Language, Commerce, and Empire: Introducing Chinese Instruction into US Higher Education, with Harvard as a Case Study

Serious efforts to introduce Chinese instruction into American colleges started in the 1870s with the inauguration of Chinese classes at Yale and Harvard and the establishment of an endowed professorship at the University of California-Berkeley. This paper uses the first Harvard Chinese language class (1879-1882) as a case study to examine the rise of pioneering Chinese programs in America in the late 19^th century. Harvard started its Chinese class in 1879 because of the Chinese Educational Scheme presented in 1877 by Francis Knight, a U.S. consul and merchant. Authorized by Harvard, Knight made thorough preparations on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, including recruiting teacher Ko Kunhua, a Chinese poet, to carry out his scheme. The Chinese class came to a sudden end in 1882 due to Ko’s death, with no more help from Knight who died in 1880.

Using both primary and secondary sources, this paper explores the ways how domestic developments in the U.S. and China, U.S.-China interactions, and broader international context shaped Knight’s educational scheme. It argues that Knight’s scheme and the Harvard Chinese class reveal the interconnections among empire, commerce, Christianity, language, and higher education in late 19^th century U.S.-China relations. These similar factors can help explain the rise of other Chinese programs in the U.S. and the rise of new or expansion of existing Chinese programs in Europe in the age of new imperialism. The paper also shows that the end of the entire program at Harvard with the teacher’s passing indicates that the cultural network constructed by Knight and participated by Ko was fragile, depending totally on one or two particular individuals’ availability or efforts. This paper fills a gap in the study of the pioneering Chinese language programs in American academia and contributes to the expanding literature on 19^th century U.S.-China relations.