May,8th,2019
Source: News Center
Author: Su Yunsheng, Wang Jiaqi

With an international perspective, Duan Fang, one of five ministers studying abroad in1905, organized delegations to Japan, Europe and the United States to study constitutionalism for several months.
Devoted to education, he courageously sent a petition with joint signatures of the public calling for immediately canceling the imperial examinations, vigorously developing a new mode of education, and establishing the first kindergarten and the first provincial library in China. He was known as the most enlightened Manchu nobleman for sending students abroad.

Duan, founder of Jinan School, also held many important positions in the Qing dynasty, including governor-general of Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces; political governor of Henan and Hubei provinces; governor-general of Huguang Area; governor of Hunan; governor of the Zhili Area; and minister of the Beiyang government. He was also called the model worker of the late Qing dynasty for his diligence and dedication in every position he held.

(Duan Fang)

Ye Huangmeilan, his great-granddaughter, said: The foundation of Jinan School stems from my great-grandfather Duan Fang's unique experience as a ministerial representative going to Europe and the United States to study constitutionalism. It can be said that without him, there would be no Jinan University today.”

(Ye Huangmeilan)

In 1905, the late Qing government sent Duan and other four ministers to Japan, Europe and the United States to study constitutionalism. Returning home from Europe via Southeast Asia, he and his delegation were welcomed by overseas Chinese businessmen, teachers and students. At the time, he sensed their deep feelings about China and was also deeply impressed by the overseas Chinese's ardent admiration for their motherland. (叶锐旋译) But Duan also found that some young overseas Chinese couldn’t speak Chinese, losing their language connection with the motherland.

In 1906, Duan asked Emperor Guangxu to allow “the overseas Chinese people of islands in Southeast Asia, Honolulu and San Francisco” to study in Nanjing and set up special schools for them. Duan then appointed Zheng Hongnian and Chen Botao, who came from Panyu and Dongguan, Guangdong, to organize schools for overseas Chinese. As a result, in 1906, Jinan School was built in the Miaoxiang'an, Xuejia Lane, Nanjing, the famous capital of six dynasties.

Duan determined the name and mission of Jinan School. He accepted the proposal of Chen Botao, education chief of Jiangning, taking the words “暨（ji) and “南（nan）,” which mean facing Southeast Asia, spreading Chinese culture to all parts of the world, as the school's name.
He also asked the imperial court to establish Jinan School, with the mission of expanding education and maintaining feelings with overseas Chinese.”

By founding Jinan University, Duan Fang made a pioneering contribution to its establishment and development, and to the rise of education for overseas Chinese. He played an irreplaceable role in the history of JNU, and in the history of overseas Chinese education in China.