Modern Chinese Educational Philanthropy: Xiong Xiling and the Xiangshan Children’s Home

Modern Chinese Educational Philanthropy: Xiong Xiling and the Xiangshan Children's Home by Zhou Qiuguang Translated by Edward A. McCord The Xiangshan Children's Home (ciyouyuan) founded by Xiong Xiling was perhaps the most successful and most influential of modem China's philanthropic educational enterprises. During the thirty years of its existence, the Xiangshan ChiJdren's Home raised and cared for thousands of homeless orphans, and thus performed an extremely important function in modern Chinese society. Nonetheless, for a long time, the importance, and even the existence, of this institution has been ignored. Indeed, almost no, citations relating to Xiong Xiling and the Xiangshan Children's Home are to be found in contemporary [PRC] publications on modem Chinese society, culture, and education. This situation is not simply the result of a temporary scholarly oversight. Rather it reflects the influence of "leftist" thought that has fostered a misconception about, and prejudice against, this type of philanthropic enterprise. Because many well-known modem philanthropic institutions in China were established by foreign missionaries, Chinese scholars studying modem Chinese history have tended to equate the whole concept of "philanthropy" with the strategies of cultural imperialism that have been directed against their country. They claim that when foreign missionaries raised the signboard of "philanthropy," they were in fact acting as the agents of colonialism and using charitable institutions to anesthetize people to imperialism.1 This view largely refuses to acknowledge that the ranks of these foreign missionaries also included some who were truly sincere in their philanthropy. However , even if one takes the position that this was "sham philanthropy," objectively speaking the charitable institutions they established, such as emergency relief organizations, hospitals, schools, and orphanages, were not totaJiy without benefit for Chinese society and should not be totaJiy condemned. For this reason alone, past critiques of foreign philanthropy need to be reevaluated. Those who uniformly condemn foreign philanthropic enterprise as deceptive or hypocritical generaJiy also take the same attitude toward those operated by Chinese themselves. One 1963 account, for example, specifically criticized the Xiangshan Children's Home In this fashion: In old, reactionary China, this kind of orphanage was used by so-ca11ed philanthropists to fish for fame and compliments, and only served the ruling class. Only after China's Liberation, under the leadership of the party, was it truly able to begin to function in service of the people.2 In this manner, philanthropy became almost synonymous with "hypocrisy" and "deception." Xiong Xiling's Xiangshan Children's Home could therefore be ignored and written off. This article chaiJenges this past bias against Chinese philanthropic enterprises through a detailed factual examination of the Xiangshan Children's Home. Xiong XiJing's founding of the Xiangshan Children's Home was a sincere and innovative response to the conditions of his time. Begun as a temporary refuge for children orphaned by natural disasters, the Home evolved into a major educational enterprise that gave thousands of disadvantaged children a chance for a productive life. Beyond this concrete contribution, the Home's broad-ranging programs also made it an experimental laboratory for new educational and child-care techniques. By recognizing these contributions, this article seeks to restore Xiong Xiling's Xiangshan Children's Home to its deserved position in modem Chinese society and modem Chinese educational history. XIONG XILING AND THE FOUNDING OF THE XIANGSHAN CHILDREN'S HOME Xiong Xiling (1870-1937) is primarily known as a prominent government official of the late Qing and early Republican period. Born in western Hunan's Fenghuang county, he received his jinshi degree in 1894 along with an appointment to the Hanlin Academy. His talent first came to the fore in Hunan's reform movement in 1897, 52' when he became the general manager of the Hunan School of Current Affairs (shiwu xuetang), participated in the founding of the Hunan Journal (Xiangbao), and promoted modem railway and navigation enterprises, among other act~vities. Although cashiered after the defeat of the reform movement, he continued to be active in Hunan educational affairs and in the promotion of modem industry. With the aid of highly placed patrons, Xiong's name was soon restored to the civil list. In 1905 he accompanied a ministerial· delegation sent...