Wayland Academy (Hangzhou Huilan Middle School) (-1916)
Missionary schooling provided one of the institutional routes through which educational and athletic ideas traveled.
Wayland Academy in Hangzhou was a key part of Song Chin Foh’s early education and one of the institutional links that connected Chinese students to American colleges. Founded by Baptist missionaries, the school offered a modern secondary curriculum and helped prepare students for further study in both China and the United States.
Planning map of Wayland Academy, 1919. The campus plan reflects how missionary schools in China adopted modern institutional forms while remaining embedded in local settings. For students like Song Chin Foh, schools such as Wayland were part of the educational pathways that linked Hangzhou to American colleges.
Song was part of a small but meaningful Wayland to Colby pathway. Vi Tsu Sun graduated from Colby in 1920 as the first Chinese international student, and Tun Fu Dzen followed in 1921. Their shared route suggests that Wayland Academy functioned as more than a local missionary school. It became part of a transpacific educational connection linking Hangzhou, New England, and later professional work in China.
Wayland to Colby connections
Colby Oracle, 1920. Sun graduated from Colby College in 1920.He was the first Chinese student attending Colby.Colby Oracle, 1921. Dzen graduated from Colby College in 1921.
Wayland Athletic Culture
The athletic environment at Wayland helps explain why Song later moved so naturally into physical education, coaching, and Olympic work.
Wayland Football team, 1916. Wayland was known for its early emphasis on physical education, fielding teams in football, basketball, tennis, and handball that competed with other schools in Zhejiang and even with the University of Shanghai. This photograph shows the 1915 to 1916 football team. At the center of the front row sits captain Sun Weizu, and the team’s coach was the physical education instructor Chen Fuen. The players wore matching uniforms marked with the letter W for Wayland Academy.
Wayland basketball team, 1916. Principal Muir was especially fond of basketball and personally served as the team’s coach. This photograph shows the school basketball team for 1915 to 1916. On the far left is Muir, and on the far right is team captain Yao Guoquan. Fourth from the left is Vi Tsu Sun.
