CHINA OFFERS TEACHING FIELD FOR COLLEGE MEN

The following special article was written for the Crimson by Reverend A. B. Parsons '03 of the Board of Missions of the Episcopal Church. The writer will be in Cambridge tomorrow afternoon and Friday morning at the Phillips Brooks House and will be glad to confer with any men of the Episcopalian faith who would be interested in teaching In China. Those interested are asked to sign up in the blue book at Phillips Brooks House at once.

For those Episcopalians who are now completing their last year in college and have no definite idea of what they want to do after graduation, there is a great opportunity which is generally overlooked or more often, not even known. This opportunity is that of teaching in one of the universities maintained in China by the Board of Missions of the Episcopal Church.

Board Supports Two Universities

The Board supports two first class universities of recognized academic standing, even in this country. One of St. John's at Shanghai and the other is Boone at Wuchang.

St. John's is the larger and has about 600 students. It is located on the out-John's at Shanghai and the other is tional city of the East. It is a thoroughly modern and well-equipped institution with a very beautiful and large campus, an excellent library, and a gymnasium with a swimming pool. It is within easy reach of the foreign concessions in Shanghai so that all of the advantages of western life may be enjoyed. It is here that the fascinating combination of East and West may be best observed.

1911 Revolt Started at Boone

Boone is different in many ways. It is located in the very central part of China, about 650 miles up the Yangize River in the city of Wuchang. It is a smaller school than St. John's and has about 450 students but it offers the advantages of a small college. For many years it has had a very famous library and library school which has supplied librarians for most of the libraries of China. A large gymnasium has been recently completed. Unlike Shanghai Wuchang is a truly Chinese city with no foreign concessions or foreigners except missionaries and teachers. Although not a very large city it is very influential in both politics and education. It is one of the centers of liberal political thinking in China and it was there that the Revolution of 1911 which overthrew the empire, started. It is also a great educational center and has many Chinese schools of all sorts.

In Wuchang and the delightful country around it, real Chinese life, unchanged by foreign influence, may be seen. But just across the Yangize River from Wuchang and easily reached by ferry is Hankow, a city of foreign concessions, where there is a considerable number of American and British business men and most of the advantages of western life may he had. Boone has recently united with some other schools to form a Central China University and has started on a period of expansion.

Both Colleges Need Teachers

Both of these schools are in need of college graduates as teachers. They both offer all of the main courses of an ordinary college curriculum, so that there is a wide range of subjects to be taught. There, is, of course, a very large amount of teaching of English to done. The teachers also held the students in the outside activities by helping to coach the athletic teams, directing the undergraduate publications, and other such things.

This is a particularly vital period in he history of China. Tremendous changes are taking place and education and Christianity are playing parts of constantly growing importance in the new order. The Chinese have a traditional respect for learning and teachers which coupled with their eagerness for foreign education, makes the position of a teacher in China one of great importance.

Teaching in China is a service not only to China but also to the teacher himself. A trip to the Orient and living there in contact with a civilization so nearly the opposite of our own tremendously broadening. It is questionable whether the teacher can impart as much as he receives. The trip can be arranged so that he can go to China across the Pacific and then return to America by way of India and Suez, thus giving him a trip around the world. Nobody should be deferred by the present disorder in China because it has no anti-foreign aspect at all and the danger is very slight. Also, this is purely a teaching proposition and the teachers are not required to do any evangelical work. It is an opportunity to spend several years in a very fascinating country helping that country, years, that would be very interesting and happy.