Chang Po-ling
Chang Po-ling was a Chinese educator who, with Yan Xiu, founded Nankai University and the Nankai system of schools.
Biography
Chang Po-ling was born in Tianjin in 1876 during the last years of the Qing Dynasty. His younger brother was P.C. Chang, a philosopher and diplomat. He graduated from the Beiyang Naval Academy in 1894. He was a cadet officer in the Beiyang Fleet, but he abandoned his training after the fleet was destroyed during the First Sino-Japanese War. He attended and graduated from Saint John's University in Shanghai.After several years of teaching, Chang Po-ling organized funding for a private college preparatory school, Nankai High School, in Tianjin in 1904. In 1917 he briefly studied at Teachers College, Columbia University in the United States, where he was influenced by the American educator and reformer John Dewey. Afterwards, he expanded his school into a full university, Nankai University, in 1919. Under Chang's leadership, Nankai continued to expand for the next few years and became one of the most prestigious universities in China.
In 1935, during an opening ceremony at Nankai University, Chang famously posed three questions that would later be known as the "Three Patriotic Questions", which are still recited as a university tradition during ceremonies.
He was noted for his emphasis on athletics, which he believed would rid China of its image as the 'Sick Man of Asia' in the early 1900s, stating that 'only a good sportsman can be a good teacher'. He established a number of annual national athletic meets and the forerunner to the modern Chinese Olympic Committee. He established several smaller institutions, including a girls' middle school, an experimental primary school, an institute of economics, and an institute of chemistry.
During the 1930s, Chang Po-ling anticipated the possibility of war with Japan and made preparations to evacuate Nankai University and Nankai High School from Tianjin to the Chinese interior. As part of these preparations, he founded the Chongqing Nankai Middle School in 1936. When the Second Sino-Japanese War began on July 7, 1937, Chang Po-ling evacuated the entire Nankai system of schools to Changsha, Hunan.
As the Japanese military advanced towards the Chinese interior, Chang Po-ling organized a second evacuation to Kunming, Yunnan in 1938.
In 1941, Zhang Boyu joined the Kuomintang and introduced the people as Jiang Zhongzheng.
In Kunming, Nankai University joined with Peking University and Tsinghua University to form the National Southwestern Associated University, which continued to educate the top students in China until the war ended in 1945. Afterwards, Nankai University returned to Tianjin.
On June 4, 1946, Columbia University presented Chang Po-ling with the degree of Doctor Emeritus at its 192nd Commencement.
On January 29, 1947, the president of the University of California wrote to Chang Po-ling, proposing to award him the degree of honorary doctor of law. On August 28, the UNESCO China Commission was established, with Chang Po-ling as a member.
In June 1948, Jiang Zhongzheng nominated Chang Po-ling as the president of the Examination Yuan，The Control Yuan voted to agree. In July 1948, Chang Po-ling took office in Nanjing. Due to the regulations of the Ministry of Education in Taiwan at that time, he president of a state university could not hold a part-time job simultaneously. However, Chang Po-ling was unwilling to abandon the cause of his life. To retain the position of the principal, in September 1948, Tianjin Mayor Du Jian hired Chang Po-ling as the national Nankai University honorary principal, and Franklin Ho as the agent principal, and informed Chiang Kai-shek. On October 20, the executive officially released an order for Chang Po-ling to resign, appointing Franklin Ho was as the new principal of Nankai and not transferring Chang Po-ling to the honorary principal position. Franklin Ho wrote to the Ministry of Education, but they did not respond. At the end of the same year, Chang Po-ling left the Nanjing Examinations Institute, citing weakness and the need for rest, and returned to live in Chongqing.
In 1949, during the regime change in mainland China, both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party sought to win over Chang Po-ling due to his high social prestige. The Kuomintang hoped that Zhang Boyu would leave the mainland for Taiwan or the United States and promised to agree to any conditions. However, Zhang Boling refused, stating, "I don't want to leave Nankai University or my motherland."
