The Study On Fujian Overseas Students In Modern Times

In the waves of overseas study in China in the modern time,overseas students from Fujian captured public attention for their early commence,valuable contribution and group characteristics.This thesis is dedicated to trace the formation and development of modern Fujian overseas students,trying to identify the characteristics of overseas students from modern Fujian and explore the historical contribution and effect upon Fujian and even the whole nation.This thesis is mainly oriented by the main purpose of searching for the features of modern Fujian overseas students.It is beyond any dispute that,they were commonly characterized by merits of practical,open and equipped with strong communication capability and sense of group.Meanwhile,they were also distinct due to different education background.For example,those students from church schools were more inclined to scientific majors and the belief of “Saving the nation by science”.Compared with them,those from Japanese style schools usually preferred majors relevant to laws and legislation.In addition,Fujian overseas students who studied in Japan displayed more enthusiasm on participating in revolution while those in Europe and America focused more on the development and innovation of science and technology.All the features mentioned above are presented in this paper with profound analysis.It is necessary to employ a perspective involving the political,social,economical and cultural status of Fujian by then to make this research objective and thorough.Therefore some brief discussion of the history during this period is introduced into this paper.After the First Opium War in the late Qing Dynasty,China was forced to open “Five Treaty Ports”,which allowed the abundant of missionaries with western culture and technology surge into Fujian through the ports in Fuzhou and Xiamen.At that time,the cultural atmosphere in Fujian was inclined to be positive toward western culture and education.Meanwhile,the declination of traditional education and the rise of western style education laid the solid foundation for the development of Fujian overseas education.The beginning of the large scale of official dispatch of overseas students in Fujian was marked by the 4 groups of overseas students sent by Foochow Naval Academy in1877,while the some more dispatches were actively organized by the Official Fuzhou Dongwen School,Overseas Study Preparatory School and some Christian schools in Fujian.The scale and developing rate of overseas students in Fujian were among the top list of China then.In the early period of the Republic of China,the development of higher education in Fujian slowed down,and even shrank in the middle period,leading to a large number of Fujian students studying either abroad or in other provinces.In addition,the number of schools funded by overseas Chinese in Fujian increased gradually,which further expanded the scale of Fujian overseas students.The Fujian Work-Study Movement in France initiated by Chen Jiong Min in this period became the second climax of overseas study in modern Fujian.In the late period of the Republic of China,along with the political and cultural center of Fujian moving to Yong'an during The Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression,most of the middle schools and universities in Fujian relocated in the internal areas of Fujian,which alleviated the imbalance of education in Fujian at that time from the perspective of areas,causing the originality of overseas students radiating from the middle area to the south and north area in Fujian.The rate of overseas students compared to the population of Fujian still ranked highly in the nation during that period,even though there were the lack of schools devoting to overseas education in Fujian.From the perspective of scale,the number of overseas Fujian students inherited the advantage from the Late Qing Dynasty,climbed gradually during the early stage of the Republic of China,peaked in the middle stage and declined sharply in the late stage due to the breakout of The Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.In light of the significance of family and clans in the development of Fujian modern history,the features of family condition and inherited culture should be taken into serious consideration during the process of research.Mostly born in literary family,modern Fujian overseas students were raised in atmosphere advocating knowledge and learning,which assured their mind of chasing the advanced technology in foreign countries.The culture of “common family interests” in Fujian enabled the clan becoming the major mental support for overseas students,which also demonstrated the influence of family to Fujian overseas students in modern time.The distinction of people from Fujian in lifestyle and behaviors were fully illustrated by the overseas life of Fujian students.Fujian overseas students executed the spirit of practice in their study and life while they were abroad.The majority of them gained the reputation of hard-working and excellent,mostly reflected by their academic performance.Some of their performance were restricted by their level of language but they were motivated by the spirit of “ To know the things of shame is to be near fortitude ”,one of the core of Min Yue culture,and realized their success in study and life.In addition,they participated actively in revolution,applying their communication ability in contacting the fellows in revolution and negotiating with domestic and foreign officers,which made them the major force of revolution promotion.Their close family connection in served in the prevailing phenomenon of “ revolution with the whole family” in Fujian overseas students.Analysis on these facts would benefit the research on Fujian overseas students in the perspective of Fujian regional characteristics.Generally speaking,the united efforts from different social groups along and this group of students did exert apparent influence and impacts on modern Fujian society,which is closely related with the characteristics and qualities displayed by modern Fujian overseas students when they were home and abroad.One vivid example could illustrated the point was that being influenced by the prevailing idea of “Saving the Nation through Science ”,most of Fujian overseas students then chose to study practical majors as ship-related specialty,chemistry and medicine,which promoted the advance of Chinese science.In addition,because of the profound impact of oceanic culture of Fujian,most of the Fujian overseas students then were embedded with openness and inclusiveness,leading to their abundant networks with people from different social groups,which in turn benefited not only the positive social atmosphere and their own individual development.Moreover,the strong connection and approval toward people from Fujian contributed significantly to the leading position of Fujian overseas students in some scientists groups,such as meteorology,astronomy,chemistry,ship,navy,translation,etc.It is worth mentioned that most of the overseas students of modern Fujian returned to China after their graduation,contributing their heart and soul to the construction of their beloved motherland and demonstrating their patriotism.Through the analysis of development of modern Fujian overseas students,the paper comes to the conclusion that the development of modern Fujian overseas students could be remarked by its early initiation,continuity the high oversea study ratio in the nation.The unique oceanic culture and home culture of Fujian enhanced the persistent progress of modern Fujian overseas education,forming distinctive Fujian overseas students groups and culture.The most of the overseas students in modern Fujian were equipped with the characteristics of being pragmatic,good at communication and problem-oriented,which constituted a unique cultural core promoting their active absorption of foreign advanced knowledge and culture in their overseas stuyding life,as well as the application of learning after returning home.This is apparently a deep transformation which strengthen their digestion and assimilation during the process of overseas study and exerted positive influence on their return life and contribution to their professional fields.