chinese characters, “head”, “back,” “tail,” “legs,” etc., in the proper places on their outline picture. How they love to sing and play games! These were unknown features of school life until the missionaries introduced them. One of our students once said that the Chinese boy needed to have his “instincts revived.” That is what Mr. Sz-to has done with the boys and girls in the Primary School. In 6 Canton Christian College the native schools they had their natural impulses suppressed to make them appear like mature and dignified scholars. Boy Scout work falls right in with Mr. Sz-to’s plan, as does every other natural method of development. He has succeeded in putting into practice many of the prin- ciples of modern primary education, with- out ever having seen a model primary school in operation. Probably this is because he has made a very genuine study of child na- ture and needs, experimentally, having been assisted by discussions with his Ameri- can teachers and by reading educational literature. It is all so new and inspiring to him that it actually saps his physical energy. The Summer Teachers’ Institute, carried on by the College, too, relies upon him for lectures and demonstrations on Primary Education. A population of thirty millions are waiting for thousands of such leaders and model schools. The College must secure from our American colleges a group of skilled, scien- tific primary teachers, just as it is gradu- ally building up a staff of highly qualified physicians to deal with the difficult health problems of the Orient. As the work of teacher-training is largely in the English language, American teachers can begin work and the study of the problem at once. They must be sent out and supported by the friends of Education. Teaching Children in China 7 II. REPORT OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOL MR. SZ-TO WAI We are glad to report that the present condition of the school is better than during the two years which have passed. There are now the four regular grades in good running order with special teachers for each grade. The curriculum is fixed and satis- factory. Close attention is paid to corre- lation with the Grammar School. The boarding department, which we consider as the hardest part of the school to conduct is working very systematically under our ex- perienced matron. I should say then that the good condition of the year is due mainly to our present better organized staff. Teachers 1911 2 1912 4 1913 4 1914 5 Student Enrollment 36 58 90 106 Residents in Primary School Dormitories 18 44 81 98 Day Students 18 14 9 8 I am glad to give a short history of the members of our staff: Miss Ue Ngaam Chuk, graduate of the first Government Woman's Normal School, and principal of Yuk Wa Girls' Primary School for two years, became one of our staff last September (1913). Now she is the teacher of the First Year class, which has the nature of a Kindergarten. Though some of the small children are very hard to manage, her unfailing patience, gentle 8 Canton Christian College voice and sweetness of her person over- whelms their roughness and disobedience. We see rapid changes in most of the stu- dents. We have confidence that she will be an increasing help to the school in future years. Miss Chau Yuk Lun had been under Ch’an Tsz P’o’s teaching for many years, then taught for some years in Kong Moon. She joined our staff the beginning of 1912. She began as teacher of the Fourth Year class but now is teaching the Second Year, as she feels that that age is better suited to her. With her natural personal influence the children obey and do the full and good work of their class. This is no doubt an encourag- ing class. Mr. Young Kwok Chuen began to do the full work of a teacher and business manager at the beginning of 1913. He is now the teacher or advisor of the Third Year class, but also teaches Nature Study, Geography and Mathematics in some of the other classes. He is a born teacher and a great friend of the children. Seeing his spirit and work, we can say he is one of the pillars of the Primary School. At the solemn re- quest of the Committee he promised to work four years more for the school. Miss P’ang Pui Yin was a student for some years under CITan Tsz P’o and a teacher in his best branch school. It is a great privilege to have such an efficient teacher in Chinese literature join our staff. She is now the teacher of the Fourth Year class. We shall expect now that the stu- Teaching Children in China 9 dents will be better able to enter the Gram- mar School in Chinese than before. Miss Hoh Po Wun is an all-round sided matron. With her thoughtful plans and thorough experience the boarding depart- ment is very much better than ever before. Besides being a matron, she teaches singing in the Second, Third and Fourth years. The excellent singing of the children speaks for her ability. We are sorry that she will have to leave us next semester, as soon as we can secure someone to take her place. This will be difficult. Miss Ch’an Yuk Kwan, Mr. Ch’an Chap Ng’s sister, was willing to become assistant matron of the school. She began work in 1913. It is true to say that almost every time we see her she is under patient work for the children, such as marking and ex- amining their clothing or mending stockings and mosquito nets. She is really a mother to the children. Miss Chau Yuk Lin, also a student under Ch’an Tsz P’o, acts as assistant matron and substitute teacher of the school. She also has charge of the outdoor exercise of the First Year children. She is not satisfied to be a teacher so young. With all possible strength she is working for the school so as to obtain a further study of modern learn- ing through English. Miss Ch’an Kwai Haan was a teacher in the school during the beginning two years. She thought that it would be better for her to establish her own school, and with the help of many sympathizers this was done at 10 Canton Christian College Fat Shaan under the name of the “Kwai Haan Primary School.’’ There were about twenty children of various ages. Very fine work and much good influence was sown in them. But in thinking of the perma- nence of the school and the condition of our school during her absence, and after long and sincere discussion, both by mail and face to face, she felt that she should return to the school. Miss Ch’an’s school was able to move back here December 29, 1913. Be- fore she herself returns she will finish her course in Kindergarten under Mrs. Bigelow so that she can work more efficiently. On hearing of the return of Miss Ch’an, all our school and every one in the College that knows her rejoices. Sz-to-Wai. Though strength and knowl- edge are weak and imperfect, I always en- courage myself and awake my senses to work willingly as hard as my nerves and strength permit. I try to maintain and work up to our Ideal so that our school will be the most fruitful work of our Student Y. M. C. A. The following are my aims: Make close friendship with all the children and teachers ; draw close connection between the parents and our school; interest every visitor that comes and get suggestions from them; introduce every encouragement and interest in all our fellow-workers. Things that Should be Done for the Teachers and Students of Our School We work together here, happily, with brotherly love, all of the same will and view. Teaching Children in China ii One leads, others follow. One begins, others join. That makes our hearts lighter and the work smoother, although we are all young workers and our experience is meager and our steps unsure. We need more study and reading of English books on Education. Down here in our school, in the morning and in the evening, we have two short classes in beginning English. We teach what we know to some of our teachers so as to lay the step- ping stones to further study in the language, and some teachers in the College are now allowing our teachers to listen in their class- rooms so that they may learn the English language to read and discuss modern meth- ods in English. For this we hope the Col- lege Girls' School will start soon in order to give better opportunity to the members of our staff. The temporary school buildings (old bung- alows) are those which once were the dormi- tories and classrooms of the College. The rooms have been rearranged to suit as dor- mitories and classrooms for our children. The teachers' rooms are placed in the midst of the dormitories so that each teacher may care for some students. All the classrooms but one and the dining-room and laundry are placed in the north building. All the rooms are well ventilated and lighted. As the buildings are very inflammable, we are very anxious to have a permanent school built. Fortunately, a sum of over ten thou- sand Hk. (Mexican) dollars has been given to us by the parents of the children and by some rich men in Canton and Hongkong for 12 Canton Christian College this purpose. Small cottages will be built, each of which will cost about $4,000 Mexi- can ($2,000 gold) and will be large enough to hold 20 children, a teacher and some serv- ants. Classrooms and dining hall are also provided in it. The things that we need at present most of all are the proper kind of lavatories, bath- rooms and wet season playground, and enough apparatus for most of the children at recess. We need them so badly that we are not even satisfied with the thought that we shall have them in our new buildings. Then we need a set of permanent desks, at least enough for forty children, who are now using easily broken ones which are also un- comfortable. In order to answer these needs, the permanent cottages for the school should be begun at once and by the beginning of next semester there will be a good opportunity for us to renew our sub- scription campaign. We must wait till something is done first. Many of the parents have not yet helped and many do not even know of this enterprise. School Life, Our school is similar to a small kingdom of the primitive age in China or in Euro- pean countries. Teachers are as kings and lords. They are in close touch with their children subjects and can oftener show kind- ness to them, punish them and influence them than an Emperor in a Great Empire. The children have very little knowledge and will. They are poor in heart and depend- BOY SCOUTS PUTTING UP TENTS The College campus of a hundred acres, by the river, affords opportunity for real outdoor life for the children BOY SCOUTS STARTING FOR A HIKE The hills and fields around the College are a great play- ground in the dry season PHYSICAL DRILL, OLD STYLE THE COLLEGE PRIM l EXHIBITION DRILL MARCHING TO CHAPEL, OLD