{"id":9212,"date":"2023-05-23T08:11:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T08:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/?p=9212"},"modified":"2023-05-24T04:18:48","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T04:18:48","slug":"hong-kong-education-in-chinese-schools-1929","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/2023\/05\/hong-kong-education-in-chinese-schools-1929\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong Education in Chinese Schools 1929"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I was browsing through US national archives microfilm reels containing state department records related to British Asia, 1910-29.1<\/a><\/sup> There is always fun and unexpected materials in these collections and I thought I would share one that offers a little snapshot of what children in “Vernacular” (Chinese language) middle and primary school students were assigned to study in 1920s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In February, 1929 the US consul to Hong Kong 1926\u201329, Harold Shantz composed a report on “Educational System of Hong Kong” which runs to some 34 pages, including a nice (but incomplete) list of the sources used. At the time, the report claims that there were an estimated 977,900 people in Hong Kong, 50,490 students, of which 37,417 students were in Chinese schools. Most of the British government materials can easily be found elsewhere, but I was particularly interested by the enclosures which purported to be (examples of?) syllabi for each year of “the Higher Primary division” and “the Middle School Division” for what I believe are the private Chinese schools for boys and girls. Shantz claims that there were 590 urban and 185 rural schools in operation as of 1927, with a third of the former and over half of the latter receiving subsidies from the Hong Kong colonial government. The report includes the form used to register schools, along the detailed ordinances for their regulation, including the requirement that “floors be washed at least once a week”, desks arranged “so that light falls upon the left of the pupils”, smoking prohibited, spitting only in spittoons, corporeal punishment of girls forbidden, detailed regulations for the administration of corporeal punishment to boys, etc.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Below I have transcribed the material from the enclosures with the primary school and middle school syllabi, which I think are a great way to explore the focus of education in Hong Kong Chinese language schools, as depicted in these syllabi. It is not clear to me if this is from a particular school’s submission or an example drawn from patterns found across schools. The report doesn’t say anything about the origins of the syllabi:<\/p>\n

Higher Primary First Year Class:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Classics<\/em>:
\n(1) Cho’s Commentaries [ Zuo Zhuan<\/em><\/a>? \u5de6\u50b3<\/span><\/span> ]
\n(2) Mencius<\/a>
\nChinese History<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u6b77\u53f2\u6559\u79d1\u66f8 \u4e00\u4e8c\u518c
\nChinese Literature<\/em>:
\n(1) The Kwok Man Reader with notes and Explanations Book 1 (The World Press)
\n(2) Selections from \u53e4\u6587\u8a55\u8a3b\u88dc\u6b63
\nChinese Composition & Letter Writing<\/em>
\nArithmetic<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u6559\u79d1\u66f8[\u5c08?]\u4e00\u518c [incomplete title?]
\nGeography<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u5730\u7406\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e00\u4e8c\u518c
\nEnglish Reading<\/em>: “First Year English for Higher Primary School”
\nEnglish Dictation<\/em> from the reading book
\nEnglish Writing<\/em> – Vere Forster’s [sic<\/em> Foster’s] Copy Book, Medium Book 1 & 2
\nEnglish Conversation<\/em> – daily & common expressions
\nEnglish Composition<\/em> – making sentences
\nMoral Lessons<\/em>: \u6731\u5b50\u5c0f\u5b78\u96c6\u89e3
\nNature Study<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u81ea\u7136\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e00\u4e8c\u518c
\nChinese Writing<\/em>: copying model specimens
\nChinese Painting<\/em>: Flowers & Landscapes<\/p>\n

Higher Primary Second Year Class:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Confucian Classics<\/em>:
\n(1) Mencius<\/a> (continued from First Year Class)
\n(2) Confucian Analects<\/a>
\nChinese History<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u6b77\u53f2\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e09\u56db\u518c
\nChinese Literature:<\/em>
\n(1) The Kwok Man Reader with notes & explanations Book 11. [2?] (The World Press)
\nChinese Composition<\/em> on simple subjects & Letter Writing
\nArithmetic<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u7b97\u8853\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e8c\u518c
\nGeography<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u5730\u7406\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e09\u56db\u518c
\nEnglish Reading<\/em>: “Second Year English for Higher Primary School”
\nEnglish Dictation<\/em> – from reading book.
\nEnglish Writing<\/em> – Vere Forster’s [sic<\/em> Foster’s] Copy Book, Medium Book IV.
\nEnglish Conversation<\/em> – on chosen subjects or lessons of the reading book
\nEnglish Composition<\/em> – making sentences
\nMoral Lessons<\/em>: \u6731\u5b50\u5c0f\u5b78\u96c6\u89e3 (continued from First Year Class)
\nNature Study<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u81ea\u7136\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e09\u56db\u518c
\nChinese Writing<\/em>: Copying model specimens
\nChinese Painting<\/em> – Flowers & Landscapes<\/p>\n

