The Chefoo School at Lushan
The Chefoo School took over the Kuling American School facilities after WWII. In 1947 the China Inland Miss ion (CIM) acquired the vacant Kuling American School property and moved its Chefoo School there until the evacuation from China of all Westerners in 1951.
The Chefoo School was established by the CIM in 1881 at the treaty port of Chefoo (now Yantai) on the northern shore of the Shandong peninsula. Its primary purpose was to provide a boarding school for CIM missionary children, but it was also available to missionaries from other Protestant mission organizations, local business families, and diplomats. Two famous American Chefusians, as former students are called, were Henry Luce, who later established Time-Life-Fortune magazines, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Thornton Wilder (The Bridge of San Louis Rey; Our Town; and The Skin of our Teeth). The school curriculum was based on the British system, and students, for the most part, wrote Oxford entry exams in their senior year. The school proudly referred to itself as “the best school east of Suez.” By 1940 the school included a Prep School, Girls School, Boys School, and a Co-ed School.
For a brief period, 1909-1915, the CIM operated a Prep School at Kuling, but it closed following a fire that destroyed the building. From the early years of the twentieth century until 1951, the CIM owned properties at Kuling which were used as respite for its missionaries.
The Chefoo School at Yantai came to a crushing halt in December 1941 following Pearl Harbor. Much of the eastern half of China was by then under Japanese occupation, and by the Fall of 1942 all Westerners, except Germans, and later Italians, were interned. The Chefoo School was initially interned at a Presbyterian property at Temple Hill in Chefoo, but in 1943 they were transferred to the larger Weihsien (now Weifang) Presbyterian Mission Compound, which now housed up to 2000 Westerners who had been scattered throughout north-east China. A scholarly and descriptive analysis of this concentration camp is very ably documented by the late American internee, Langdon Gilkey, in The Shantung Compound (HarperSan Francisco, 1975, ISBN 0-06-063112-0). Meanwhile a temporary Chefoo School was established in Free China, in Kiating (now Leshan), Sichuan province in 1941, but it had to be transferred to Kalimpong, India in 1944 when the Japanese were threatening to take Chunking.
At the end of the Second World War the Chefoo School property at Yantai was in shambles. The CIM had to find a new location, and for want of a more permanent solution they re-opened the school at the Mission headquarters in Shanghai in the summer of 1946. This was considered temporary, at best, and the CIM was overjoyed when they were directed to the Kuling American School property a year later. KAS was not reopened after the War. After extensive repairs to the buildings, occupation commenced late in 1947, and the school was officially opened in January 1948. For the over 120 students, and about 20 teachers and staff, Kuling was a paradise which was vacated very reluctantly early in 1951.
Like KASA, the Chefoo Schools alumni formed an association. Theirs was established in London, England in January 1908, and it continues as a lively organization with branches in Great Britain, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Reunions are held annually in London, Melbourne, and Toronto, and other reunions are held from time to time in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Vancouver, and Sydney. The primary instrument that keeps alumni in on-going communication is the Chefoo Magazine, which has been published continuously since the inception of the Association.
Since the 1980’s many Chefusians, like former KAS students, have happily re-visited Kuling, now referred to as Lushan. A memorable occasion took place in May 2007 when five Chefusians, who had attended the school in Kuling, joined four former KAS students, and about 40 of their offspring, and interested others at the KASA reunion at Lushan in May, 2007. It was on this occasion that the idea of the Lushan Institute was presented to the Lushan administration by KASA in a historic round-table discussion. The primary CSA contact for this project is the North America Branch chairperson, and the Editor and Publisher of the Chefoo Magazine. He is also on the board of KASA. Kuling Chefusians who have been in contact with KASA members immediately recognize that we are kindred spirits. We share their love for China and the Chinese people, for Lushan, and for the vision for the Lushan Institute.
Ian Grant
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Contact Info: chefoo@rogers.com
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chefoo_School
The Chefoo School was established by the CIM in 1881 at the treaty port of Chefoo (now Yantai) on the northern shore of the Shandong peninsula. Its primary purpose was to provide a boarding school for CIM missionary children, but it was also available to missionaries from other Protestant mission organizations, local business families, and diplomats. Two famous American Chefusians, as former students are called, were Henry Luce, who later established Time-Life-Fortune magazines, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Thornton Wilder (The Bridge of San Louis Rey; Our Town; and The Skin of our Teeth). The school curriculum was based on the British system, and students, for the most part, wrote Oxford entry exams in their senior year. The school proudly referred to itself as “the best school east of Suez.” By 1940 the school included a Prep School, Girls School, Boys School, and a Co-ed School.
For a brief period, 1909-1915, the CIM operated a Prep School at Kuling, but it closed following a fire that destroyed the building. From the early years of the twentieth century until 1951, the CIM owned properties at Kuling which were used as respite for its missionaries.
The Chefoo School at Yantai came to a crushing halt in December 1941 following Pearl Harbor. Much of the eastern half of China was by then under Japanese occupation, and by the Fall of 1942 all Westerners, except Germans, and later Italians, were interned. The Chefoo School was initially interned at a Presbyterian property at Temple Hill in Chefoo, but in 1943 they were transferred to the larger Weihsien (now Weifang) Presbyterian Mission Compound, which now housed up to 2000 Westerners who had been scattered throughout north-east China. A scholarly and descriptive analysis of this concentration camp is very ably documented by the late American internee, Langdon Gilkey, in The Shantung Compound (HarperSan Francisco, 1975, ISBN 0-06-063112-0). Meanwhile a temporary Chefoo School was established in Free China, in Kiating (now Leshan), Sichuan province in 1941, but it had to be transferred to Kalimpong, India in 1944 when the Japanese were threatening to take Chunking.
At the end of the Second World War the Chefoo School property at Yantai was in shambles. The CIM had to find a new location, and for want of a more permanent solution they re-opened the school at the Mission headquarters in Shanghai in the summer of 1946. This was considered temporary, at best, and the CIM was overjoyed when they were directed to the Kuling American School property a year later. KAS was not reopened after the War. After extensive repairs to the buildings, occupation commenced late in 1947, and the school was officially opened in January 1948. For the over 120 students, and about 20 teachers and staff, Kuling was a paradise which was vacated very reluctantly early in 1951.
Like KASA, the Chefoo Schools alumni formed an association. Theirs was established in London, England in January 1908, and it continues as a lively organization with branches in Great Britain, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Reunions are held annually in London, Melbourne, and Toronto, and other reunions are held from time to time in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Vancouver, and Sydney. The primary instrument that keeps alumni in on-going communication is the Chefoo Magazine, which has been published continuously since the inception of the Association.
Since the 1980’s many Chefusians, like former KAS students, have happily re-visited Kuling, now referred to as Lushan. A memorable occasion took place in May 2007 when five Chefusians, who had attended the school in Kuling, joined four former KAS students, and about 40 of their offspring, and interested others at the KASA reunion at Lushan in May, 2007. It was on this occasion that the idea of the Lushan Institute was presented to the Lushan administration by KASA in a historic round-table discussion. The primary CSA contact for this project is the North America Branch chairperson, and the Editor and Publisher of the Chefoo Magazine. He is also on the board of KASA. Kuling Chefusians who have been in contact with KASA members immediately recognize that we are kindred spirits. We share their love for China and the Chinese people, for Lushan, and for the vision for the Lushan Institute.
Ian Grant
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Contact Info: chefoo@rogers.com
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chefoo_School