Ginling College
金陵女子大学 | |
Motto | 厚生 |
---|---|
Motto in English | Public welfare |
Type | Women's college |
Established | 1913 |
Parent institution | Nanjing Normal University |
Location | , , China |
Website | ginling |
Ginling College | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Jīnlíng Nǚzǐ Dàxué |
Wade–Giles | Chin1-ling2 Nü3tzu3 Ta4-hsüeh2 |
Ginling College (simplified Chinese: 金陵女子大学; traditional Chinese: 金陵女子大學), also known by its pinyin romanization as Jinling College or Jinling Women's College, is a women's college of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China. It offers both bachelor's and master's degrees.[1] It offers six undergraduate majors: applied English, accounting, financial management, labor and social welfare, food science and engineering, and food quality and safety. Master's degrees are offered in food science, agricultural products processing, and storage, and women's education.[2]
Ginling College traces its roots to the Christian college of the same name founded in 1913, which started operations in 1915 and was the first institution to grant bachelor's degrees to female students in China. The school was closed from 1951 to 1987, when it was reestablished on its previous site.
American architect and art historian Talbot Hamlin designed some of the buildings that were constructed in the 1919 to 1925 period.[3]
During the
History
Establishment (1913~1915)
Ginling College was founded in 1913 against the backdrop of the
During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937~1945)
When the war broke out between Imperial Japan and China, the members of the college had to disperse to different parts of China while the Nanjing campus was turned into a refugee camp under the supervision of Minnie Vautrin. On December 8, 1937, the first 300 women and children were admitted to the Nanjing campus. Nanjing was captured on December 13, marking the beginning of the
Under the Communist Party (1949~1951)
Under the new
Academics and Educational Programs
1915-1951
Jin Feng has argued that Ginling’s founders belonged to the group of “modernists” in the mission field who were more interested in preparing elite Chinese women for “Christian leadership,” than in converting the illiterate and poverty-stricken Chinese masses. Even though Ginling was in principle a missionary college, the faculty from the very beginning emphasized the importance of it being a “bona fide institution of higher education” that possessed rigorous academic standards. As a result, curricula taught at Ginling often mimicked the curriculums at elite American women's
Today's Ginling
Ginling College currently offers 6 undergraduate majors, 5 master's programs, and 4 orientations for master's degree candidates. The college has 72 faculty and staff members on the payroll, with 58% of the full-time teachers possessing tenures, 55% holding doctor's degrees, and 50% with recent overseas study experience.[22]
Traditions
Student life
During its early years, the faculty members organized enjoyable group activities with students outside of the classroom setting to create a sense of familiarity and intimacy. These included designated social times with the students, and faculty-led
- Chinese and western cultures were integrated. The “Abundant Life” was interpreted as the guiding ideology for cultivating Ginling College students. It required students not only to master their basic and professional knowledge well, but also to have noble dreams. They should be diligent, tough and selfless at their posts and dedicate their lifetime to others, society and nation with their own wisdom and strength.
- Student autonomy and tutorial system were combined to manage students. There was a head teacher for every grade and a tutor for every 8 students. The tutor instructed students’ life and study with skill and patience. There was an instructor in students’ life for each dormitory building.
- The sister-class system was put into practice. Senior “sisters” gave instructions on daily studies and life of junior “sisters” and led them to adapt to the change from a middle school to a college. Therefore, the younger sisters benefited a lot and the elder sisters strengthened their sense of responsibility and pride and thus became stricter with themselves, through which they promoted each other.
- Students' physical exercise was valued. Every fresher got a health card since she entered college so that teachers could teach students in accordance with their aptitude. The 4-year compulsory PE lessons aimed at improving students’ physique. Students’ musicianship was also valued. The one-year music lessons taught basic knowledge and skills of music like producing sound and reading music. Besides, students could take courses in the Department of Music and participate in the activities held by the chorus or choir to improve their musicianship.
