Boy's Vest
Original OwnerOriginally owned by
Che Chiang Liang
(Chinese)
Clothing MakerMade by
Unknown
Date1908-1909
MediumSilk
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Francis D. Ellis
Object number1973.40.5
DescriptionBlue sheer silk damask Chinese vest, trimmed in black, with black frogs.
Label TextThe 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.
NotesHistorical Note: This vest belonged to Che Chiang Liang, a Chinese student who came to study in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1908 or 1909. Che Chiang's father, Tun Yen Liang, had studied in Connecticut as part of the Chinese Educational Mission years before; Tun Yen had been in school with Martin Welles, both in Hartford High School and at Yale University. When Che Chiang came to Hartford in the early 1900s, he lived with the Welles family in Hartford. Che Chiang Liang eventually returned to China. The Welles family never heard from him or his family again after the Japanese invaded China before World War II.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.
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