Higher Primary Third Year Class:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Confucian Classics:<\/em>
\n(1) Mencius<\/a> (continued from Second Year Class)
\n(2) The Analects<\/a> (continued from Second Year Class)
\nChinese History<\/em>: The Earliest Times
\nBook:
\n(1) \u9451\u53f2\u63d0\u7db1
\n(2) \u901a\u9451\u8f2f\u89bd<\/a>
\nChinese Literature<\/em>:
\n(1) The Kwok Man Reader with notes & explanations Book 111. [3] (The World Press)
\n(2) Selections from \u53e4\u6587\u8a55\u8a3b\u88dc\u6b63
\nChinese Composition<\/em> on simple subjects
\nArithmetic<\/em>: \u9ad8\u7d1a\u5c0f\u5b78\u65b0\u9078\u7b97\u8853\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e09\u56db\u518c
\nGeography<\/em>:
\n(1) Notes on Hong Kong Harbour [Notes on the harbour of Hong Kong<\/em> by F.J. de Rome and N. Evans?]
\n(2) \u521d\u4e2d\u6559\u66f8\u5730\u5927\u5b78
\nEnglish Reading<\/em>: China’s New Century Readers, Second Reader [China’s New Century Readers<\/em> by L. T. Yoen, Hanson Lee and Fong F., 1915?]
\nEnglish Dictation<\/em> – from reading books
\nEnglish Grammar<\/em>: Nesfield’s Grammar Book 1 & II. [possibly a chopped up school edition of Manual of English Grammar and Composition <\/em><\/a>by John Collison Nesfield]
\nConversation<\/em> – on chosen subjects or lessons of the reading nbook
\nEnglish Composition<\/em> – on elementary subjects
\nMoral Lessons<\/em>: \u6731\u5b50\u5c0f\u5b78\u96c6\u89e3
\nHygiene<\/em>: \u751f\u7406\u885b\u751f\u5b78<\/a> [claims to be translation of Physiology and Hygiene <\/em>John W. Ritchie
\nChinese Writing<\/em>: Copying model specimens\u00a0 ([\u81e8\u7891?])
\nChinese Painting<\/em>: Flowers & Landscapes<\/p>\n

Middle School First Year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Confucian Classics:<\/em>
\nThe Four Books<\/a> (continued from Third Year Class Higher Primary Division)
\nChinese History<\/em> – continued from Third Year Class, Higher Primary Division.
\nBooks<\/em>:
\n(1) \u901a\u9451\u8f2f\u89bd<\/a>
\n(2) \u672c\u570b\u53f2\u4e2d\u5b78\u6559\u79d1\u66f8
\nChinese Literature<\/em> – Selections from the following books;-
\n(1) \u53e4\u6587\u8f9e[\u985e\u7e82<\/span>?\u5f59\u7e82?<\/span>]
\n(2) \u53e4\u6587\u8a55\u8a3b\u88dc\u6b63
\nChinese Composition:<\/em>
\n(1) Essays on simple Classical & Historical Subjects
\n(2) Essays on miscellaneous subjects
\nGeneral History<\/em> – \u4e2d\u5b78\u7528\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u897f\u6d0b\u53f2\u4e0a\u5377
\nEnglish Literature:<\/em> Aesop’s Fables<\/a>
\nEnglish Grammar<\/em> – Nesfield’s Grammar Book III.
\nTranslation<\/em> – simple exercises
\nEnglish Dictation<\/em> – from English text or simple story books
\nArithmetic<\/em> – Beginning with Hall & Steven’s School Arithmetic<\/a>
\nAlgebra<\/em> – beginning with Hall & Knight’s Elementary Algebra<\/a>
\nGeography<\/em> – [left blank]
\nChinese Painting<\/em> – Flowers & Landscapes
\nNature Study<\/em>: \u4e2d\u5b78\u7528\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u690d\u7269\u5b78<\/p>\n

