Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Educating Chinese Engineers: The Case of Shanghai Jiao Tong University During 1896–1949

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Engineering, Development and Philosophy

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 11))

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the early institutional history of one of China’s most important and well-regarded engineering schools, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). It shows how the university and its engineering programs evolved in tandem with national development and defense priorities from the school’s founding in 1896 through the formation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. More specifically, we look at key changes in the school’s admission policies, pedagogy, curricula, and organizational structure, as well as typical career pathways for its graduates. To further contextualize this account, this chapter begins with a general history of engineering education in China from the late Qing Dynasty through the Nationalist period. This chapter should be of interest to those wanting to know more about the historical foundations of the engineering profession in China, including the role of leading educational institutions in China’s national development.

Equal coauthors on this chapter. The content of this chapter is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EEC-0965733, “IREE: Developing Globally Competent Engineering Researchers.”

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    In fact, some of this chapter was first drafted to prepare US engineering students for research internships in China, including at SJTU, for the NSF-funded International Research and Education in Engineering (IREE) 2010 China program (US NSF Award No. 0965733).

References

  • Alder, Ken. 1997. Engineering the revolution: Arms and enlightenment in France, 1763–1815. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreas, Joel. 2009. Rise of the red engineers: The cultural revolution and the origins of China’s new class. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bain, Morris L. 2007. How crisis shapes change: New perspectives on China’s political economy during the Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1945. History Compass 5(4): 1091–1110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bracey, Gerald. 2006. Heard the one about the 600,000 Chinese engineers? Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901760.html

  • Chang, Chu-yuan. 1965. Scientific and engineering manpower in Communist China, 1949–1963. NSF Report 65-14. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downey, Gary, and Juan Lucena. 2004. Knowledge and professional identity in engineering: Code-switching and the metrics of progress. History and Technology 20(4): 393–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elman, Benjamin A. 2000. A cultural history of civil examinations in late imperial China. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbank, John K., and Albert Feuerwerker (eds.). 1986. The Cambridge history of China. Volume 13: Republican China, 1912–1949. Part 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gareffi, Gary, Vivek Wadhwa, Ben Rissing, and Ryan Ong. 2008. Getting the Numbers Right: International Engineering Education in the United States, China, and India. Journal of Engineering Education 97(1): 13–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo, Yugui. 1998. The roles of returned foreign-education students in Chinese higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education 2(2): 35–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamlin, Kevin, and Li Yanping. 2010. China overtakes Japan as world’s second-biggest ­economy. Bloomberg News. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-16/china-economy-passes-japan-s-in-second-quarter-capping-three-decade-rise.html

  • Hao, Zhidong. 2003. Intellectuals at a crossroads: The changing politics of China’s knowledge workers. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayoe, Ruth. 1996. China’s universities, 1895–1995: A century of cultural conflict. New York/London: Garland.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • History of Jiao Tong University Writing Group. 1986. The history of Jiaotong University: 1896–1949. Shanghai: Shanghai Education Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imperial Students. n.d. Chinese undergraduate students at Yale (CUSY). Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/cusy/imperialstudents.htm

  • Jin, Qi-zhen. 2005. Adoption of western academic achievements and application of pragmatic theories: Sheng Xuan-huai’s view on education and talents. Journal of Southern Yangtze University (Humanities & Social Edition) 2005(5). Retrieved from http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-WXQS200505022.htm

  • Kirby, William. 1989. Technocratic organization and technological development in China: The nationalist experience and legacy, 1928–1953. In Science and technology in post Mao China, ed. Simon DenisFred and Goldman Merle, 23–44. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, William. 1992. The Chinese war economy. In China’s bitter victory: The war with Japan, 1937–1945, ed. James C. Hsiung and Steven I. Levine, 185–212. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, William. 2000. Engineering China: Birth of the developmental state, 1928–1937. In Becoming Chinese: Passages to modernity and beyond, ed. Wen-hsin Yeh, 137–160. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, William. 2010. Engineers and the state in modern China. In Prospects for the professions in China, Routledge studies on civil society in Asia, ed. William P. Alford, William Kirby, and Kenneth Winston, 283–314. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Pei-zhi, and Gang Li. 2006. Sheng Xuanhuai’s thoughts on westernization Movement and his concerned activities. Journal of Shangrao Normal College 2006(4). Retrieved from http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-SRSX200604015.htm

