It was an exciting surprise to see the statue of an Emory Alumnus solemnly standing at one of the prestigious universities in China during my October trip to a conference in China. That statue is the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees when Suzhou University was established in 1900 (Figure 1). His name is Young John Allen and his chosen Chinese name is 林乐知, an Emory graduate of 1858.
Emory’s treasure trove of archives of American missionaries to China
A decade ago, I was thrilled to learn that our library collected archives of missionaries to China. As a Chinese Studies Librarian, I immediately dove into these precious documents. These archives include manuscripts, magazines, newspapers, public speeches and personal letters from missionaries in China. Realizing the enormous value of such documents for Chinese Studies scholars around the globe, I worked with the then MARBL, now Rose Library, and a publisher in China to collaboratively publish a bilingual book entitled “Guide to Archives of Missionaries to China Collected in Woodruff Library, Emory University, U.S.A.” in 2008 (The Guide Book). I was fascinated by what the historic documents can tell us about the influence and impact of each missionary, especially the impact of Dr. Young John Allen, an Emory alumnus. I started my research on Dr. Allen as soon as I laid my eyes on his archives. After going through all of his files in the collection, I was absolutely certain of the significant contributions that Dr. Allen made to the transformation of Chinese society and Chinese history.
After Young John Allen graduated from Emory in 1858, he sailed to China as an American missionary in 1859 with his wife and two-month old baby. From 1860 to 1907, Dr. Allen dedicated 47 years of his life in China to spread western civilization through translation, publication, education reform, and eventually opening Christian schools to enlighten and educate Chinese people. Upon returning to visit Atlanta in 1878, Emory University conferred him an honorary doctorate degree. Young John Allen passed away in China in 1907 at the age of 71.
Leveraging the rich primary resources we have, I was able to use his original manuscripts and historical letters and documents to publish my research results. Such results demonstrate how his work awakened Chinese people and influenced the young generation to eventually overthrow the Qing Dynasty in 1911, the last emperor of China.
At the Centennial of the Chinese Revolution, I was invited to present at the Library of Congress’ conference on “Encounter of Chinese & Western Cultures and the 1911 Revolution.” I used many of Dr. Allen’s materials to examine his roles in the revolution, including a manuscript of “interview with a reformer,” his speech to young people at the Shanghai YMCA, a graduation speech by a student from a Girl’s School in Shanghai, and other publications of Wan Guo Gong Bao that were edited and published by Dr. Allen. These materials collectively highlighted how Dr. Allen changed the minds and thoughts of the Chinese people that impacted the 1911 Chinese Revolution. My presentation was integrated into a two-day symposium program, reflecting the recognition of the historical importance of Emory’s archives by the Library of Congress.
My October trip to Wuhan, China
Eleven years after the publication of our “Guide Book,” I was invited to present at “The International Symposium on Thirty Years’ Research on History of Christian Colleges in China” from October 11 to 14 in Wuhan, China. It was an unforgettable experience, not only during the conference, but also beyond the conference.
The conference gathered scholars from around the world to discuss the events and history around the creation and development of Christian colleges in China (Figure 2). My research on Dr. Allen revealed a direct connection between an Emory alumnus and the establishment of a major university in China more than one hundred years ago.
During my presentation, I used various documents, such as manuscripts of Dr. Allen’s speech at Suzhou University and notes from the Board of Trustees’ meetings, to illustrate his critical roles in initiating and guiding the founding of Suzhou University. These documents showed his vision and organizational structure for the formation of the university and its core academic programs. Such a structure presented a great model for higher education in China and clearly exhibited his enormous impact on China’s education system down the road.
My presentation was well received and stimulated interesting discussions. It turned out that Emory Library is well-known in China and Emory’s “Guide Book” has been highly valued across the country. In fact, “The Guide Book” was collected by many academic libraries, including the National Library of China and this conference site’s university research center. I also learned that “The Guide Book” was professionally reviewed and ranked as one of the “influential reference books for the last one hundred years of Chinese Studies” in an authoritative article, “中国学者对海外中国学研究的百年回顾 (Chinese Scholars’ Review on Chinese Studies Overseas in the Past Century) (http://www.chinareform.org.cn/open/view/201403/t20140304_189973_2.htm). This unexpected information made me a very proud Emory librarian.
Post-conference trip to Suzhou University campus to “meet” Dr. Allen
To further understand the impact of Dr. Allen’s work, I decided to visit the campus of Suzhou University that was founded under Dr. Allen’s leadership. The original “old” campus is located in the center of the beautiful city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, thirty-minutes by train from Shanghai. It was built in 1900 and is now a protected and preserved national heritage site. During my visit, Mr. Qian, the director of the University Library, graciously gave me a tour of the campus and showed me various buildings on the old campus. By a rare coincidence, I had the opportunity to meet with the retired professor and the author of the book, “The History of Suzhou University.” We exchanged our research notes. I informed him of my presentation slides with Allen’s original documents about the founding of the Suzhou (“Soo Chow” at the time) University. He exclaimed that if only he could have met me earlier, as his book would provide much detailed content to show the origin and history of the University! Once again it illustrates the exceptional value of our Rose library collection for the international research community.
The most stunning experience of the visit was the surprise encounter of the Statue of our Emory alumnus, Dr. Young John Allen. On the right side of the main university administration building, Dr. Allen’s statue was displayed in the center of a garden with his name in both English and Chinese followed by his title as “Chairman of the Board of Trustees”. I also noticed the QR code below his name plaque, which, I learned, are used by visitors to listen to his life and contributions to the university. “Hello, Dr. Allen! Finally, I see you in Suzhou!”
It was truly a fulfilling and meaningful China trip!
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Acknowledgement: I’d like to thank Wade Moricle for his great effort and help in transcribing the hard-to-read manuscripts of Young John Allen and my colleagues for their support.
Very interesting article, Dr. Wang – thank you for bringing this piece of the historical connection between China and the United States to light. I look forward to more of your fascinating research.