Middle School Second Year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Confucian Classics:<\/em>
\nThe Four Books (continued from First Year Class)
\nChinese History<\/em> – continued from First Year Class
\nBooks:
\n(1) \u901a\u9451\u8f2f\u89bd<\/a>
\n(2) \u672c\u570b\u53f2\u4e2d\u5b78\u6559\u79d1\u66f8
\nLiterature<\/em>: Selections from the following books:
\n(1) \u53e4\u6587\u8f9e[\u985e\u7e82<\/span>?\u5f59\u7e82?<\/span>]
\n(2) \u53e4\u6587\u8a55\u8a3b\u88dc\u6b63
\nComposition:<\/em>
\n(1) Essays on Classical & Historical subjects
\n(2) Essays on miscellaneous subjects
\nGeneral History<\/em> – \u5171\u548c\u570b\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u897f\u6d0b\u53f2\u4e0b\u5377
\nGeography<\/em> – \u4e2d\u5b78\u7528\u5916\u570b\u5730\u7406\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u4e0a\u4e0b\u5377
\nEnglish Literature:<\/em> Stories from Arabian Nights<\/a>
\nEnglish Grammar:<\/em>
\nThe parts of speech & simple parsing
\nBook – Nesfield’s Grammar Book III
\nTranslation<\/em> of short pieces
\nEnglish Composition<\/em> – exercises on simple subjects
\nEnglish Dictation<\/em> from English text or story books
\nArithmetic<\/em> – continued from First Year Class.
\nBook; Hall & Steven’s School Arithmetic<\/a>
\nAlgebra<\/em> – continued from First Year Class
\nBook; Hall & Knight’s Elementary Algebra<\/a>
\nNature Study<\/em> – \u4e2d\u5b78\u7528\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u7926\u7269\u5b78\u52d5\u7269[\u6bcf?]\u4e00\u518a<\/p>\n

Middle School Third Year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Confucian Classics:<\/em>
\nThe Four Books (continued from Second Year Class)
\nChinese History<\/em> – continued from Second Year Class.
\nBooks:
\n(1) \u901a\u9451\u8f2f\u89bd<\/a>
\n(2) \u4e2d\u5b78\u7528\u6559\u79d1\u66f8\u672c\u570b\u53f2
\nLiterature<\/em>: Selections from the following books:
\n(1) \u53e4\u6587[\u985e\u7e82<\/span>?\u5f59\u7e82?<\/span>]
\n(2) \u516d\u671d\u6587\u7d5c
\n(3) \u53e4\u6587\u8a55\u8a3b\u88dc\u6b63
\nComposition<\/em>:
\n(1) Essays on Classical & Historical subjects
\n(2) Essays on miscellaneous subjects
\nGeneral History:<\/em> Great Men and chief events of the world.
\nBook: “Scenes from European History” by G. B. Smith
\nGeography<\/em>: General Geography of the World
\nBook: Long’s Geographical Series<\/a> Book 1.
\nEnglish Literature:<\/em> Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare<\/a>.
\nEnglish Grammar:<\/em> The parts of Speech, simple Parsing & Analaysis
\nBook: Nesfield’s Grammar Book IV.
\nTranslation:<\/em> E. to C. & C. to E.
\nEnglish Composition<\/em>
\n(a) “Specimens of Short Essays” Book 1
\n(b) Exercises
\nEnglish Dictation:<\/em> Seen & Unseen pieces
\nArithmetic<\/em> – continued from Second Year Class
\nBook: Hall & Steven’s School Arithmetic<\/a>
\nAlgebra<\/em> – continued from Second Year Class
\nBook: Hall & Knight’s Elementary Algebra<\/a>
\nGeometry<\/em> – to begin with Hall & Steven’s School Geometry<\/a> Parts I – IV.
\nPhysics<\/em> – to begin with Gorton’s “A School Course in Physics<\/a>”
\nPrinciples of Economics:<\/em>
\nBook:
\n\u4e2d\u5b78\u7528\u7d93\u6fdf\u5b78\u6559\u79d1\u66f8 (supplemented by English Notes)
\nChinese Painting:<\/em> Flowers & Landscapes<\/p>\n

