John Dewey in China: To Teach and to Learn

4: DEWEY AS A LEARNER

65 chapter 4 D EWEY AS A LEARNER ‫ﱝﱝﱝﱝﱝ‬E‫ﱝﱝﱝﱝﱝ‬ Many know that Dewey went to China to teach, but few know that he went also because he wanted to learn. Dewey taught the Chinese a lot about the West and learned a great deal about China. He originally intended to stay a few months. Nonetheless, he kept his heart open and his mind alert while allowing the flow of history to take him wherever he could teach and learn. Before he embarked on his journey, Dewey knew little about China. Even though he may have had some exposure to Chinese culture through his Chinese students at Columbia University, it was not enough to prepare him to be a China expert. Most of Dewey’s writings about China are the result of his own observations, assisted by his conversations with various people—his own students and translators, travel guides, missionary friends, academic acquaintances, and institutional hosts—and, most important, by his own study of Chinese history. However, those who have read The Dewey Experiment in China may have the impression that Dewey often parroted the views of Hu Shih in his own writings about China. Keenan asserts, “Dewey was a good student in reporting what they [his disciples] said.”1 Because Dewey did not know the language, we could easily assume that he could not form his own judgments. In fact, Dewey’s own independent thinking will be all the more apparent when we consider how his views about the May Fourth movement differed from those of Hu Shih. In his long sojourn, Dewey learned about the Chinese social psychology and philosophy of life. At the same time, he also came to understand the West and to question its Eurocentric worldviews. This chapter weaves a new theme into the old tale about Dewey’s visit to China, namely, his own education. The following discusses Dewey’s learning experiences from the perspectives 66 john dewey in china of his role as a political commentator, a goodwill ambassador, and a cultural anthropologist, concluding with the meaning of Dewey’s trip in the larger context of his life and work. Dewey as a Political Commentator As noted, Dewey arrived in China three days before the outbreak of the May Fourth movement. His timely presence provided a great opportunity for his own learning, giving him a vantage point to witness the unfolding of the event. It also put him in a unique position to serve as a political commentator for the New Republic. Let me recount the event briefly. On May 4, 1919, 3,000 students in Beijing held a mass demonstration against Japanese imperialism and domestic political corruption. In big cities, general strikes supporting the students ensued along with large-scale boycotts against Japanese goods. This series of events following the student demonstration led Dewey to remark, “Talk about the secretive and wily East. Compared, say, with Europe, they hand information out to you on a platter . . . and sandbag you with it.”2 Impressed by the outpouring of public support for these student-initiated activities, he wrote to his children, “To think of kids in our country from fourteen on, taking the lead in starting a big cleanup reform politics movement and shaming merchants and professional men into joining them. This is sure some country.”3 In “The Student Revolt in China,” Dewey interpreted the event for his U.S. readers saying, “The possibilities of organization independent of government, but capable in the end of controlling government, have been demonstrated.” Dewey felt so hopeful that he even predicted, “It would be highly surprising if a new constitutionalist movement were not set going. The combination of students and merchants that has proved so effective will hardly be allowed to become a mere memory” (MW 11: 190). To Dewey, these events embodied the power of public opinion. As he later indicated, “the most impressive single feature of my stay in China was witnessing the sure and rapid growth of an enlightened and progressive public opinion” (MW 13: 147). This experience was reassuring to Dewey because he had always believed that public opinion as a moral and intellectual force should and would triumph over the forces of coercion and violence. Such an eye-opening experience was not unprecedented for Dewey. Earlier in his life when Dewey was moving from rural Michigan to Chicago in 1894, he found himself in the midst of the Pullman Strike.4 He was so excited about the scene that he wrote...