McTyeire School

McTyeire School (Chinese: 中西女中) was a private girls' school in Shanghai.

McTyeire School 中西女中
Address
Edinburgh Road Shanghai China
Information
Type	Private
Motto	LIVE, LOVE, GROW 積中發外，智圓行方
Established	1892
Principal	Xue Zheng
Gender	All-Female

McTyeire School
Former building
Chinese	中西女中
Literal meaning	China-West Girls' Secondary School
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōng Xī Nǚ Zhōng Wade–Giles Chung Hsi Nü Chung

It was established by Young John Allen^{[citation needed]} and Laura Askew Haygood in 1882.^[1] Its namesake was Holland Nimmons McTyeire.

History

The school had seven students in 1855 and more than 100 students in 1900.^[2] Multiple missionaries of the school lived in a building across from it.^[3]

In 1952 it merged with St. Mary's Hall into Shanghai No. 3 Girls' High School.

Demographics

Most of the students originated from Shanghai. The school for its entire history catered to high socioeconomic status families and accordingly drew most its students from them. Citing Qianshi jinsheng (前世今生, "The previous generation and life today") by Su Su (素素), Wang Zheng, author of Women in the Chinese Enlightenment: Oral and Textual Histories, wrote that "parents spent fortunes to make social connections that would help their daughters enroll" at McTyeire due to its prestige.^[4]

The Christian Advocate in 1908 stated that, according to Shanghai District presiding elder J. H. Young, 50% of entering students were Christians but that by graduation all students in a class were Christian.^[5]

Notable alumni

• Tsai Chin (as "Irene Chow")^[6]
• Grace Zia Chu (graduated in 1918 and later taught at McTyeire)^[7]
• Pearl Ing (Yin Mingzhu)^[8]
• Soong Sisters (Soong Ai-ling, Soong Mei-ling, Soong Ching-ling) - Ai-ling and May-ling began attending at age five while Ching-ling began attending at age 7.^[9]
• Me-Iung Ting^[10]
• Li Yuin Tsao
• Pauline Woo Tsui^[11]
• Wang Yiwei (王伊蔚) - She faced difficulties at the school as she had a northern Chinese background and was unaccustomed to Western education. She transferred to Jinshi High School in Beijing.^[4]
• Cecilia S. L. Zung, lawyer, theatre writer, UN delegate
• Zung Wei-tsung, journalist and YWCA leader
• Jin Zhang (artist)
• Georgette Chen, Singaporean Pioneer artist^[12]

References

1. "Marker Monday: Birthplace of Bishop A. G. Haygood and Miss Laura A. Haygood". Georgia Historical Society. January 13, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
2. "McTyeire Girls' School Starts Campaign for $250,000". The Far Eastern Republic. March 1920. p. 40.
3. Women's Missionary Friend. June 1918. p. 194.
4. Wang, Zheng (1999-07-05). Women in the Chinese Enlightenment: Oral and Textual Histories. University of California Press. p. 246. ISBN 9780520922921.
5. J.B. M'Ferrin for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1908-10-30). "Personal and Other Notes". Christian Advocate. 69: 1388.
6. Harris, Richard (March 1989). "Daughter of Shanghai. By Tsai Chin. [London: Chatto and Windus, 240 pp. £12.95.]". The China Quarterly. p. 176. doi:10.1017/S030574100002395X.
7. Grimes, William (1999-04-19). "Grace Zia Chu, 99, Guide to Chinese Cooking". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
8. Wei, S. Lousia. "Pearl Ing". Women Pioneers Film Project. Columbia University. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
9. Pakula, Hannah (2009-11-03). The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China. Simon and Schuster. p. 18. ISBN 9781439154236.
10. "Me-Iung Ting x1916". Mount Holyoke College. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
11. "Pauline Woo Tsui". Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
12. "Georgette Chen: Artist Extraordinaire". biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2023-02-14.

Further reading

• Haygood, Laura Askew (1904). "McTyeire Home and School". Life and Letters of Laura Askew Haygood. Publishing house of the M.E. church, South, Smith & Lamar, agents. pp. 275. - Chapter 13
• Su, Su. Qianshi jinsheng 前世今生 [The previous generation and life today]. Shanghai: Yuandong chubanshe. pp. 66–67. - The author's Chinese name is 素素 and the publisher's Chinese name is 上海远东出版社.