3 - Achieving Modernity by Studying the Philippines

Summary

“Achieving Modernity by Studying the Philippines” follows Chinese educators who conducted study tours of the Philippines to learn and borrow from Philippine advancements in education. High-profile Chinese educators who commented on the Philippine system, like Huang Yanpei, Kuo Ping-Wen, and Cai Yuanpei, praised girls’ education, physical education, and vocational education – all areas in which the Philippines excelled. The Chinese fact-finding tours also established many long-lasting relationships as educators from the Philippines, like Gan Bun Cho and Camilo Osias, conducted reciprocal tours of China to support Huang Yanpei’s educational endeavors. After establishing the depth and significance of Sino–Philippine educational exchanges, this chapter argues for a new historiographical understanding of Chinese borrowing in the early twentieth century. It argues that Chinese people viewed the Philippines as a model of modernity not just worthy but demanding of attention. Pivoting to the next chapter, it also argues that, while wealthier people or those with access to scholarships from China began sending their children to the United States instead of Europe after World War I, less-connected Chinese families began sending their children to the Philippines to study instead of Japan after this same crucial turning point.