STYLE HOOL CHILDREN MARCHING TO CHAPEL IN UNIFORM LITTLE NURSES CARRYING BABY BROTHERS The Chinese saying is, “Two pounds carry one” RAW MATERIAL Some one has called this picture of one of our neighbors “Canton Christian College or bust” Teaching Children in China 13 ent. But they have their own customs and enterprises. Acting freely and violently in some respects, yet in many things they look up to their teachers for advice. When the teachers are happy they are happy. When the teachers feel tired or are in trouble, they are accordingly affected. They love their teachers and their teachers love them. If there were more indoor play quarters their condition would be much better for the teachers could entertain them and play with them more. Gifts to the School When I come to think of the start of the school, I cannot help but admire our simple schoolmates and friends who so generously subscribed money and presented furniture to the school. With their spirit and help our school was built. Out of the numerous sympathizers there are two friends that we should always remember, Mr. and Mrs. John Weekes, whose gifts were just in time to help out our financial trouble, and Mrs. Weekes even promised to help us $250 yearly. We are happy to say, and it is quite an encouragement to us, that our school is in the hearts of many parents and friends. The present amount of $11,500 Mex. of sub- scriptions shows how deep is their interest Seeing this, teachers, should not we in our dreams and thought remember always how to make our school firmer and better, so that we shall not fail the hope of our friends? 14 Canton Christian College III. CHRISTMAS AT THE C. C. C. JULIA POST MITCHELL Do you want to hear about Christmas at the antipodes? Two days before Christmas, the Primary School children gave an entertainment. The children sang and the teachers sang and the children acted stories from the Bible. The most memorable of these was Joseph, sold by his brethren to the Egyptians. The “buyer” was a mite mounted on the shoul- ders of other mites and the infants showed their satisfaction at what they evidently con- sidered a decided bargain, in a most amus- ing way. The flight of the children of Israel through the Red Sea and the pursuit of the hosts of Egypt was fine. Pharaoh, proudly riding in his chariot (the children’s shoul- ders again), surrounded by the flower of his army, gallivanted across the platform only to be caught by the rolling billows. They all fell to the ground with a great clat- ter, with arms frantically outstretched for help which never came, until they were buried in oblivion by the pitiless waves while the Children of Israel stood by and exulted. There were very few “properties”, but Joseph’s coat was a dashing many-flowered kimono and Pharaoh’s crown of pink and gold paper nearly a foot high. The “pit” was a palm behind which Joseph was un- ceremoniously “chucked” by his brothers. The babies that represented old men were Teaching Children in China 15 distinguished by long beards. The rest of the outfitting was all suggested by their act- ing, which was spirited. On the day before Christmas, in the morn- ing, Mrs. Woods had a party for the chil- dren of the Primary. The children were in festive array and their shining, eager little faces were a sight good to see. Santa Claus's appearance gave the usual satisfaction ; there were few who recognized Dr. Woods through his rather thin disguise, but for most of them he was swathed in delight- ful mystery. In the afternoon all the children from the village school in Sang Fung Wong, nearby, also came to the College for a party. The entertainment for this was managed by Miss Liu, in co-operation with Mrs. Laird and the teacher of that school, and given by the chil- dren themselves. These are very, very poor, ignorant people. It was a special delight to see them gathered together in a warm, com- fortable room, having a good time, and to see each child carry away a stocking with something good to eat in it, and something warm to wear. Many of the mothers came, too, and looked delighted at their children's prowess in singing and reciting. On Christmas eve the members of the faculty each entertained a class of boys. Miss Kelly and I had a party for the boys in the fourth year Middle School. There were twenty-four of them and they pretty nearly took the roof off. As soon as they arrived we told them that a catty of pea- nuts and quite a number of English walnuts 16 Canton Christian College were hidden in my sitting-room. They were invited to turn the place upside down and see who could find the most. I wish you could have heard the bedlam. In less time than you can think, they found them all — or thought they had — and told us so. “You have done pretty well,” I said, “but there are about sixty or seventy more to find.” At this they all turned to eagerly again, but it was nearly five minutes before the secret was discovered and they found a quantity sticking in the bottom of the rattan chairs. After the peanut fray was over they felt at home and we just played games the rest of the evening. What I most enjoyed was seeing those young giants down on the floor rolling walnuts with their noses over the “race-track” on my longest rug. “For this game,” I said, “we need three people who are not proud.” One boy volunteered eagerly — he was the leading student in the class,— and presently the three were found and started. I never saw anything funnier. Then they chose the next three. One of the new victims was dressed in the most gorgeous dress (dull-blue brocade coat) I ever want to see. It had a sort of long undercoat of a darker blue that came below. He looked pleadingly at his costume and begged to be excused. The boys weren’t going to let him off, but I interposed and said that I thought he would have to entertain us in some other way. They all laughed derisively and said, “Oh! you are too beautiful,” but the boy looked relieved. Many of the boys were dressed in western fashion ; others wore Teaching Children in China 17 dark maroon cloth coats, fastening on the side, or dark blue or very dark gray. These coats are more becoming to them than our stiff coats are, but they wear the western garb very well too. What charming manners these boys have. How we enjoy their naturalness and en- thusiasm. After awhile we divided them into two companies and played a bean-bag game where they threw the bean-bags at a board containing two square holes. They were so fascinated by this that we couldn't persuade them to stop even long enough for refreshments, excepting in the intervals be- tween their turns. I enjoyed the courtly restraint they showed about taking the candy and nuts we passed to them. One, two, yes — but no more, but when I put the plates conveniently at hand, remarking, “Help your- selves, please!" in a remarkably short time there were none in sight. Christmas morning there was a service in the bamboo mat shed chapel for all the schools, chiefly musical. At the same time there was a Christmas tree at the Medical School Hospital to which all the work- people's children, and their mothers, and all the hospital nurses and servants, the boat- men's children, and others went. There were stockings with candy, nuts, an orange, and something warm to wear in each. The hospital nurses did all the decorating. Some of this was very pretty. They framed all the doorways with green garlands that looked like laurel leaves and stuck paper flowers among the leaves in a very realistic fashion. 18 Canton Christian College At eleven o'clock the American children had a party at Dr. McCracken's house, and sang songs and carols, and Tom Woods re- cited “The Night Before Christmas." The little indistinguishable Woods twins sang a song about Tiddledy Winks and Tiddledy Wee, “two little fishes that lived in the sea, that were as alike as alike could be," and accompanied their singing with fin-like mo- tions of their small hands. We then finished the day with a Christ- mas dinner party at President Edmunds’. Every person on the College grounds and nearby village had had a Christmas party and knew why this day meant happiness for us, and w'hy we wished it to bring the same to them. Why a Primary School at a College The presence of a primary school is neces- sary to the all-around education of the older students and teachers under training. The Middle School and College students take the children for walks and teach them in school and Sunday School and are themselves deeply influenced by the sense of the little fellows working up to them. Teaching Children in China 19 IV. OLD AND NEW METHODS W. HENRY GRANT The change from the old to the new method of teaching Chinese reading and writing may be told in a few words. By the old method the teacher gave the sound for each character and the student repeated it after him. In this way a series of characters were learned and the student continued to repeat them for several hours a day until they were well fixed in his memory. To assist him in associating the sound with the char- acter, he committed to memory a pile of twelve books. The first of these is called “The Three Character Classic”. On each page there are thirty characters arranged so as to read down the page, there being two sets of three characters each in a column. The students repeated these character sounds out loud, there being ten to twenty boys in the same room, usually no two of them study- ing the same page. To help themselves along they acquired a sort of sing-song rhythm and learned to jingle through the following twelve books before much if any of the ex- planation or meaning of the characters was given : The Three Primers — 1, San-Tsz-King, Three Character Classic; 2, Tsien-Tsz-Wan, Thousand Character Composition, in which no two characters are the same, also spoken of as the Four Character Classic because there are four characters to the poetic line; 20 Canton Christian College 3, Yui-Hioh-Shi, Young Students' Poem, pen- temetri, a kind of boys' story book. [In ad- dition to these the Pih Kia Sing, Century of Surnames (400) ; the Hiao King, Canons of Filial Duty and the Siao King, Juvenile In- structor and other books are used.] The Sz Shu ; or, Four Books — 1, Ta Hiao, Superior or Great Learning; 2, Chung Yung, Common Medium; 3, Lun Yu, Analects of Confucius; 4, Mang-tsz, Mencius. The Wu King; or, Five Classics — 1, Yih King, Book of Changes; 2, Shu King, Book of Records; 3, Shi King, Book of Odes; 4, Li Ki, Book of Rites; 5, Chun Tsui, Spring and Autumn Annals. These twelve books and sometimes the commentaries on them were memorized be- fore the explanation was begun, and in as much as it