Chapter 20 Section 4 Contributions of overseas Chinese in America to the development of culture, education and science and technology of the motherland

After the Revolution of 1911, my country's cultural and educational undertakings changed from the traditional way of running "private schools" and "special museums" in the past, and began to set up large-scale Western-style schools.To run a large school, it is necessary to build a school building and library, purchase teaching equipment, and recruit educational personnel, which will inevitably require a large amount of school running funds.But at that time, wars were frequent in our country, the people were suffering, the country was weak and the family was poor, and it was difficult to raise funds.In order to solve the urgent need and solve the educational expenses, or principals, or enthusiastic educators, or those who have relations with overseas Chinese in America, they all came to America in an endless stream, asking for sponsorship from overseas Chinese in America.

According to the usual practice, those who go to the Americas to raise education funds need to notify the overseas Chinese organization Chunghwa Association in advance, submit an application, and the Chunghwa Association agrees to accept it, and the Chunghwa Association will issue sponsorship notices to various Chinatowns before they can go to the United States to start fundraising in various Chinatowns.For important national or provincial fundraising matters, the Chung Wah Association has set up a fundraising office, or sent people to help fundraising.Educational fundraising of a general nature is the responsibility of the fundraising unit.The amount of donations depends mainly on personal relationships.

From the early years of the Republic of China to the 1930s, it can be said that there were countless domestic people who went to the United States to raise education funds.According to the continuation of "History of Overseas Chinese in the United States" written by Liu Boji, more than 40 institutions went to the United States to raise education funds, including Guangzhou University, Shanghai Fudan University, Guangzhou Lingnan University, Peking University, Shanghai Fudan School, Peking University of China etc.Among them, there are various types of funds raised, some are planning to build schools, some are building libraries, some are building school buildings, and some are building teaching buildings, and their purposes are different.

Overseas Chinese in America not only funded national educational institutions and universities, but also paid more attention to basic education in primary and secondary schools in the hometown of overseas Chinese.They invested and worked hard to set up Taishan County Middle School, Heshan County Middle School, Taishan County Women's Normal School, Taishan County Normal School, etc. in their hometown.From 1912 to 1937, overseas Chinese in the Americas and overseas Chinese in other regions established 96 primary and secondary schools in Taishan, with a total investment of more than 10 million US dollars.Huang Zaihua, an overseas Chinese living in the United States (graduated from Columbia University in the United States with a radio major), not only funded the establishment of "Zaihua Vocational School" in 1926, but also taught in person. After running the school for 18 years, he has trained various talents in transportation, communication, etc. for Taishan. There are more than 3,000 professional and technical personnel.As a result of the establishment of education by overseas Chinese in America and other regions, Taishan County became one of the two counties with the most secondary schools in Guangdong Province before the founding of the People's Republic of China (the other was Mei County).

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, overseas Chinese in the Americas continued to be enthusiastic about the development of education in their motherland, especially in the hometown of overseas Chinese.In order to help their hometown cultivate talents, they not only funded the construction of school buildings, but also set up various scholarships to reward teachers and students.From 1978 to 1989, together with their compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao, they donated 70 million yuan to Taishan County alone, accounting for more than 76% of the county's school building funds, and built 72 middle schools, 140 primary schools, TV universities and nursing schools. One each.Expansion and construction of 278 primary and secondary schools.The total construction area is more than 600,000 square meters.In 1987, Li Panshi, an overseas Chinese in the United States, donated money to build "Taishan Panshi TV University", which cost 300,000 US dollars. It has teaching buildings, laboratory buildings, memorial halls, auditoriums, etc., covering an area of ​​10,800 square meters and a construction area of ​​4,370 square meters. .The school is novel in design and advanced in equipment. It is a highly modern TV university.

Overseas Chinese in the Americas have made important contributions not only to the cultural and educational undertakings of the motherland, but also to the development of scientific and technological undertakings, especially after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the Second World War, the international situation has undergone fundamental changes. China has begun to stand on its own among the nations of the world. Many students who studied in the United States have returned to mainland China to conduct scientific and technological research.Many of them have also made major contributions that have attracted worldwide attention, such as:

Professor Hua Luogeng, a mathematician, once applied the research results "optimization method" to production and enterprise management, and achieved gratifying results. Professor Ma Yinchu, an economist, once proposed the principle of "comprehensive balance" in economic development and China's "new population theory", and was the first to propose that China should implement family planning.This theory was once wrongly criticized as "Neo-Malthusian" population theory, but today it has shown great theoretical and practical significance. Famous scholars Qian Xuesen, Qian Weichang and Professor Deng Jiaxian, in the development of atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs and launching satellites, have made outstanding achievements with superhuman wisdom and hard work, causing a sensation in the world.