Academic Year Events
Founders’ Day was observed every year to celebrate the founders who did pioneer work in the education of women in China. They include: Mary A. Nourse, Sophie Lanneau, Emma A. Lyon, Katherine E. Phelps, Laura E. White, Martha E. Pyle, Mary Cogdal, Venie J. Lee.[26] Founders’ Day was cherished even during exile, as it became a symbol of “unity of spirit” despite the dispersal of Ginling women.[27]
Architecture
The House of a Hundred Rooms (1915~1923)
Ginling's first home was an old-style Chinese residence in Embroidery Alley (绣花巷) known locally as the Garden of the Lis (李家花园) because it was previously owned by the fifth son of Li Hongzhang, the famous statesman of the Qing dynasty. It consisted of “two large, rambling, Chinese mansions set side by side, each containing four paved courts, set one behind the other, with a fifth court at the side. The buildings were all of gray brick with gray tiles and overhanging caves. Each court had about ten rooms, in most of the rooms delicately latticed windows covered the larger half of the walls. Access to adjoining courts was through moon gates—larger circular openings in the dividing walls.”[28] American faculty members complained of the freezing days of winter, the moldy floors, and walls with cracks. Students also complained about ventilation, heating, and general lack of hygiene. Thurston points out that despite these shortcomings, there was still some beauty to be found, with a beautiful garden with a pavilion laying east of the house.[29]
New Home
Since 1916, Thurston had been engaging in negotiations to buy land for a new site of Ginling. However, because it was difficult for women to purchase land at the time, John Leighton Stuart—the president of Nanking Theological Seminary—took over the task. In 1918, he had secured twenty-seven acres of land including eleven ponds, sixty corners, and more than a thousand graves for about US$13,000. Henry Murphy of Murphy & Dana, a New York architecture firm that had opened an office in Shanghai, was commissioned to design the buildings. He had also designed buildings for Yale-in-China and the Yenching University campus. Thurston insisted on integrating Chinese architectural elements into the new campus. The design for new buildings had a modified Chinese palace-style exterior, with overhanging curved roofs and pointed eaves. At the same time, it was equipped with modern Western conveniences. A big part of the funding came from Thurston's campaigns in America, especially from the “Seven Oriental Colleges for Women” campaign. Thurston asserted that “it was the cooperative, non-competitive promotion of projects that finally made it appeal to the women of America.”[30] The academic quadrangle opened on the east, looking directly toward Purple Mountain. The Social and Athletic Building stood on the west side of the quadrangle, the Recitation Building on the north side, and the Science Building on the south side. The Social and Athletic Building, a gift of the Smith College Alumnae, was considered the “best example up to that time of Chinese style in architecture adapted to modern uses.” [31] The new campus garnered attention from numerous local, national, and foreign celebrities, families and friends of the college, and students from all over the city. It soon became a landmark in Nanjing and a symbol of multifaceted significance for Ginling's different constituencies. Even though it increased institutional self-esteem, it also roused envy among outsiders. The new campus designed by an American architect and built with American funds caused a certain tension between Ginling and its Chinese observers from the outside. Some criticized Ginling students’ extravagant lifestyles and even westernized mind-sets, which, they claimed, “disqualified Ginling students from being productive and patriotic members of modern China.” [32]
After the Japanese Occupation
During the three years that the Japanese took over the Nanjing campus in 1942, serious damages were done to the buildings. Walls were dirty and full of holes. All radiators and furnaces were gone, and so were most furniture, laboratory equipment, and library books. New alterations had been made: a new brick wall, a gatehouse complete with a prison cell, numerous wooden buildings, and military equipment were left behind by the Japanese soldiers. Dr. Davis S. Hsiung planned and supervised rehabilitation of the campus.[33]
Sister College
Smith College provided both financial and academic support to Ginling College. There was a Ginling representative in every Smith club, and Smith alumnae contributed at least one-fourth of Ginling's operating budget for years. Their first campus contribution in 1916 amounted to $1,000 and was made annually until 1921, when it was raised to $2,500, due to increasing interest in Ginling. During the difficult period of war, the contribution reached $4,000 a year. The Smith Alumnae Committee for Ginling was started in 1923, and Smith alumnae donated $50,000 for the construction of a recreation building in Ginling. Annual contributions to the College gradually increased until it reached a maximum of $5,500 a year.[35]
Many Smith graduates also served as faculty at Ginling. [36] By 1942, fifteen Smith alumnae had taught at Ginling.[37]
Smith raised almost $2,500 as a gift to Ginling to celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday in 1940, and this money was used for repairs after the war.[38]
Legacy
- Nanjing Normal University was founded on the campus of Ginling College in 1952.
- Jinling Girls' High School (金陵女子高級中學) in Taipei was founded by alumnae of Jinling Women's University in 1956.
References
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 247.
- ^ "校史:从金女大到金女院". Ginling College. 2010-01-14. Archived from the original on 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2014-12-29.
- ^ "Talbot F. Hamlin (1889-1956) | Columbia University Libraries".
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 244-245.
- ^ Chang, Iris, The Rape of Nanking: The forgotten holocaust of World War II, Basic Books, A Subsidiary of Perseus Books, L.L.C., 1997 pp. 130-138
- ^ Vautrin 2008, p. xxiv.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 2.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 2.
- ^ "Ginling College records". Smith College Libraries. Smith College Special Collections. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 98-101.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 94.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 95.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 103.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 143.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 144.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 236.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 9.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 103.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 74.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 96.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 195-196.
- ^ http://schools.njnu.edu.cn/ginling/about http://schools.njnu.edu.cn/ginling/about
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 39.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 66.
- ^ http://schools.njnu.edu.cn/ginling/about http://schools.njnu.edu.cn/ginling/about
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 4.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 182.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 35.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 8.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 28.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 73.
- ^ Feng 2010, p. 69.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 130-131.
- ^ "Ginling College records". Smith College Libraries. Smith College Special Collections. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ "Ginling College records". Smith College Libraries. Smith College Special Collections. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ Thurston & Chester 1956, p. 18.
- ^ "Ginling College records". Smith College Libraries. Smith College Special Collections. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ "Ginling College records". Smith College Libraries. Smith College Special Collections. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
Works cited
- Feng, Jin (2010). The Making of a Family Saga: Ginling College. ISBN 9781438429120.
- Thurston, Matilda S. Calder; Chester, Ruth Miriam (1956). Ginling College.
- Vautrin, Minnie (2008). Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing: Diaries and Correspondence, 1937-38. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252033322.
External links
- Official site (in Chinese)
- Ginling Association in America
- Ginling College records at the Smith College Archives, Smith College Special Collections