Fun Chin
Subject
Fun Chin
(Chinese, born 1876)
PhotographerPhotographed by
Richard S. DeLamater
(American, 1833 - 1915)
Dateabout 1880
MediumPhotography; albumen print on paper on carte de visite card
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of Miss Dorothy F. Bidwell
Object number1974.16.1
DescriptionStudio portrait of a Chinese boy, identified as Fun Chin. He is leaning against a stone planter which is as high as his waist in the leaning position. There appears to be a thick mat of grass on top of it, which is probably just placed there for the photogragh. He is wearing a Western-style suit, and has on high-button shoes, stockings, knee pants, a jacket with a round collar shirt, with a type of bow tie at the neck. One foot is crossed in front of the other, and the left arm is resting on the planter, with the right hand over the left hand. He is looking directly towards the camera.
Label TextFun Chin was the son of Chinese Education Mission translator Kwong Ki Chin (also referred to as Kwong Ki Chiu) and his wife Sieu Chin. He was born in Hartford in 1876. His mother died in 1877, after which he went to live with the Jay H. Filley family on 20 September 1877. He and his father left for China on 26 December 1882 after the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress.
The Chinese Educational Mission (1872-1881) in Hartford, Connecticut, was the fulfillment of a dream of Yung Wing. He wanted Chinese youth to study American technology to improve China’s engineering and infrastructure. Yung Wing came to the United States in 1847 to study at Monson Academy in Massachusetts, and at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. It was upon his return to China that he began planning to Chinese students to America.
A group of thirty students ranging in age from ten to fourteen arrived in Hartford in 1872. They lived with host families, attended local schools, and in the summer studied Chinese classics at the Mission’s headquarters at 352 Collins Street, Hartford. In 1881 the Chinese government recalled the students because they thought they were becoming too Americanized.
NotesSubject Note: Fun Chin's father name was published in the Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin Volume 46, Number 3 as Chiu, although it has been published elsewhere as Chiu. Chin is alternately identified on the verso of the carte-de-visite as "Chin Fun", which may be a result of someone mis-reading handwriting. (Dixon, 11/26/2019)The Chinese Educational Mission (1872-1881) in Hartford, Connecticut, was the fulfillment of a dream of Yung Wing. He wanted Chinese youth to study American technology to improve China’s engineering and infrastructure. Yung Wing came to the United States in 1847 to study at Monson Academy in Massachusetts, and at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. It was upon his return to China that he began planning to Chinese students to America.
A group of thirty students ranging in age from ten to fourteen arrived in Hartford in 1872. They lived with host families, attended local schools, and in the summer studied Chinese classics at the Mission’s headquarters at 352 Collins Street, Hartford. In 1881 the Chinese government recalled the students because they thought they were becoming too Americanized.
Status
Not on view
Richard S. DeLamater
