Zhan family
Zhan Tianyou's great-grandfather, Zhan Wanbang, was a university student during the reign of Qing Qianlong, and came to Guangdong to sell tea. Grandfather Zhan Shiluan inherited his predecessors' career and moved to Guangdong provincial capital, and his business gradually expanded. "Wuyuan County Records" recorded the name of Zhan Shiluan's grandfather, saying that he was endowed with great talents. Help your father take care of his old business and spend more than 1,000 yuan ... set up a literary society, set up a memorial hall, build a school palace, repair a guild hall and spend more money. "
But in Zhan Tianyou's father's generation, the Opium War broke out, and the British invaders opened the door to China with fierce shelling. Businessmen who used to serve the rulers of the Qing Dynasty began to serve the British invaders and became comprador controlled by the British aggressors, and some small exporters in Guangzhou began to decline. During the Second Opium War, Zhan Tianyou's introduction and Ren Rong Xing, like many other small exporters, went bankrupt. Father Zhan also had to move his family back from Guangdong to study, farm and support his family.
Childhood in machine model
Zhan Tianyou was sent to Nanhai private school by his father when he was 7 years old. Guangdong became the base of British aggression and expansion after the two Opium Wars. Foreign goods such as opium and textiles enter Guangdong from Hong Kong, and mainland agricultural products and industrial raw materials are transported from Guangdong to Hong Kong.
Under such circumstances, Zhan Tianyou had long been exposed to the industrial products and machines of capitalist countries, so he began to be uninterested in the four books, five classics and eight essays. Every day, he plays with his machine model made of clay and collects some machine parts. In his pocket, there are often some pinions or clockwork. When he walks in the street, he always stands for a long time when he sees a foreigner with freshness, trying to see what it is. How is it made? If there is an opportunity, he must ask someone else. He was interested in machinery since he was a child.
Father Zhan knows his son's interest in machines very well and often gives encouragement and support.
Father Zhan has an Anhui fellow named Tan Bocun. He likes Zhan Tianyou very much, and thinks that the child is smart and determined, and will definitely achieve something in the future. At that time, the Tan family was a little richer than the Zhan family, so they often helped the Zhan family.
The first generation of international students in China
187 1 At the end of the year, I was in Zhan Tianyou, aged 1 1, and finished my private school. Should he farm or be an apprentice? His father Zhan began to think about the way out for his favorite eldest son. Of course, he hoped that Zhan Tianyou could read more books or go to the provincial capital to learn some skills, but because of the poor family economic situation, he failed to do so.
Just when my father couldn't find a way out for Zhan Tianyou's work-study program, the Qing government sent Rong Hong to Hong Kong to take charge of the enrollment work of "sending young children to study abroad". At that time, Tan Bo was in Hong Kong and came back from Hong Kong when he heard the news. He specifically persuaded the Zhan couple to send Zhan Tianyou to study in the United States, saying that this was a golden rice bowl for life, following the path of foreign academician Zhan Tianyou. Zhan and his wife are hesitant: their children have never left their parents, so they are sent abroad to study. My parents were worried, but for the sake of Zhan Tianyou's future, I decided to send Zhan Tianyou to study abroad. Therefore, Tan Bocun went to Hongkong to register Zhan Tianyou, and indicated that his major was mechanical art..
1872, Zhan Tianyou, who was only 12 years old, was admitted when she went to Hong Kong to take an examination of the preparatory class for Ronghong's children going abroad. After entering the school, according to the regulations of the Qing government, his father and brother must sign the "Volunteer Book for Going Abroad". So Zhan, with a heavy heart that he will leave his son 10 and die of illness, signed the "Volunteer Book for Going Abroad".
Zhan Tianyou and 30 other students went to America by boat. After arriving in the United States, they transferred to Springfield via Washington. At that time, the international student office hosted by Rong Hong was located here. 1873, after a period of foreign language classes, Zhan Tianyou was able to attend classes directly, so he entered Xihaiwen Primary School.
From 65438 to 0876, Zhan Tianyou passed New Haven Middle School with honors. During middle school, Zhan Tianyou began to systematically study the basic knowledge of science, and was particularly interested in natural science courses, which laid a good foundation for him to study civil engineering and railway specialty at Yale University.
Baseball representative for international students
Zhan Tianyou is not just a student who is immersed in his studies. He deeply understands the importance of health to his career, so he pays special attention to physical exercise in his spare time. He likes all kinds of sports, such as swimming, skating, fishing and ball games. He also likes playing baseball very much. He is also a member of the Chinese baseball team, which is the representative team of foreign students in China. This team once played an exhibition match with a semi-professional team in Oakland near San Francisco, and their skills shocked Americans.
From 65438 to 0878, Zhan Tianyou graduated with honors from New Haven Middle School. During his years in primary and secondary schools in the United States, he deeply realized that China people were discriminated against in the United States because of the poverty and weakness of the motherland and the decline of its international status. So he was eager to change the backward economic system in China at that time. Therefore, when he graduated from high school, he decided to enter the engineering department, and he was willing to serve the engineering cause of his motherland with excellent academic performance.
Successfully completed foreign studies.
Zhan Tianyou is one of the first students in China who passed the college examination. /kloc-at the age of 0/7, he entered the Science College named after Schaefer in Yale University. Because I am good at science and mathematics, I studied railway engineering after entering the Department of Civil Engineering.
Zhan Tianyou studied hard at Yale University for four years and got excellent grades, especially in mathematics. In his class, he is the best student in mathematics. In grade one or two, he won a math scholarship and won the first place in the graduation exam. In the fourth academic year, Zhan Tianyou began to write his graduation thesis. After more than half a year's hard work, he finally wrote a valuable paper entitled "Research on Wharf Crane".
During college, Zhan Tianyou not only studied hard, but also read many literary works in his spare time, especially the works of progressive writers with democratic ideas. He carefully read/kloc-decameron, the masterpiece of Boccaccio, an outstanding anti-religious writer in the Italian Renaissance in the 4th century. He also widely read the works of Shakespeare, a great British classical writer and drama master, and the works of Mark Twain, an American democratic writer. He is particularly interested in Mark Twain's works. These works have a certain influence on Zhan Tianyou's thoughts.
Among the 65,438+020 children in Hong Rong's "Education Plan", the last batch of 30 children arrived in the United States in the autumn of Guangxu (65,438+0875). These young children didn't finish their studies as smoothly as Zhan Tianyou did. Due to the obstruction of the die-hards of the Qing government in China and the anti-China public opinion and behavior of the United States, all the 20 overseas students returned to the motherland in the seventh year of Guangxu (188 1). When this 120 people returned to China, only Zhan Tianyou and his classmate Ouyang Geng got their degrees and successfully completed their study abroad.