History: Lingnan University and Communist Revolution

Group photograph of students wearing white dresses on the steps in front of the women's dormitory

Female students and staff in front of the Girls’ Dormitory of Lingnan University, 1936.

In 1916, the Chinese name was changed again, to 嶺南大學 (Lingnan University, literally), while still using the old English name, the Canton Christian College. When the Anti-Christian Movement broke out in 1922, missionary schools were severely criticized by the Chinese nationalists as an instrument of cultural invasion by the Western powers. Accordingly, after 1926, missionary universities began to register one after another at the Ministry of Education of the Nationalist Government and their leadership were gradually handed over to Chinese administration. As the management of the College gradually passed into Chinese hands, in 1927 the official English name was changed to Lingnan University, the exact translation of the school’s Chinese name.

Certificate for the change of the name of Canton Christian College to Lingnan University by the Trustees of Lingnan University in New York

The change of the name of Canton Christian College to Lingnan University by the Trustees of Lingnan University in New York,1926

Order of ceremonies transferring Lingnan University from the old to new Trustees in English and Chinese

“Order of ceremonies transferring Lingnan University from the old to new Trustees” showing the transfer of complete jurisdictional control to Chinese administrators, 1927

In line with the leadership change from American to Chinese faculty members, Dr. Chung Wing Kwong (鍾榮光) became the first Chinese principal of the University. Instead of spreading the Christian gospel, therefore, the prevailing aim of the University was to develop general education to meet the needs of the state and the society. In 1930, the property of Canton Medical Missionary Society and Hospital was transferred to the Board of Directors at Lingnan University. A branch in Hainan with an emphasis on agricultural studies was founded in 1933.

Chung Wing Kwong, in a suit with thin glasses and neatly combed hair

Chung Wing Kwong, the first president of Lingnan University

Photographs of Li Yutang, Ma Ying Piu, Chen Qiuan, and Taam Lai Ting

Chinese trustees from business circles: Li Yutang, Ma Ying Piu, Chen Qiuan, Taam Lai Ting (clockwise)

Photograph of General Tsai and others walking along a path towards the camera

General Tsai’s visit to the Lingnan campus, which marks the close tie between the Nationalist Government and the Chinese leadership of Lingnan, 1932

During the 1930s and 1940s, the University was forced to move several times as Japanese armies advanced across China. In 1937, it relocated to Hong Kong as the Japanese occupied Guangzhou (Canton), and in 1942, to Shaoguan (Kukong) in northern Guangdong Province, as the Japanese occupied Hong Kong. After World War II, the university was finally able to return to Canton.

Photograph of people in military uniforms standing in straight lines

Students' military training at Lingnan University as the Nationalist Government ordered military training in all middle schools and universities, 1933

Group photograph of people standing on the steps in front of a building

Lingnan University faculty and staff, 1934

Group photograph of students in three rows, most wearing light colored clothing

Foreign students at Lingnan University, 1935

Front cover of "Lingnan Spirit Forever: A Mission in Transition, 1951-1990" with a photograph of a building with two towers

Au, Steven Tung. "Lingnan Spirit Forever: A Mission in Transition, 1951-1990" (New Haven: Trustees of Lingnan University, 2002)

Lingnan University ceased operations in 1952 after the Communist Party of China had taken over the new government in mainland China in 1949. The reorganization of the higher education system in China was carried out by the Ministry of Education in 1951, and the Ministry resolved on several measures, including, “immediately turning private institutions into public ones.” As part of these procedures, Lingnan University was formally nationalized and at the same time the eradication of the influence of the United States was emphasized. Accordingly, the Arts and Science faculties of the former Lingnan University were merged into Sun Yat-sen University in 1952, while large numbers of members of the University who fled to Hong Kong tried to revive the spirit of Lingnan.

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