Background
Mr. Fu was born at Chiangan Hsien, Sichuan Province in 1872.
Mr. Fu was born at Chiangan Hsien, Sichuan Province in 1872.
Mr. Fu was popular among the Chinese literati. In 1898 he obtained through public examinations the Literary Degree of Hanlin.
In 1903 Mr. Fu was appointed secretary to the late President Yuan Shih-kai, who was then Viceroy of Zhili province. During his connection for two years with the late President Yuan, he rendered much service to the promotion of modern education. While acting as secretary, he also devoted part of his time to the training of the new troops under the direction of his chief.
In 1905 Mr. Fu was transferred to the Office of General Liu the Provincial Commander-in-chief of Kiang Pei. He assisted General Liu' in training his militia. Upon the completion of his work as General Liu’s associate, he returned to Zhili and was soon appointed Associate Director of the Committee on Educational Affairs of Zhili.
In 1906 Mr. Fu was appointed Superintendent of the Education of Women in Tianjin. The appointment was made at a time when people in the North paid no attention to women’s education. Under his direction, the Peiyang Normal School for Women was established. In addition to this he founded one high school and nine primary schools for girls.
In 1908 Mr. Fu received his imperial appointment as Commissioner of Education of Zhili province. During the summer of the same year, it was he who called an educational conference of Zhili for the consideration of educational questions. As a means to encourage modern education, he made personal investigations of educational affairs in the districts of Paoting, Shunteh, Taming, Kwangping, Hsuanhua and Hochien.
Upon completion of his tour Mr. Fu divided Zhili province into four educational districts and established one normal school for training of teachers in each of these districts. These four normal Schools were located at Tianjin, Paoting, Launchow and Shunteh. They were established in 1910.
Mr. Fu successfully carried out his educational program but in 1911 the first revolution broke out at Wuchang, and he went to Shanghai to assist in the movement. In 1914 he became a censor of the Censorate. During his tenure of office, he devised many important schemes for the benefit of railway administration for the whole country, in March 1916 he was relieved of office upon the abolishment of the Censorate.
In December 1917 Mr. Fu was specially appointed Minister of Education. Soon afterwards he was appointed superintendent of the Chinese students in Japan and ordered to revise the regulations governing Chinese students studying abroad. He resigned in April 1919 in consequence of the students’ movement against the pro-Japanese government he subsequently became an advisor to President Hsu Shih- chang. In May 1922 Mr. Fu was appointed Director of the Government Financial Liquidation Office. In February 1923 he was awarded the second Order of Tashou Paokuang.