China and the West

Letter from John Dewey to Dewey family
Nanking April 19 '20
Dear family, or families, here and there I hope you will forgive me if I mix things all up in a scramble, some for one, some for tother. One negative fact has emerged about the future. Im not going anywhere not even to Shanghai till Ive finished here, which will be the middle of May. After that I am to be in the hands of the National Federation of Chinese Education, headquarters at Shanghai, and I guess something Monlin Chiang got up. I hope they have others reasons for being save managing my tour, but one feature of their activity I strongly suspect is to keep me from falling into the hands of the missionary institutions—at the same time, theyll expect probably to board us with missionaries wherever we go. When I can get at Tao [Hsing-chih] or Kuo [Ping-wen] Ill find out. They alnd practically all the leaders here are Christians, so you get another angle on that question here, tho not free from jealousy of their institutions I think. I dont think youll have any difficulty spending two weeks here pleasantly enough, or more; sight seeing will take more sometime and if any one has energy for picnics and walks, there are lots of places to go. I wander about the streets a good deal; shops are more wide open and domestic than in Peking, nothing exciting going on in them, but you see things fairly wide open. Weather much cooler than Peking so far; season is three weeks late. Evelyn outlined a good article on consortium for the N R and I hope she'll write it, under her own name. Glad mamma liked the sense of my Shantung article if she didnt the sound. I found, re the head dress that a Miss Lyons has a girls school here and wrote to ask when I could call on her, wrote several days ago, but havent had any answer. Have had a chance to get some contact with students here. Tea party yesterday afternoon with the local members of the Young China Association. I had supposed it to be very large, but found the entire representation there, ten in number, about equally divided between Teachers College as they prefer to call the Higher Normal and Nanking University. A man from the latter made quite a little set || speech, telling about the society and its purposes—five branches, one at Peking where it was formed last July, one Chengtu, one here one Tokyo, one Paris. 68 members in all and publishing 2 monthlies and one weekly. Thing of a small no of American college students doing that, say nothing of their object being to create a new civilization for China, and to cooperate with movements in other countries, for general reconstruction. They eschew politics and, are devoted to soicial reform, including educational, and to the spread of scientific method and results. The teachers tell me the group here is quite the elite among the students. Take in ^no^ new members save when they are thoroughly acquainted with them, and have four requirements; purity of character, an economical habit of life, a fighting disposition, and responsibility in carrying thru what they promise—not such a bad list. Judging from their conversation their chief present, in this group at least, is the family and woman question; anxious to know about feminism, strongly in favor of coeducation etc. The Baptist College in Shanhgai is going to introduce it in '21. One young man wanted to know how the psycology was going to be changed, that the men had a certain idea of women in their mind, and the women had the traditional idea of woman and also the mens' idea od women in their minds and when they met these old ideas came up no matter what their theoretical beliefs were. On thrusday afternoon [22 Apr. 1920] the student editors of their educational publication Youth and Society have asked me to meet with them. The meeting yesterday was in the Garden of the Gentry Club, I think thats the place mother and I had the bout with the hard boiled officials last spring. Mrs Thurston isnt here, The acting president Miss Vautrin brings her class in education over every evening to the normal school lecture, eight or ten of them, and the women teachers of the practise school come. Afternoon lectures there are a few scattering women, also, today from the womans normal. Im going to speak at Ginling [Nanjing] wednesday night; to science teachers of TC tomorrow, and spoke at University last Friday [16 Apr.] so am getting these stunts off the program, May 7 and 8 there is to be a Teachers Conference here, educators from outside. There is to be an Athletic Meet here, and this is run in after; I think thats the way they have got around the officials. The strike is supposed to come to an end tomorrow; anyway it doesnt affect me. The students had their first demonstration, parade, speech making this a m But I didnt know it was coming off and missed it. There is less no enthusiasm and unless the demonstration stirred things up, I dont think it will last. If cook goes too, I dont see why you dont put forward a little your coming down here. Shouldnt think it would pay to start up for two weeks all afresh. Hope you got to the Great Wall, and also hope you will do the Ming toombs, tho if you do you better stay at the hotel and not try it all in one day—go up afternoon before. The summer school here begins about July 15. I think thereir program is all made up, but will see what I can find out. Ev better speak to Suh Hu about it too. Got the other home letters but as a foreign ^mail^ got in the other day am now hoping for more.
Lots of love to everybody John, also Dad.
I hope if Mr Lamont decides to go back without doing anything he will speak right out in meeting, as undiplomatically as possible, and tell just why. Not only will it do the Chinese good, but also save American prestige, as the Japanese will give it out for a great American defeat and lots of Chinese will think it is another case where Americans have talked and done nothing. Mr Anderson said the thing to do was to get all territory within three miles on each side of every rail way thrown open to foreign trade; the Japanese go in anyway, and this would enable foreign capital to go in to compete with them, and the Chinese local merchants would rather tie up with American, and that way could also get protection for their investments against their own officials, this was the only way to make the Open door a fact he said.