Middle School Fourth Year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Confucian Classics:<\/em>
\n(a) The Four Books (continued from Third Year Class; to be completed to cover up [to?] the University syllabus)
\n(b) One section of the “Five Classics” as required by the University syllabus for the year concerned.
\nChinese History:<\/em>
\nThe Earliest times to the Sui Dynasty or the Tang Dynast to the Ming Dynasty as required by the University syllabus of the year.
\nBooks:
\n(1) \u901a\u9451\u8f2f\u89bd<\/a>
\n(2) \u672c\u570b\u53f2\u4e2d\u5b78\u6559\u79d1\u66f8
\nLiterature<\/em>: Selections from the following books:
\n(1) \u53e4\u6587[\u985e\u7e82<\/span>?\u5f59\u7e82?<\/span>]
\n(2) \u6587\u9078
\n(3) \u99e2\u6587\u7b46\u6cd5\u767e\u7bc7
\n(4) \u5510\u8a69\u4e09\u767e\u9996<\/a>
\n(5) \u5341\u516b\u5bb6\u8a69\u9214<\/a>
\nComposition:<\/em>
\n(1) Essays on Classical & Historical subjects
\n(2) Essays on miscellaneous subjects
\n(3) Ping Man
\n(4) Poetry
\nGeneral History:<\/em>
\nThe outlines of European History in the nineteenth Century
\n(this period has been stuck to in order to make the students understand the growth of modern nations & the sources of modern systems).
\nBook: History of Western Europe<\/a> by James Harvey Robinson (to be helped by summary & supplementary notes given by the teacher)
\nGeography:<\/em>
\nGeneral geography of the world as required by the University syllabus.
\nBook: Longman’s Geography<\/a> series Book II.
\nEnglish Literature:<\/em>
\nSet book or books as required by the University syllabus of the year
\nEnglish Grammar:<\/em>
\nThe parts of speech & their uses; Parsin; Analysis; Explanation of Idioms as required by the University syllabus
\nBook: Nesfield’s Grammar Book IV. (supplemented by notes on Idioms).
\nTranslation:<\/em> E. to C. & C. to E. Encluding [sic<\/em>] passages from the Four Books.
\nEnglish Composition:<\/em>
\n(a) “Specimens of short Essays” Book II
\n(b) Exercises
\nEnglish Dictation:<\/em>
\nSeen & Unseen pieces
\nArithmetic<\/em>: As required by the university syllabus of the year
\nBook: Hall & Steven’s School Arithmetic<\/a>
\nAlgebra<\/em>: As required by University syllabus
\nBook: Hall & Knight’s Elementary Algebra<\/a>
\nGeometry<\/em>: As required by University syllabus
\nBook: Hall & Steven’s School Geometry<\/a>
\nTrigonometry<\/em>: so far no time could be spared for this subject
\nBook Keeping<\/em> – so far this subject not yet taught.
\nPrinciples of Law:<\/em>
\nBook: \u4e2d\u5b78\u7528\u6cd5\u6cbb\u6559\u79d1\u66f8 (supplemented by English notes)
\nChemistry<\/em>:
\nBook: “An Elementary study of Chemistry<\/a>” by Mc Pherson & Henderson (Chinese equivalents for technical terms supplied by the teacher).<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the report also includes works assigned for teaching training (“normal school”):<\/p>\n

Normal School First Year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Normal School Second Year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From this we can get a closer look of the distribution of the mix of Chinese classical education with integration, increasingly, of English language materials and Western history in Chinese and English. Some of the textbooks can be found online and I have linked to online editions from before the year the report came out, where I think I have found something similar.<\/p>\n

  1. Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs of British Asia, 1910-29 Roll 18 846g Hong Kong  ↩<\/a><\/p><\/li>

  2. Enclosure No. 2 to report of Harold Shantz, “Educational System of Hong Kong”  ↩<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Today I was browsing through US national archives microfilm reels containing state department records related to British Asia, 1910-29.1 There is always fun and unexpected materials in these collections and I thought I would share one that offers a little snapshot of what children in “Vernacular” (Chinese language) middle and primary school students were assigned…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[118,130,280],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-hong-kong","category-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9yoH3-2oA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9212"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9240,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9212\/revisions\/9240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}