Mother Lauraine had a great influence on Fei Zhengqing's growth. She was born in Decta, studied in Chicago and finally returned to her hometown, but what she has always missed is Chicago, new york, Boston and its culture. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, and later served as the president of a branch of the association. Lauraine devoted himself to women's rights all his life, participated in demonstrations for women's right to vote and organized various assemblies. She is a very active figure in politics. Fei Zhengqing's early political ambitions were all related to his mother's guidance.
When Fei Zhengqing entered Harvard on 1927, he had not considered studying China, and Harvard had not set up a systematic course to study modern East Asia at that time. He focuses on liberal arts, including Greek, history, philosophy, politics, art and economy.
1In the autumn of 929, Fei Zhengqing went to Oxford University. His major was East Asian Studies, but at that time he had no foundation in Chinese and China's history and culture. Fortunately, at that time, the dissertation of Oxford University didn't need exams, nor did it need relevant academic experience. 193 1 After finishing the thesis, Fei Zhengqing began to study for a doctorate. That year, Fei Zhengqing collected information from the American Congress Archives in Washington, and then searched for information in Cambridge and Paris.
Fei Zhengqing's two years of research at Oxford University have been fruitful. He took modern China as the research theme and the diplomatic and institutional history of China and the United States as a new perspective. His doctoral thesis discusses the development history of Sino-US relations from the above three aspects, which breaks through the limitations of traditional Sinology and has considerable innovative significance.
Fei Zhengqing believes that the study of China should not be limited to western materials, but also rely on local resources in China to examine China's point of view, which naturally requires mastering Chinese and living experience in China. Oxford's research team is very limited and there are no Chinese courses. Fei Zhengqing applied to Rhodes Scholarship Committee, and Rhodes Scholarship Committee approved his application. Fei Zhengqing became the first Rhodes Scholar in the Far East.
1932 At the beginning of this year, Fei Zhengqing came to China to study Chinese under Jiang Tingfu of Tsinghua University. 1936 65438+ 10, I returned to Oxford, England, and got my doctorate. My dissertation was titled "The Origin of China Customs". After revision and supplement, this article was published in 1954 with the title of "China coastal trade and diplomacy: 1842- 1854 opening of trading ports".
After receiving his doctorate, Fei Zhengqing returned to teach at Harvard University. From 1939, he and reischauer started the course of East Asian Civilization at Harvard University. Four months before the Pacific War broke out, he was recruited to work in the Intelligence Coordination Bureau and served in China twice. 1946 In August, Fei Zhengqing returned to Harvard University and served as the first director of the regional studies (China) project. 1955, with the support of Harvard University and the support of Ford Foundation, he founded the East Asian Studies Center of Harvard University, and he personally served as the director until 1973. 1977 In March, he gave the last lecture for Harvard University and then retired. When he retired from his teaching post, the East Asian Studies Center of Harvard University was named Fei Zhengqing East Asian Studies Center.