Y. C. James Yen
Encyclopedia
Y.C. James Yen. Yen, known to his many English speaking friends as "Jimmy," was a Chinese educator and organizer who in the 1920s first organized the Mass Education Movement to bring literacy to the Chinese masses, then turned to the villages of China to organize Rural Reconstruction, most famously at Ding Xian
, a county in Hebei
, from 1926-1937. After 1949, Dr. Yen organized the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
and the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction. He returned to China in the 1980s but died in New York in 1990.
, Sichuan
, in 1890, Yen was sent to a school run by the China Inland Mission
, studied at Hong Kong University, and graduated in 1918 from Yale University
, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi
Fraternity. After graduation he went to France to join the work of the International YMCA
with the Chinese Labor Corps in France
workers who had been sent to support the Allies in World War I
. Working with them to read and write letters, Yen recalled, he found "for the first time in my ignorant intellectual life" the value of the common people of his own country. What they lacked was education. Therefore Yen wrote a widely copied literacy primer which used 1,000 basic characters.
After earning a Masters Degree from Princeton University
and serving a President of the Chinese Students Christian Association,Yen returned to China in 1921 to head national mass literacy campaigns under the Chinese National YMCA. In 1923, Yen and leading intellectuals such as Liang Qichao
, Hu Shi, and Tao Xingzhi
formed the National Association of Mass Education Movements (MEM). The MEM organized campaigns across the country which coordinated volunteer teachers, local leaders, and any available location in order to attract students who could not pay high tuitions. Among the volunteer teachers was Mao Zedong
. These campaigns attracted more than five million students and served as a model for even more widespread schools.
Yen later recalled that at this time he regarded himself not as a "Christian," which implied membership in a church, but as a "follower of Christ," implying a direct relation with Jesus. He criticized most missionaries for not being in touch with the realities of China but enthusiastically welcomed the support of those Chinese and foreign Christian organizations which addressed the problems of the village.
In 1926, the MEM set up a village campaign in Ding Xian, a county some 200 miles south of Beijing
. The Ding Xian Experiment used People’s Schools to coordinate innovations ranging from hybrid pigs and economic cooperatives to village drama and Village Health Workers. Yen joined Liang Shuming
and other independent reformers to form a National Rural Reconstruction Movement
which included several hundred local and national organizations. The Rural Reconstruction Movement aimed to create a new countryside as the basis for a new Chinese nation. The work at Ding Xian attracted nationwide attention and developed many new techniques for rural development which did not depend on central government control, violent revolution, or large infusions of foreign money.
In 1937 the Japanese invasion drove MEM operations first to Hunan
, then to Sichuan, but Yen spent much of the war in Washington, D.C.
After 1945, Yen found himself increasingly at odds with the Nationalist government’s military preoccupation; in 1948 he persuaded the American Congress to fund an independent Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction
, of which he became one of the Commissioners. After 1949, Yen led the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
and founded the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction http://www.iirr.org/, with headquarters in the Philippines. In the 1980s, he was invited back to China and given a warm reception. He died in New York City
in the fall of 1990. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the New Rural Reconstruction Movement
took up Yen's name and legacy to address the problems of the countryside created by the success of the globalized economy. In July 2003, grassroots activists founded the James Yen Institute for Rural Reconstruction in Dingzhou, the site of the MEM's activities.
Yen's charismatic speaking style and forceful personality made him attractive to many groups in China as well as many foreign friends. The China-raised American author Pearl Buck published a short book of interviews with Yen, Tell The People; Talks With James Yen About the Mass Education Movement . John Hersey
, whose father was a missionary in China who worked with Yen in the 1920s, wrote a novel The Call
which includes an only slightly fictionalized portrait of Yen under the name "Johnny Wu."
Dingzhou
Dingzhou |subdistricts]], 13 towns, 8 townships, and 1 autonomous township. Dingzhou is southwest of Beijing, northeast of Shijiazhuang.-History:...
, a county in Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
, from 1926-1937. After 1949, Dr. Yen organized the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
The Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, abbreviated as PRRM, is a non-governmental organization and institution formed in 1952 in order to assist the poor members of society in the Philippines...
and the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction. He returned to China in the 1980s but died in New York in 1990.