After Chang Po-ling refused Chiang Kai-shek's invitation to Taiwan and stayed in mainland China, he began to get a cold shoulder politically. Because of the protection of Zhou Enlai, Chang Po-ling was not liquidated and tried like other former military and political officials. In November, the Chinese People's Liberation Army moved into Chongqing, and the regime in Chongqing changed. In December, Chang Po-ling verified property, donated the private Chongqing Nankai Middle School, Primary School, and Kindergarten to the Chongqing Military Control Committee, and the Nankai University in Tianjin and other south series of schools also returned to the state.
In the summer of 1950, Chang Po-ling hopes to return to Tianjin to Nankai University to live, specially solicited the Opinions of the Party Branch of Nankai University, but have not received any reply.
On September 15, Chang Po-ling left for Tianjin. Zhou Enlai gave him a farewell dinner at the West Flower Hall in Zhongnanhai the day before his departure. Zhou said: "When I am in Europe, some people persuade the old gentleman, don't help Zhou Enlai, he participated in the Communist Party, but he said, Everyone has their own choice. He is the officer of the Qing Dynasty, can say this, I am very grateful. "Zhou Enlai learned that Chang Po-ling is returned to Tianjin, it may be stressed by the Tianjin authorities, and immediately said that the letter will inform Tianjin Municipal Government.
After returning to Tianjin, Chang Po-ling's family has first lived in Nanhai Road and Ningjia Building. While on Nanhai Road, he was monitored by the Tianjin police, who were not removed until Zhou Enlai's letter arrived.
Family
Chang Po-ling's grandfather Chang Qian was a student at the Imperial College. was a student at the Imperial College in Beijing. He developed mental health issues after failing to graduate multiple times and died at the age of 38. Chang Po-ling's father Chang Yungae was an only child. He failed the imperial exam when he was young, but had a passion for music and mounted archery. Under a famous musician hired by his family, he was able to master multiple instruments. He was particularly talented at playing the lute, which earned him the nickname "Lute Chang" among people in Tianjin. Chang's father's family wealth declined and he resorted to teaching at several private schools to support himself. When Chang's father was young, he married a woman surnamed Wu. Wu died and Chang's father married another woman surnamed Yeung. When Chang's father was 43, Chang was born.Chang's brother Peng Chun Chang was a representative for the Republic of China at the United Nations and had taught at Nankai University, Tsinghua University and Columbia University in the City of New York.
In 1895, Chang Po-ling married a woman surnamed Ang from Yixingfu, but she died of pulmonary tuberculosis five days after the wedding. The next year, Chang married Wang Shuzhen, who was usually referred to as Mrs. Wang. The two had seven sons and one daughter, but only four sons survived to adulthood. Four of his sons died during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the remaining three were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. Chang once said, "Though the universities I set up are privately owned, they are not profit-seeking organizations. Passing on one's values is more important than passing on one's wealth." This became the guiding principle for the Chang family.
Chang Po-ling's eldest son Chang Xilu was born in 1901 and was a mathematician. During the Cultural Revolution, he was persecuted and suffered tremendous mental and physical harm, leading to him being bed-ridden near the end of his life. He died in 1988. Chang's second son Chang Xiyang was born in 1907. He was a businessman and also died of persecution during the Cultural Revolution. Chang's third son Chang Xizuo was born in 1908. He was an accountant and suffered the same fate as his older brothers during the Cultural Revolution, dying in 1976. Chang's fourth son Chang Xihu was born in 1913. He was an athlete. He died serving his country in 1937 when the bomber he was piloting crashed in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province while on its way to bomb the Japanese cruiser Izumo''.''
Chang's oldest grandson Chang Yuanlong was born in 1948 to his third son Chang Xizuo. Chang Yuanlong once served as a member of the 11th and 12th National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice-president of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Vice-president of the National People's Committee in Tianjin, and President of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce in Tianjin. Chang Po-ling's granddaughter Chang Yuanzhen once served in the National People's Committee, the Revolutionary Central Committee and the Revolutionary Jiangsu Committee. She also once served as the Vice-secretary of Jiangsu Province's Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and as a professor in the School of Life Sciences in Nanjing University. Chang Yuanzhen died of an illness in Nanjing on January 8, 2020.