#207 Edward Hume and Yale-in-China

Office hours with Professor Spence

Today we will start with some “office hours.” I’d like you to imagine that you are Jonathan Spence, former Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and author of To Change China: Western Advisers in China and more than a dozen other books. You have been asked to give advice to a visiting Hotchkiss student about to embark on a research project in their school archives. Based on your experience writing the chapter on Edward Hume, what suggestions might you give about:

• (a) the type of evidence that is useful to incorporate,
• (b) the kind of context that is helpful to readers, and
• (c) any other aspects of the project that might be helpful.

Discussion:

After reading some materials from the Hotchkiss archives, was there anything about this chapter that seemed familiar? Was there anything that surprised you?

What is the nature of missionary work? To what extent is it simply part of imperialism?

On page 176, Hume notes that “China will no longer submit to the ethics or attitude of the ‘invader’, no matter what he comes to do.” What did he mean by this statement? How are the circumstances changing in the long- and shorter-terms? How did Yale-in-China adapt?

Locate the current Yale-China Association mission statement on its website. How has its goals and an institution remained consistent? How has it changed?