took the student three to five years to get all these sounds firmly fixed in his head nine out of every ten boys drop- ped out of school before they came to the explanation, for most of them a Chinese classical education was almost worthless, ex- cepting for its discipline and the penman- ship that went along with it. Dr. W. A. P. Martin writes, “Nothing could be more dreary than the labors of the first stage. The pupil comes to the school ‘a rough gem that requires grinding,' but the process is slow and painful. His books are in a dead language, unintelligible even to the ear of the educated, and the sounds of the characters convey absolutely no mean- ing to the mind of the beginner. The whole of this first stage is a dead lift of memory, Teaching Children in China 21 unalleviated by the exercise of any other faculty.” Take for example the first four characters of the Thousand Character Composition. Tien, Heaven; Ti, Earth; Yuan, black; ^ Whang, yellow, which, inter- preted, means that the heaven is black or sombre and the earth is yellow. The sound, Yuan, is represented by at least twenty-six different characters, the most common mean- ings attached to this sound are black, hard, urgent, source, park, round, reason, ape, the thill of a carriage, a kind of plant, and sev- eral surnames, such as President Yuan. The sound, Whang, or Wang, is represented by twenty-eight or more characters. There are no verbs or any connectives in the sen- tence. It is in what is called the terse clas- sical style and means nothing to the ordinary hearer. In the good old days of the Classics all the science, mathematics and nature that the scholar learned he learned outside of school. While the young student was learning the sounds of the character he was also learn- ing to write them with a fine hair brush, that is, to make characters. This he learned to do very well, so that even if he did not learn the meaning of the Classics he did learn to write and might later learn to compose family and business letters. The modern way to teaching Chinese is to give the meaning of each character, pic- torially along with its sound, and to teach 22 Canton Christian College simple composition from the beginning. One can better understand the difficulty of the student when he considers that while each character has only one sound, each sound or monosyllable may have from one to fifty, or even more, different characters. A man does not speak as he writes. As an instance, when he is speaking he says, “good, good,” but when writing, “very good,” and he may use several characters to express different shades of very. The question naturally arises, what is to become of a written language that requires more than twice as long to master as it does to learn to read, write and speak a foreign tongue, like English, which also makes ac- cessible the thoughts and discoveries of the West. A Nursery Rhyme (Pronounce the a’s broad. Each word has a peculiar tone but this has not been indicated) Hang, hang, hang, Chup kaw chang; Chang ho shik, Lo ho hang. Come, come, come, Get the orange; Orange is sweet, So road is good. NEW CHINESE PRIMER NUMBER TWO ENGLISH TRANSLATION — READ DOWN, RIGHT TO LEFT mouse cat go mouse cat not watch hole see big dare chair inside cat mouse out side little NEW CHINESE PRIMER NUMBER TWO ENGLISH TRANSLATION — READ DOWN, RIGHT TO LEFT face dog dog climb cat cat not big house see loud can cat top dog bark catch little Teaching Children in China 23 V. A NATURAL OUT-GROWTH This model primary school has grown up of itself because the soil and seed were pre- pared. The Canton Christian College has spent and will spend years of labor secur- ing the land, the buildings, the “atmosphere”, the faculty, the other workers, the good- will and support of the Chinese, and the American friends, all these necessary ele- ments for the building up of a group of Christian schools at Canton. One by one they grow out strong and genuine from the main trunk. Such are the grammar school department, the agricultural department, the medical work, the girls' schools, the summer schools and night schools, the normal train- ing and the manual training. This little book is prepared because many members of the General Association and others are interested in the underlying prob- lems of the work as well as its development. Other bulletins may be had for the asking. The College came to its present grounds, which have since gradually grown from thirty to a hundred acres, only ten years ago and with only thirty-seven students. The total enrollment now is about five hundred. There are twenty-five American men and women at the College and twice as many Chinese teachers and assistants. Sixty of the C. C. C. young men and women are studying in America. Many of them will return to work on the problem of educating China's hundred million children. 24 Canton Christian College The College needs the sympathy and help of everyone who is interested in that prob- lem. If you are interested let us know; there are many ways that you can help. The General Association of the Canton Christian College seeks to organize effort for the promotion of this work and to make in- terest more enlightened and vital. The College Trustees are incorporated in the State of New York under the laws of the Regents of New York University. I **»»*«•