  • Mao, Yisheng. 1943. Discussing the relationship between engineering and management. Civil Engineering of Jiaotong University 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Needham, Joseph, and Kenneth G. Robinson (eds.). 2004. Science and civilisation in China. Volume 7, the social background. Part 2, general conclusions and reflections. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reardon-Anderson, James. 1992. Science in wartime China. In China’s bitter victory: The war with Japan, 1937–1945, ed. James C. Hsiung and Steven I. Levine, 213–234. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). n.d. Jiao Tong University – Overview. Retrieved from http://en.sjtu.edu.cn/about-sjtu/overview/

  • U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 2011. China. In The world factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

  • Wang, Ke-wen. 1998. Modern China: An encyclopedia of history, culture, and nationalism, Garland reference library of the humanities. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Jessica Ching-Sze. 2007. John Dewey in China: To teach and to learn. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Jinqui, Nathan McNeill, and Sensen Li. 2010. Growing pains: Chinese engineering education during the late Qing Dynasty. In Proceedings of the 2010 ASEE annual conference and exposition, Louisville, KY, June 20–23, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xia’an Publishing. 1946. Chronicle of Ye Xia’an. Xia’an Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xi’an Jiao Tong University (XJTU). n.d. About XJTU – History. Xi’an Jiao Tong University (XJTU). Retrieved from http://www.xjtu.edu.cn/en/AboutXJTU/History.html

  • Xin, Chen. 2001. General education in China’s universities from 1911 to 1949. Bulletin of the Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University, 50: 185–190. Retrieved from http://ir.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/00018407

  • Yang, Rui. 2002. Third delight: The internationalization of higher education in China. New York/London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yen-Hwa Yu, Lee. 2008. The President’s forward. NCTU Museum. Retrieved from http://www2.lib.nctu.edu.tw/museum/eng/cht/about.htm

  • Zhang, Ke-hui. 2010. On Sheng Xuan-huai and the defense of Shanghai Huasheng Spinning Mill’s rights and interests. Journal of Lanzhou University (Social Sciences), 2010(4). Retrieved from http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-LDSK201004016.htm

  • Zhu, Qin. 2010. Engineering ethics studies in China: Dialogue between traditionalism and ­modernism. Engineering Studies 2(2): 85–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering Education and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Brent K. Jesiek Ph.D.

  2. Digital Research and Curation Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Yi Shen Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Brent K. Jesiek Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yi Shen Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brent K. Jesiek Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Institute of Business and Technology, Aarhus University, Birk Centerpark 15, Herning, DK-7400, Denmark

    Steen Hyldgaard Christensen

  2. , Dept of Liberal Arts & Int'l Studies, Colorado School of Mines, Illinois Street 1500, Golden, 80401, Colorado, USA

    Carl Mitcham

  3. , Department of Social Sciences, Graduate University of Chinese Academy o, 52 Sanlihe Rd, Beijing, 100864, China, People's Republic

    Bocong Li

  4. , Department of Languages, Clemson University, Strode Tower 717, Clemson, 29634-0535, South Carolina, USA

    Yanming An

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jesiek, B.K., Shen, Y. (2012). Educating Chinese Engineers: The Case of Shanghai Jiao Tong University During 1896–1949. In: Christensen, S., Mitcham, C., Li, B., An, Y. (eds) Engineering, Development and Philosophy. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5282-5_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5282-5_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5281-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5282-5

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation