容闳在他的回忆录(memoir)第五章里说(注2):“我有机会接受西方文明的教育,应当让以后的人,也和我一样享受同样的利益。用西方的教育改变中国,使中国变得开明(enlightened)、富强(powerful)。”所以,他回国以后就向政府(government)提议(propose),并发起(lead, initiate)了晚清幼童留美计划(The Chinese Educational Mission)。从1872年开始,先后有120名小留学生被派(send)到了美国留学,其中就有后来成为“中国铁路之父(father of China railway)”的詹天佑。
150多年前,无论是留学还是海归,都需要极大的勇气。容闳19岁时,带头(take the lead to)奔向大海,成为留学的开拓者;26岁时,第一个返回中国,成为海归的开拓者。
编者:姒玉明
注1: Robert Morrison was a Scottish evangelist and the first Christian Protestant missionary in China(苏格兰人马礼逊是到中国的第一位基督教传教士).
注2:I was determined that the rising generation of China should enjoy the same educational advantages that I had enjoyed;that through western education China might be regenerated, become enlightened and powerful.——《My Life in China and America》