Ling nan da xue (Guangzhou, China)

Variant names
Dates:
Active 1928
Active 1941

Biographical notes:

Lingnan University, located in Canton, China, was formerly known as Canton Christian College. It received its charter from the New York Board of Regents in 1893. American involvement with the University ended in 1949 following the Communist takeover of Canton. The Trustees of Lingnan University supported other institutions and programs after 1949, including Chung Chi College, Lingnan College and the Lingnan Institute of Business Administration, all in Hong Kong.

From the description of Trustees of Lingnan University records, 1898-1982 (inclusive). (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 702165220

1884 Andrew P. Happer, founder and first President of Lingnan, was a pioneer in establishing the Presbyterian Mission in Canton, China. He lived in the Portuguese colony of Macao and sought converts to Christianity through his medical practice. 1885 Rev. B.C. Henry presented a paper to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in an attempt to secure their approval of the establishment of a Christian college in Canton, which later would become Lingnan. 1886 Dr. Happer and six of his friends met at the Mission House in New York City to organize a Board of Trustees for Lingnan. 1887 The Trustees authorized Dr. Happer to go to China, rent buildings, and open the college. He had been elected as President. 1888 Dr. Happer opened a scientific school. Classes began on March 28. 1890 Scientific school was closed due to the failing health of the Happers. 1892 Canton was approved as the future site of the college. 1893 Christian College in China received its charter from New York Regents. Its campus was located at Pui Ying School at Fati. Rev. B.C. Henry was elected President. 1894 Commencement of the first academic year, with a faculty of four Chinese and two Americans. Dr. Henry resigned as President, but was persuaded to remain in that office until 1896. 1896 H.V. Noyes was elected President. 1899 The college became nondenominational and moved to Macao for four years during the Boxer Rebellion. Rev. Oscar F. Wisner held the office of President until 1907. 1903 The name of the college was changed to Canton Christian College. At the same time, the Chinese name was changed from Kaak Chi Shue Yuen to Ling Nam Hok Tong. 1906 Lingnan was one of the pioneers of coeducation in China. Girls were admitted to classes and it was found to be so successful that the practice was continued. The primary school was opened in this year. 1908 1924 Charles K. Edmunds served as President. 1910 The Medical School was opened, but soon was closed because four of its five students had received scholarships to study medicine in America. 1911 The Preparatory Department was lengthened to five years and became known as the Middle School. 1918 The first three men were graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences. 1919 The $25,000 legacy of General Horace W. Carpentier made possible the purchase of the land and buildings for the University Medical School. 1921 1922 The College of Agriculture opened under the leadership of George Weidman Groff. 1924 James M. Henry served as President, with Chung Wing-kwang as Associate President. 1926 The institution was officially called Lingnan University. "Ling Nam" ("Ling Nan" in Mandarin) means "South of the Mountain Range". 1927 The university was in the control of the Chinese Board of Directors. The Board of Trustees in New York became known as the American Foundation. 1927 1937 Chung Wing-kwang held the office of President. James M. Henry remained as the Resident Director of the Foundation and Provost of the University. The main function of the New York Trustees was to continue to support the western personnel. 1929 The College of Engineering was established. 1932 The Associated Boards for Christian Colleges in China was formed but did not include Lingnan, which remained independent. Lingnan continued its relationship with Pennsylvania State College. 1935 Dr. Sun Yat-sen Medical College of Lingnan was founded. It was formed by the union of Hackett Medical College for Women and the ninety-year-old Canton Hospital, for which Lingnan had accepted responsibility since 1930. 1938 The College of Arts and Sciences was divided into two colleges: the College of Arts and the College of Sciences, with the College of Engineering reduced to a department of the latter. Y.L. Lee served as President. 1938 Lingnan was evacuated to Hong Kong. 1941 The Japanese took possession of Lingnan on the same day they seized Hong Kong. 1941 Lingnan and ABCCC joined with other organizations to form the United China Relief to help raise funds for emergencies incurred during the war with Japan. 1942 1945 Lingnan had to close its Canton campus because of the war. General Yue Han-mou allowed Lingnan to use a site at Taitsuen, where the university remained until 1945. 1945 Lingnan University reopened in Canton. 1948 1949 Ch'en Su-cning was chosen to hold the office of President. Under his direction, a College of Business Administration with a Department of Math was organized. 1949 Communist forces entered Canton. Americans, students and all nonessential people were forced to leave. The Communists took over the university and made changes in the curriculum. 1951 Lingnan subsidized Chung Chi College and Lingnan Middle School in Hong Kong. 1952 Completely under the rule of the new Chinese government, the university was now called the College of Arts of Sun Yat-sen University. Ch'en Su-ching was allowed to remain, now serving as Vice President. All western personnel departed and contact between America and Lingnan ceased. 1953 UBCCC, later UBCHEA, assisted the Trustees of Lingnan in administration and financial matters, however, Lingnan remained a separate organization. 1959 After the Communists took over Lingnan University, the Trustees formed a policy committee. The committee made its report in June and voted to widen the scope of the Lingnan Trustees and to fund a variety of programs. 1966 The Lingnan Institute of Business Administration opened on the grounds of the new Chinese University of Hong Kong, with Maurice Moonitz as its founding director. 1967 Lingnan College of Arts and Sciences opened in Hong Kong. 1968 1969 While the Trustees continued their support of all of their related institutions and programs, the progress and development of Lingnan College was of utmost concern. Henry Frank made an evaluative visit to the Hong Kong campus in September, 1968 and found that the college was striving to uphold the high academic principles established by Lingnan University. 1971 The Lingnan Institute of Business Administration inaugurated a one-year general management training course for executive and middle echelon businessmen who were nominated and financed by their own firms. 1974 The Trustees decided that any attempt to restore Lingnan University, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere, as it formerly functioned in Canton would face unsurmountable obstacles. Therefore, it was voted that the Board would have no active interest in supporting such attempts. A Program Planning Committee was appointed for the purpose of reviewing and developing new educational projects and activities with the People's Republic of China. The Trustees continued to appropriate funds to institutions such as LIBA and Lingnan College as finances permitted. 1976 The Trustees voted to appropriate $34,050 to the Chinese University of Hong Kong for a three-year research study entitled "The Commune and Social-Economic Development in Communist China" to be conducted by the University's Social Research Centre. Due to the lack of permanent faculty members at LIBA, the Trustees decided to contribute a sum of $20,000 to enable the Institute to defray the salaries of a teacher in the area of human behavior and an administrative assistant during the academic year of 1977-1978. From that time on, the Institute secured financial support from the Hong Kong Government. 1978 The name of the Lingnan Institute of Business Administration was formally changed to Lingnan Graduate School of Business Administration in order to avoid confusion with the recently established Research Institute of Business and Management of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 1979 Russell A. Phillips, Jr. was elected to serve as President of the Lingnan University Board of Trustees, succeeding Yorke Allen, Jr. who had served as President since 1954. Alfred Hayes was the predecessor of Yorke Allen, Jr. 1981 The Trustees voted to disburse a total of $79,520 to Zhongshan University to aid in rebuilding its Sociology Department, and $60,000 to Hong Kong Baptist College for a faculty development project.

From the guide to the Archives of the Trustees of Lingnan University, 1898-1982, (Yale University Divinity School Library)

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  • Education
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  • Universities and colleges

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Places:

  • China (as recorded)

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