Biography
Born to a scholarly but not wealthy family in BazhongBazhong
Bazhong is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province, People's Republic of China.-History:Bazhong was made a prefecture-level city in 1993. Its history, however, goes back much further. During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, it was purportedly a vassal territory of the Liang State. In...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, in 1890, Yen was sent to a school run by the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
, studied at Hong Kong University, and graduated in 1918 from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
Fraternity. After graduation he went to France to join the work of the International YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
with the Chinese Labor Corps in France
Chinese Labour Corps
The Chinese Labour Corps was a force of workers recruited by the British government in World War I to support the troops by performing support work and manual labor.-History:...
workers who had been sent to support the Allies in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Working with them to read and write letters, Yen recalled, he found "for the first time in my ignorant intellectual life" the value of the common people of his own country. What they lacked was education. Therefore Yen wrote a widely copied literacy primer which used 1,000 basic characters.
After earning a Masters Degree from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and serving a President of the Chinese Students Christian Association,Yen returned to China in 1921 to head national mass literacy campaigns under the Chinese National YMCA. In 1923, Yen and leading intellectuals such as Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao |Styled]] Zhuoru, ; Pseudonym: Rengong) was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty , who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements...
, Hu Shi, and Tao Xingzhi
Tao Xingzhi
Tao Xingzhi , was a renowned 20th century Chinese educator and reformer. He studied at Teachers College, Columbia University and returned to China to champion progressive education. His career in China as a liberal educator was not derivative of John Dewey, as some have alleged, but creative and...
formed the National Association of Mass Education Movements (MEM). The MEM organized campaigns across the country which coordinated volunteer teachers, local leaders, and any available location in order to attract students who could not pay high tuitions. Among the volunteer teachers was Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
. These campaigns attracted more than five million students and served as a model for even more widespread schools.
Yen later recalled that at this time he regarded himself not as a "Christian," which implied membership in a church, but as a "follower of Christ," implying a direct relation with Jesus. He criticized most missionaries for not being in touch with the realities of China but enthusiastically welcomed the support of those Chinese and foreign Christian organizations which addressed the problems of the village.
In 1926, the MEM set up a village campaign in Ding Xian, a county some 200 miles south of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. The Ding Xian Experiment used People’s Schools to coordinate innovations ranging from hybrid pigs and economic cooperatives to village drama and Village Health Workers. Yen joined Liang Shuming
Liang Shuming
Liang Shuming , October 18, 1893—June 23, 1988), born Liang Huanding , courtesy name Shouming , was a philosopher, teacher, and leader in the Rural Reconstruction Movement in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican eras of Chinese history.Liang was of Guilin, Guangxi origin, but born in Beijing...
and other independent reformers to form a National Rural Reconstruction Movement
Rural Reconstruction Movement
The Rural Reconstruction Movement was started in China in the 1920s by Y.C. James Yen, Liang Shuming and others to revive the Chinese village. They strove for a middle way, independent of the Nationalist government but in competition with the radical revolutionary approach to the village espoused...
which included several hundred local and national organizations. The Rural Reconstruction Movement aimed to create a new countryside as the basis for a new Chinese nation. The work at Ding Xian attracted nationwide attention and developed many new techniques for rural development which did not depend on central government control, violent revolution, or large infusions of foreign money.
In 1937 the Japanese invasion drove MEM operations first to Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, then to Sichuan, but Yen spent much of the war in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
After 1945, Yen found himself increasingly at odds with the Nationalist government’s military preoccupation; in 1948 he persuaded the American Congress to fund an independent Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction
Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction
Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction Established in 1948.After intensive lobbying by Y.C. James Yen, the American Congress included a provision in the China Aid Act of 1948 to fund an independent entity which would take advantage of Yen's experience in the Rural Reconstruction...
, of which he became one of the Commissioners. After 1949, Yen led the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
The Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, abbreviated as PRRM, is a non-governmental organization and institution formed in 1952 in order to assist the poor members of society in the Philippines...
and founded the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction http://www.iirr.org/, with headquarters in the Philippines. In the 1980s, he was invited back to China and given a warm reception. He died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the fall of 1990. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the New Rural Reconstruction Movement
New Rural Reconstruction Movement
New Rural Reconstruction is an intellectual current and social movement initiated by Wen Tiejun and other activists to address the crisis they saw in the Chinese countryside at the start of the 21st century...
took up Yen's name and legacy to address the problems of the countryside created by the success of the globalized economy. In July 2003, grassroots activists founded the James Yen Institute for Rural Reconstruction in Dingzhou, the site of the MEM's activities.
Yen's charismatic speaking style and forceful personality made him attractive to many groups in China as well as many foreign friends. The China-raised American author Pearl Buck published a short book of interviews with Yen, Tell The People; Talks With James Yen About the Mass Education Movement . John Hersey
John Hersey
John Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
, whose father was a missionary in China who worked with Yen in the 1920s, wrote a novel The Call
John Hersey
John Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
which includes an only slightly fictionalized portrait of Yen under the name "Johnny Wu."