Chinese Students in Hartford (1872 - 1881) Who Fought in the Sino-French Naval War (1884) and the Sino-Japanese Naval War (1894 -1895) Timothy T. Kao In 1868, the Burlingame Treaty was signed by the U.S. and China. Article VII stated: "Chinese subjects shall enjoy all the privileges of the public educational institutions under the control of the government of the U.S." Thus, China chose the U.S. as the first country to educate a group of young Chinese students in western studies. The objective of the educational plan was stated in a memorandum, dated August 18, 1871, submitted to the Chinese court: "A detachment of thirty students should be sent every year for a consecutive four year period. The total number will be 120. Each student shall study for fifteen years and then come back to China. Their age upon return should be no more than thirty years old, the best time to serve their homeland." Above all, the plan expressed military interest: "As the young students grow up, those who are qualified should be sent to West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy as cadets or midshipmen for advanced training." In 1872, the Qing Dynasty government established the Chinese Educational Commission (1872 - 1881) in Hartford, Connecticut. Between 1872 and 1875, 120 students, on Chinese government scholarships awarded through the Commission, arrived in Connecticut and Massachusetts to study English in preparation for their admission to American service academies and universities. The Commission was abruptly terminated by the Chinese government in 1881, for three primary reasons: (1) Chinašs disappointment over diplomatic failures to admit any Chinese students to West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy; (2) the anti-Chinese sentiment in America in the late 1870šs; (3) the conservative fear that the students would lose their native culture. At the time of the recall, only two Chinese students were graduated from Yale University; about sixty students were in colleges, and the rest in high schools. Ninety-four students returned to China. Even though none had studied at the U.S. Naval Academy, upon their return, forty-one of the students were sent by the Chinese government to join the Pei-yang (Northern) Squadron and the Fu-chien (Southern) Squadron. Their only preparation was a one -year makeshift basic training with the Chinese Navy. In 1884, the Sino-French Naval War broke out in Fu-chien. Seven of returned students went to battle, and four died in combat. China lost the war and her control of Vietnam to France. In the Sino-Japanese Naval War (1894 -1895), eleven students fought at the Battle of the Yalu; three died in combat. One became a p.o.w. , captured by the Japanese Navy. Four were distinguished in fighting and, eventually, reached the rank of Admiral in the Chinese Navy in 1920s. At the end of the Sino-Japanese Naval War, China ceded Taiwan, the Pescadores, and Port Arthur to Japan. Records show that, between 1873 and 1881, six Japanese students were graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and four more were listed as non-graduated. We may ask the question: If a substantial number of the Chinese students sent to the U.S. had become midshipmen in the U.S. Naval Academy as intended, could it have changed their lives and the outcomes of two naval wars? Could it have changed China 's course in the 19th century? China was not a country with naval tradition. Two lost naval wars left almost no names to be gloried. This paper studies those Hartford-returned Chinese students' lives: their early education in America; their training and war experiences in the Chinese Navy; and their achievements and nationalism. Those young students served their country, carried out their duties, and, thus, brought honor to their own names.